Losing fat while maintaining muscle

DustinWed · February 2012

Hey everyone,

I've been a member here for a few years now. A little background on myself is that I used to weigh 345 pounds, and I'm currently at 192 pounds. I've lost around 92 of those pounds since joining this site a few years ago. I want to get down to around 165 pounds, since that is what is in my recommended weight range. Even though I look dramatically different, I still have a little bit of a gut and man boobs. My friend recently suggested I get a fat caliper, but I ended up getting an Emron Fat Loss Monitor that monitors your body fat percentage as well as your BMI. I used it today for the first time and it says that my BMI is 28.6 and my body fat percentage is 23.7%. I have been telling my friend about what I've been eating and he says I'm eating too little even though I'm seeing results in the way my body looks and I'm consistently losing 2-3 pounds a week since starting back to my routine. My food journal should be open to view, but I normally take in around 1300 calories a day(what MFP recommends I intake), but I usually don't eat back all the calories I burn from exercise. Some days I do, but not most of the time. Do you think this is a bad thing even though I'm seeing results? Is there anything I should do to shed fat without it costing me my muscle mass? Any pointers on toning my upper body? I have started a consistent weight lifting routine of 4-5 days a week about a month ago where I rotate out between upper body and lower body weight lifting, mixing free weights (bench, deadlift, curl, squat, etc) and machine weights.

Here's a brief rundown again:
5"9
192 lbs
BMI 28.6
Body Fat Percentage 23.7%

Thanks for any help!

DustinWed · February 2012

Any ideas?

psuLemon · February 2012

Your friends are right. Men shouldnt be netting less than 1500 calories per day. And considering you are within 30 lbs of your goal you should only be losing 1 lb per week. So a lot of the weight loss is probably lean muscle mass. And if you want to preserve the muscle then you really should be having a deficit about 20% of tdee.

fxst78 · February 2012

You should up you cals to around 1800 and lifting heavy. REALLY heavy.

Your weight loss will slow, maybe even stall but you will start recovering your muscles that have been in deficit for a long time.

You should also eat your exercise calories back.

After about a month you should up your calories by about 100 cals per month untill you are around 2200 net cals. Always lifting heavy.

Reason for slowly increasing cals is to let your body get used to it. Remember lift heavy, and moderate cardio.

WifeMomDVM · February 2012

Read the new rules of lifting by lou schuler - six moves for maximum muscle gains. I would focus on fat loss first, then a clean bulk afterwards. But eating clean and strength training will help preserve your muscle mass as the fat goes. But if you want to add muscle, you will definitely have to up the calories - alot. I think it is 2800 cals to build a pound of muscle or maintain it or something, but don't quote me on that number - it's been awhile since I read that tidbit of info. Maybe 2400? Oh dear, I probably should have not said anything at all!

MaximalLife · February 2012

I am in a similar situation - losing weight about a half a pound per week, trying to retain muscle while losing fat.
The slower you lose, the better the odds.
Fast weight loss usually means more muscle loss. That's been my experience.
In general I do 90 minutes of cardio with 30 minutes of resistance 6 days a week.
I rest resistance Tuesday and cardio every 10 days or so.
My resistance is lower weights but high reps, then heavy every 3rd workout.
And I split my body into 3 muscle groups:
1. Legs
2. Chest- triceps - shoulders
3. Arms - back
I do a lot of weird things for cardio like military march, boxing type training,
dancing, floor rolls, squat thrust intervals and the good ole jumping jack.
And I jog, swim, play tennis, fast walk and bike.

Lost 70lbs and nearly 20% body fat - it works for me.

