# How can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time?



## Derek Wilson (May 12, 2019)

Now, if you are beginner, you will be super successful if you follow these steps to the T, but if you are an intermediate or an advanced trainee, then it becomes relatively tougher and I would recommend you to first lose fat and bring it below 15% which will improve your insulin sensitivity and therefore help you during your lean bulk.


Lets do this:


-Eat 10?15% less than your TDEE: Weight (lbs) * 10= X. X*1.35= Y. Where Y is your TDEE.


Now eat 10?15% less than your TDEE (which is the calories you need to maintain your weight.


Most people would argue that unless you eat more than your TDEE you won't gain muscle. This is partially true and may only be applicable to advanced athletes who have already gained lot of muscle and are very close to their genetic potential. Lets find out why:


Muscle building is an anabolic process which requires energy and amino acid (protein) whereas fat loss is a catabolic process which releases energy.


Did you know that 25% of the energy is just required by the brain (its only 3% of your total body?s mass) and around 50% of energy is required by your organs to carry out the resting metabolic activities. Around 20% of energy is your taken up by your activities like walking, cleaning and doing your workouts.


And ONLY less than 10% of energy is required to build muscle tissue. This is not a significant figure!


So when your body gets enough protein from your diet, all it requires is a small amount of energy to build muscle. And guess what, this energy can be obtained via your fat cells!


-Make every calorie count: You can easily get 1800 calories from a Mc Donald meal and with some snacks and you can also get the same calories by eating super healthy foods like eggs, vegetables, coconut oil etc. Make sure that little or no calorie that you ingesting is empty (lacks nutritive value)


-Become strong: If you don't lose your strength in the weight room, you will not lose your muscle. In fact try and increase your strength by doing the next three steps.


-Ingest 1.5gm ? 2gms of protein per kg of BW. If you get that amount from whole foods, whey protein is not required.


-Take creatine.


-Cycle your carbs: Carbs are important for muscle building however there are some athletes that swear by ketogenic diet. I personally haven't been completely fat adapted. I may try and experiment and will share results, for now, having glycogen stores, and eating carbs mainly around my workouts does help.


-Eat unprocessed, whole foods and include tons of raw vegetables in your diet


-And lastly, do HIIT (2?3session only) and be super-active throughout the day (10,000 daily steps and more per day).


-Get a standing desk: Standing burns more calories than sitting and save from the dangers of chronic sitting.
Thanks!


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## REHH (May 12, 2019)

Nice write up.


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## DragonPhill (May 13, 2019)

Derek Wilson said:


> Did you know that 25% of the energy is just required by the brain



yes, but not true for everyone.
there are stupid people who do not use their brains, they will burn half of this


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## Derek Wilson (May 19, 2019)

REHH said:


> Nice write up.



Thanks!


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## Derek Wilson (May 19, 2019)

DragonPhill said:


> yes, but not true for everyone.
> there are stupid people who do not use their brains, they will burn half of this



Haha! 


Maybe, I am not sure!


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## Christine19875 (Mar 26, 2020)

Great post

------
Christine
...


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## Derek Wilson (Apr 6, 2020)

The trick is in the nutrition.  

There's a number of strategies I've read about. For each of these I'd recommend getting a full work up from a doctor before attempting and letting the doctor know what your intentions are. In some cases it would be helpful to have a nutritionist help you set up a diet plan while you're in your cut phase, and to help you figure out what to do to get out of it so that you don't puff out as soon as you finish cutting. 

When you do exercise your body releases, among other things, cortisol to build more glucose from non sugar. Cortisol's role (among other things) to get amino acids to the liver for that purpose. Naturally, you'd rather have them going to your muscles keeping carbohydrates in your bloodstream makes your body realize it doesn't need the cortisol.


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## Derek Wilson (Jul 20, 2020)

Try to reduce your carbs just to the necessary amount (about a 50% for me). I have 2 grams of protein per kg or 1 g per lb and fill the rest of your intake with fats. Maintaining a healthy diet and spend a 40-50 mins of core workout gives you a perfect body shape and looks fit!


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## Derek Wilson (Aug 2, 2020)

Our bodies are smart, too, and want to adapt to better deal with the activity that caused the muscle damage. To do this, they add cells to the muscle fibers, and this is how muscles get bigger and stronger (and why progressive overload is so important for building muscle and strength). This is why bodybuilders do everything they can to elevate protein synthesis rates and suppress protein degradation rates, including?



High-protein and high-carb dieting
Heavy compound weightlifting
Pre-workout and post-workout nutrition
Eating protein before bed
Limiting cardio
Supplementation


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## Derek Wilson (Aug 17, 2020)

In the diet and fitness world, most people call their muscle gaining, weight gaining, size and strength gaining phase the ?bulking up? phase. People often incorrectly take this to mean eating as much as possible and trying to pack on weight as quickly as possible. This is dead wrong. Instead, the true goal of a muscle gain phase is to build as much quality lean mass as you can while at the same time keeping fat gains to an absolute minimum. Basically, the goal is to gain muscle without gaining excess fat.


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## Derek Wilson (Oct 5, 2020)

One difficult aspect is diet!

You need to eat more to gain muscle. However, you need to avoid eating too much that more body fat accumulates. For me, what works best is a diet high in meat and vegetables and low in sugar and carbohydrates. Don't eliminate carbs completely, but keep them to in the morning and either directly before or after a workout and not so much throughout the rest of the day; especially in the evenings or before bed.


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## Peterkay (Oct 7, 2020)

I've been carrying excess fat around my belly and waist for a number of years. I know that I really need to get rid of it but I hate cardio! Do you think that cutting heavily on carbs and perhaps do intermittent fasting will help?


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## Derek Wilson (Oct 12, 2020)

Fasting provides numerous benefits to health, weight loss is only one of these things. Intermittent fasting is not a diet. It is an eating schedule. In and of itself, intermittent fasting does not tell you what you should or should not eat. For weight loss, many people have chosen to pair intermittent fasting regimens with other diets such as low carb or ketogenic, but these are not required to get the benefits of fasting. You can do some research.


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## Derek Wilson (Oct 19, 2020)

The reason why many people think building muscle and losing fat at the same time is a pipe dream has to do with something called ?protein biosynthesis? or ?protein synthesis.?Many people confuse "weight loss" with the more appropriately titled "fat loss," when wording questions like this. Weight is the force of gravity acting on an object, which is different from the term 'mass.'


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## Derek Wilson (Oct 25, 2020)

There are lots of different types of protein powders to choose from. For example, soy protein can help keep your body fueled for long periods of time, while whey protein is high in carbohydrates and can make you feel tired and tired of food after a while. The good news is that protein powders are more expensive than their single ingredients counterparts.


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## Derek Wilson (Nov 2, 2020)

Body composition can be complicated. For example, even if you are losing muscle mass during a caloric deficit, you could still be maintaining or increasing your strength. There could be a lot of different factors at play.

I would encourage you to follow the three points below to lose body fat while gaining muscle:


Sustain a caloric deficit
Lift heavy
Prioritize protein.


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## Peterkay (Nov 7, 2020)

Good advice.


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## Henny (Apr 20, 2021)

oh wow this is a must try!


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