Lose Fat and Gain Muscle – Simultaneously?

over the past three months, after doing your XFLD and then continuing down a similar (but not so extreme) path, i have dropped from 32.5% body fat and 161 lbs to 29.5% and 157 lbs. so i have lost about 5 lbs of fat but gained about 3 lbs of muscle. in addition ive lost about 26 inches overall and dropped from a size 12 to a size 10. this all makes me very very happy! however, i would love to burn fat a little more quickly, this pace is agonizingly slow… so any tips you have would be appreciated!

I’ve done both – independently – with success. In my latest phase of exercise, I’ve managed to cut fat and maintain muscle mass albeit with some loss of strength (primarily @ bench). I am certainly intrigued by the thought of doing both.

Tell us more!

Hmm….Very intrested Joel please share.

I suffered from cracked ribs a couple summers ago and ended up giving up running and weight training. Within a year, I had gained over 20 lbs. on my petite frame and got ‘mushy’. In order to lose weight, I need to cut my calories quite low (1200-1500), but then I haven’t the energy to do the running or weight training. Would love to hear any pointers!

I’d be very interested in your ideas on this topic. I did a reasonable job of doing both at the same time by doing P90X, but neither the muscle gain or the fat loss was as good as they could have been.

This will be cool if u could share the info

I seem to be struggling with the extreme fat loss program, from fast day to depletion day I always loose around 1- 1,5kgs and then after cheat day I seem to back exactly were I started, so frastrating

This is “the” question for me. I’d love some guidance in some respect because that’s the win-win goal I want to achieve. Info would be so much appreciated! thanks Joel!

Ugh! I am a 61 yrs. young female and have been on this lose fat, gain muscle journey since I was 19 yrs. old. Let me see that’s how many years? 42 Oh, Boy, lotsa of ’em. Anyway, I have either lost fat, nor gained muscle or gained muscle and still not lose fat. Never the twain has met. I am 5’1″ tall curvy, half American-Italian and half American-Serb. I cannot be eliminating basic healthy foods or my energy levels go way down. I take much needed supplements in whole food form and herbs. Yet, if I don’t eat regular food there is no energy to exercise. It’s a round and round cycle. You name it I have tried it. NEED A MIRACLE!!! I don’t want to be bulky muscular. I want long, lean very strong muscle and no extra fat. I do not think this is unrealistic. Have yet to find results. HELP JOEL!!!

I’ll join the throng….do tell us more!
I’ve never been able to do both at once, and as I get older, the fat seems more tenacious than ever!

OK, I’ll bite (no pun intended). I’d like to learn more.

Can’t wait to hear!

interested

This sounds interesting. Lean muscle is what I’m looking as well as losing the body fat.

Would love to hear more…..

To me it’s a matter of nutrition cycling in conjunction with your workout plan. As many have noted, building muscle requires a carlorie surplus, so just dieting doesn’t work. However, I find if you strategic add calories at the right times (for example, ramp up caloric intake prior to and immediately following an intense workout), while then restricting calories at later meals to balance overall calorie intake can result in some muscle gain, while still burning fat. It is a combination of strategic calorie intake (as well as the quality of calories — so again for example, focusing on carbs and protein around workout time, while significantly reducing carb intake during other meals and focusing more on protein and healthy fat intake), that can help the process along. With that said, I have never had any real success gaining a “material” amount of muscle while simultaneously fat cutting.

Hey i’m really struggling with losing fat and gaining muscle. I think the muscle builds below the fat so you are actually left with a bigger physique which is not lean therefore not attractive. Please share the new tricks- thanks mate.

I know diet has a big part in it but I also believe the difference types of exercise ie. density, interval, etc also has a big part in it – am curious!

@Mark. I am def no expert in this but as I read through all your responses Mark’s seemed the most sensible. I think I will give it a go. Seems to me muscle building requires high calories and cutting fat requires low: why not calorie cycle and switch the goal from period to period; meanwhile do minimum of the opposing goal just to prevent backtracking…..

Can anyone advise on this??

There is so much information, much of it false, regarding fat loss and muscle gain that I am really interested in your point of view on this. Most of what I have read suggests high protein meals for muscle building and carb consumption right after work-outs (intense) for glycogen replacement. I wonder what the effects of a high protein really low carb regime have on the digestive system and the production of free radicals.

I did achieve exactly this, but not deliberately. Started body weight training (afternoons- no more than 45 minutes), a half-hour of varied cardio each morning first thing, and also followed a diet that minimized “dry carbs” except for heavier workout days when a bit more could be added. I let my body be my guide as far as food intake each day and I both lost fat (went to mid-teens, which is fine for a woman) and gained muscle mass (scale went up or stayed constant as fat percentage went down). I had a trainer at the university fitness center measure my body fat regularly by skin-fold since resistance devices don’t provide an accurate measurement for me. That way I had a disinterested outside party to verify my findings.

Hey Joel this lose fat gain muscle is the very goal that i want to achieve. I really want to know what is the diet that is absolutely required in order to make this happen. What foods to eat, when to eat, Amount to eat and Why eating this particular way works.

These answers will help me a great deal Joel because I am a confused man over here.

It definitely can be done. I have been amazed with the nutritional information available about how to maintain lean muscle mass and even gain it while losing fat.

Can’t wait to hear more.

hey joel! i would love to get a copy, so i’m commenting! maybe i’ll finally get the body i know i deserve. thanks