Diet
I strive toward the ideal of lean meats, fresh fruits and veggies, low fat dairy, nuts and whole grains.
I set calories to 3000 to account for my activity level, exercises and other variables, and am losing a half a pound per week.
Out of the 70 lb total weight loss, half of that resulted from a 2200 calorie diet, reflecting a deficit to affect a 2 lb per week weight loss, and my last 20 lbs were at 2500 where I lost 1lb weekly. After reaching my goals, I reset, then lowered my weekly loss expectation to a half a pound. Again, I have my daily calories set at 3000.
It works:drinker:
If your input is right, all will be well.

psuLemon · February 2012

So based on katch mcardle, your bmr is 1813. And assuming you are sedentary otherwise and average 500 calories burned for your workout

So tdee = 1813 × 1.2 +500 = 2675

Add deficit= 2675*.8= 2140

margyhannah · February 2012

You are doing great! The days you exercise, you actually are making sure that you KEEP your muscle. I would say however, do make sure you do some strength training (maybe arms and shoulders one day, legs and back another), because this will strengthen and maintain your muscles the best. If you are working out 3 times a week you are golden. If you are losing weight, and feeling better, there is no problem! keep up the good work! Just make sure on those days you don't eat back all your calories.... if you are hungry, please eat a snack! This will keep your metabolism going strong. No need to change things up when things are working for ya. Only think about change when you stop loosing.

Helloitsdan · February 2012

Here's a brief rundown again:
5"9
192 lbs
BMI 28.6
Body Fat Percentage 23.7%

Thanks for any help!

Just did your numbers real quick and here we go!

BMR 1803 Never eat below this and you should stay at least 100 cals above this to lose weight and not sacrifice much muscle.
TDEE 2794 This is als maintenance for you as long as you maintain 3-5 workouts a week.
LEan weight 145lbs
Fat weight 46lbs
Perfect weight appx 170lbs

Calories daily for maximum fat metabolism
2235
Macronutrients
Protein 26%
Carbs 40%
Fat 34%
MFP wont allow you to do this so you may have to round up or down.
So P30%/C40%/F30% is optimal.

You could give these numbers a go for the next 5-10lbs.

chrisdavey · February 2012

What preserves your LBM while losing weight is
a) adequate protein intake
b) heavy resistance training
c) a calorie deficit that is not too large

I agree with you're friend that you aren't eating enough. At 192lbs you're maintence "should" be about 2600 to 3000 cals but as you have been eating so little for so long it is likely that your metabolism is slower than "normal".

What I would do is add back about 200cals/week until you get to 2000ish. This will still be a deficit as explained above.

You're losses may slow or stop initially but as you get closer to your goal weight, scale numbers should take a back seat to BF% & measurements.

BTW I also have one of those omron digital BF readers & just make sure that you do it at the same time each week & before food or water. I did a test with drinking a litre of water & increased BF% from 8 to 10%

Helloitsdan · February 2012

What preserves your LBM while losing weight is
a) adequate protein intake
b) heavy resistance training
c) a calorie deficit that is not too large

I agree with you're friend that you aren't eating enough. At 192lbs you're maintence "should" be about 2600 to 3000 cals but as you have been eating so little for so long it is likely that your metabolism is slower than "normal".

What I would do is add back about 200cals/week until you get to 2000ish. This will still be a deficit as explained above.

You're losses may slow or stop initially but as you get closer to your goal weight, scale numbers should take a back seat to BF% & measurements.

BTW I also have one of those omron digital BF readers & just make sure that you do it at the same time each week & before food or water. I did a test with drinking a litre of water & increased BF% from 8 to 10%

This is where I am now.
I'm slowly dropping BF% down to 10-12% so my scale is under the bed!
Measuring tape right here though!

leezett · February 2012

Wow, you are very motivated and doing great. Keep it up. I grew up with Lee Haney, 8 time Mr Olimpia. He tough me a lot of secrets on how to keep muscle and lose fat. One thing for sure, if your training 6 times a week, you have to eat to lose weight. Yap, thats right, when you cut your calories to low, your body shuts down and will hold on for as long as it can. Your body goes into servial mode. This site is great at helping you keep up with food intake. A body builders rule of thumb to prepair for a contest 8 weeks out, cut down to 4 or 5% body fat. 1 gram of Protein per pound of goal weight per day. You want to get to 165, then you need to eat around 160 grams of protein a day. the other is eat lots of complex carbs, pasta, rice,wheat bread. avoid grain sugar at all cost.You might not need to eat that much protein unless you are training 2 and half hours a day. You have a lot of great comments that in here that will help, as long as you stay motivated, you will reach all your goals.

