lose fat %, maintain muscle? (for experienced pals)

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MySweetPotato
MySweetPotato Posts: 175 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello there!
Being into fitness/ nutrition I'd just like to know whaat has worked for you in your experience to lose fat but maintain muscle mass/ and how long it took you to get there :)

I just did my body composition test and it says that my muscle mass is over the normal range (mine is 28.3, normal range is 22.6-27.6), so is my body fat mass (22.8kg. normal range is 10.9- 21.8) and it says that my body fat % is 31.2 % which i find a little hard to beleive. I want to know what macros to follow: I want to net my BMR but I've heard that I should aim for a lower carb high protein diet. I already eat alot of protein (between 80-100 most days) and net my BMR of 1500 between 6 (almost) healthy meals.I dont count my other macros. Am I doing the right thing? Please share your oppinions/ experience. Feel free to add me/ message me if you can help out :) thanks!

Replies

  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    Hey! I started around 33% body fat, now I'm in the neighborhood of 21 (I do calipers on myself, so the absolute numbers may be off, but there should be pretty good consistency). I have been wearing a bodybugg and just eating 500 less than that of whatever I damn well please. I haven't really hit a plateau, but since I'm getting down, I decided to get more serious. So, I'm starting leangains (an intermittent fasting protocol) which will be moderate carbs on rest days (and cardio only days) and higher carbs on training days.

    Always at least 1g protein per pound of lean mass (trying for 1g per pound of bodyweight, but I'm not a big meat fan, so I find it hard). This and providing a stimulus to the muscle via some type of resistance training are the only things that I think are absolutely necessary.

    Re: what you're doing, I'd say you should up the protein a little, I don't read kilos though and I'm too lazy to type it into google to convert it. I've heard lots of people say lower carbs, but it hasn't been necessary for me yet. With lean gains, I'm probably eating about the same amount of carbs per week, but I'll be having it mostly on training days. Today is my first day of this, so we'll see how it goes, but I'm thinking I'll be able to stay under on carbs if I just don't have any added carbs. Hopefully the incidental stuff in my yogurt and protein powder and such doesn't add up to too much!

    Good luck!
  • kungfuflyer
    kungfuflyer Posts: 29 Member
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    Carb cycling would be the best approach to loosing fat and maintaining/building muscle. You really need to see how your body responds to carbs though depending on your current metabolism so it could take a few weeks to see what you need your carb percentages set at. I would reccomend having high to medium carb days on your more intense workouts and having low to none carb days on your rest days or light workouts. You have to remember that everyones body is different so that's why you have to experiment by setting a baseline for yourself. Doing this approach takes much longer to build muscle but it will make sure that you stay lean in the process of gaining muscle. Eating clean sources for your macros as well will be beneficial in gaining unwanted fats. You really want to be eating nutrient dense foods as much as possible but that doesn't mean you can't indulge every once in awhile. We got to enjoy life and live a little right? :)
  • MySweetPotato
    MySweetPotato Posts: 175 Member
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    Thank you thank you! I love reading what has worked for different people. I know my body is different. I may have to try different things. But I certainly don't want to go the wrong way :) I will research carb cycling. I dont do a whole lot of cardio though. I'm just scared of losing muscle mass along with the fat.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    I lost 15% body fat last year while eating 70% carbs, 15% protein, and 15% fat. My workouts were consistent with heavy weight training, followed immediately by cardio, and ending with a stretch. Each workout was 1 to 2 hours long and I worked out an average of 5 days per week. For my Calorie intake, I based my needs on my BMR + normal activity + Exercise to get TDEE and ate at least 80% of TDEE.

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