MaximalLife · February 2012

What preserves your LBM while losing weight is
a) adequate protein intake
b) heavy resistance training
c) a calorie deficit that is not too large

I agree with you're friend that you aren't eating enough. At 192lbs you're maintence "should" be about 2600 to 3000 cals but as you have been eating so little for so long it is likely that your metabolism is slower than "normal".

What I would do is add back about 200cals/week until you get to 2000ish. This will still be a deficit as explained above.

You're losses may slow or stop initially but as you get closer to your goal weight, scale numbers should take a back seat to BF% & measurements.

BTW I also have one of those omron digital BF readers & just make sure that you do it at the same time each week & before food or water. I did a test with drinking a litre of water & increased BF% from 8 to 10%

This is where I am now.
I'm slowly dropping BF% down to 10-12% so my scale is under the bed!
Measuring tape right here though!

Same here....

HeidiMightyRawr · February 2012

What preserves your LBM while losing weight is
a) adequate protein intake
b) heavy resistance training
c) a calorie deficit that is not too large

I agree with you're friend that you aren't eating enough. At 192lbs you're maintence "should" be about 2600 to 3000 cals but as you have been eating so little for so long it is likely that your metabolism is slower than "normal".

What I would do is add back about 200cals/week until you get to 2000ish. This will still be a deficit as explained above.

You're losses may slow or stop initially but as you get closer to your goal weight, scale numbers should take a back seat to BF% & measurements.

BTW I also have one of those omron digital BF readers & just make sure that you do it at the same time each week & before food or water. I did a test with drinking a litre of water & increased BF% from 8 to 10%

I agree with this!

engineman312 · February 2012

lots of good information here.

DustinWed · February 2012

These responses are just what I was looking for. Thanks so much, and all of you guys have posted some very good information. I believe I will do what one poster said and add a couple hundred calories to my daily intake each week until I'm back up to 2000. Thanks again, I'm going to re-read all this information and take it into account!

Helloitsdan · February 2012

These responses are just what I was looking for. Thanks so much, and all of you guys have posted some very good information. I believe I will do what one poster said and add a couple hundred calories to my daily intake each week until I'm back up to 2000. Thanks again, I'm going to re-read all this information and take it into account!

TBH i'm 5'5" and eating 2k a day losing .5-1lb a week depending n my split training.
At your height you may want to shoot a little higher.
Thats just my opinion!
At your age you can get away with more anyway!
Just keep in mind that the more whole foods eaten the higher your metabolic rate is.
Since you have hit a rough spot you could in fact eat at closer to maintenance for a few weeks to really rev things up then cut down later.
you've lost the weight of a decent sized child!
Give it a break and recoup then charge for the goal!
1 step back 16 steps forward!

joehoward · February 2012

Congratulations on your progress dan!

84jeepster · February 2012

great info here.

DustinWed · February 2012

These responses are just what I was looking for. Thanks so much, and all of you guys have posted some very good information. I believe I will do what one poster said and add a couple hundred calories to my daily intake each week until I'm back up to 2000. Thanks again, I'm going to re-read all this information and take it into account!

TBH i'm 5'5" and eating 2k a day losing .5-1lb a week depending n my split training.
At your height you may want to shoot a little higher.
Thats just my opinion!
At your age you can get away with more anyway!
Just keep in mind that the more whole foods eaten the higher your metabolic rate is.
Since you have hit a rough spot you could in fact eat at closer to maintenance for a few weeks to really rev things up then cut down later.
you've lost the weight of a decent sized child!
Give it a break and recoup then charge for the goal!
1 step back 16 steps forward!

Thanks, it all makes sense.

Also as a side note, I took my fat percentage yesterday when I got it in the mail late in the day after eating dinner.

I did it again this morning before eating and this was my reading:

BMI - 28.3
Body Fat % - 22.1%

psuLemon · February 2012

Keep in mind bio impedance machines can be inaccurate and can fluctuate a lot based on hydration. Also, don't worry about BMI. People that have a lot of muscle have high BMI even though they have low BF%. My BMI is in the 28's but i am 200 and 12% body fat.

Losing fat while maintaining muscle

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