Many people want to lose fat, but they worry about losing muscle mass, too. Fortunately, research shows that you can lose fat and keep your lean muscle mass with the right diet, exercise, and lifestyle strategies. This article will explore how to create an eating, exercise, and recovery plan to help you lose fat without losing muscle.
Understanding Fat Loss
Many factors affect fat loss, including behavior, hormones, genetics, medical conditions, and environment. The most important part of fat loss is creating a calorie deficit, where you eat fewer calories than you burn each day. Experts recommend aiming for a safe, effective, and sustainable weight loss of up to 2 pounds per week, which means a daily calorie deficit of 500 to 750 calories.
Avoid very low-calorie diets (1,000 to 1,500 calories per day). These diets may cause faster weight loss, but they are more likely to reduce muscle mass and water weight instead of fat mass and body fat percentage.
Exercise Strategies
Exercise is essential for fat loss and maintaining muscle mass.
Resistance Training
A 2018 study found that older adults with obesity who did resistance training two to three times a week for up to 6 months prevented muscle loss while reducing fat mass and body weight.
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Resistance training examples include:
- Weightlifting
- Bodyweight exercises
- Resistance band exercises
Aerobic Exercise
Adding aerobic exercise to resistance training can also help you lose fat and keep muscle. However, be careful not to do too much cardio before resistance training. A 2021 study of male participants found that moderate to high-intensity aerobic exercise had a more negative impact on muscle strength than low-intensity aerobic exercise. Also, aerobic exercise lasting longer than 30 minutes had more impact than shorter sessions. More research is needed on female participants.
Aerobic exercise examples:
- Brisk walking
- Running
- Cycling
- Soccer
- Boxing
- Hockey
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Swimming
- Rowing
- Hiking
- Interval training
Exercise Recommendations
- Resistance training: At least 2 days a week, targeting all muscle groups.
- Aerobic exercise: At least 150 minutes at a moderate intensity, or 75 minutes at a high intensity.
If you're unsure where to start, a personal trainer can help you create an exercise program to target fat loss and muscle preservation.
The Importance of Protein
Eating a balanced diet that meets your nutritional and energetic needs is key to maintaining muscle while losing fat. Research shows that eating a high-protein diet while losing weight is one of the most important factors in maintaining muscle mass, along with resistance training. Protein helps promote protein synthesis, where amino acids (the building blocks of protein) form into muscle mass. Protein can also help you lose fat by making you feel full, boosting your metabolism, and enhancing muscle recovery.
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Experts recommend spreading your protein intake throughout the day and aiming for 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (g/kg/bw).
Good protein sources include:
- Lean meats, such as turkey and chicken
- Seafood
- Low-fat dairy products
- Eggs
- Tofu
- Nuts
- Beans
- Protein shakes
Protein is only one part of a balanced diet. Complex carbs and healthy fats can help you feel full and give you energy to prevent fatigue and muscle loss. It’s also important to stay hydrated by drinking water, unsweetened tea, coconut water, and fresh vegetable juice instead of sugary drinks.
Meal Timing and Nutrition
Eating the right foods before and after exercising can help you optimize your workouts to burn fat and maintain muscle mass.
Pre-Workout Nutrition
Eat a meal 60 to 90 minutes before exercising that prioritizes carbs and protein with a small portion of healthy fats. Carbohydrates keep your energy levels high during intense workouts that last longer than 60 minutes. Protein increases muscle mass, strength, and power. Fat is slower to digest, so eating too much could make you feel tired and sluggish.
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Post-Workout Nutrition
After exercising, replenish your body with nutrients like glycogen, protein, and insulin to boost your energy levels, protein synthesis, and muscle recovery. Within 4 to 6 hours after high-intensity exercise, eat 1 to 1.5 g of carbs per kg of body weight and 0.4 g of protein per kg of body weight. After resistance training, eat 40 g of protein and 0.5 g of carbs per kg of body weight.
Supplements
Some research suggests that certain supplements could help improve muscle mass, recovery, and strength while promoting fat loss. These may include creatine and protein. Taking supplements like caffeine before exercising may also help boost muscular strength, which may help preserve muscle mass. Before taking any supplements, speak with a healthcare professional, as some supplements may negatively interact with certain medications or conditions.
Recovery
Allowing enough time for adequate recovery is important for preventing fatigue, maintaining muscle mass, and getting the most out of your workouts. Studies on how long it takes to recover from exercise vary widely, but some research suggests it could take 48 hours for muscles to fully recover after resistance training.
Recovery doesn’t mean remaining sedentary. Instead, schedule your resistance training sessions to focus on specific muscle groups. For example:
- Day 1: Upper body workout
- Day 2: Lower body workout
- Day 3: Full body recovery
Light-intensity exercise like walking could also help promote blood circulation and recovery without straining your muscles too much.
When to Seek Professional Advice
Consider working with a personal trainer or registered dietitian if:
- You’re new to exercising or changing your eating habits
- You have an underlying health condition
- You’re taking medication
- You have any dietary needs
They can help develop an exercise and diet plan that meets your goals and fitness level, and ensure you’re using the correct weights and proper form.
Cutting Diets: A Closer Look
A cutting diet reduces a person’s calorie intake to lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass. These diets typically prioritize lean proteins, nutrient-dense vegetables, and whole grains. Bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts often use a cutting diet after a bulking phase to achieve a leaner physique.
Key Principles of a Cutting Diet
- Caloric Deficit: Use more energy than you consume.
- Weekly Weight Loss: Aim for 0.5 to 1% of body weight.
- Protein Intake: 2.3-3.1 grams per kilogram (kg) of fat-free mass.
- Fat Intake: 15-30% of total calories.
- Carbohydrate Intake: 55-60% of total calories, or the remaining amount of calories after calculating protein and fat.
- Meal Frequency: Moderate, with 3-6 meals a day, each with at least 20 grams of protein.
Foods to Include in a Cutting Diet
- Lean meat and poultry, oily fish, and eggs
- Milk, yogurt, and low-fat cheese
- Protein powders such as whey, hemp, rice, and peas
- Beans and pulses
- Nuts and seeds
- Avocados, olive oil, and olives
- Whole grains such as brown rice and pasta, oats, whole grain bread, barley, and quinoa
- Different colored fruits and vegetables
- Leafy greens
Tips for a Successful Cutting Diet
- Use a calorie and macronutrient tracking app such as MyFitnessPal to record meals
- Re-evaluate how many calories you need regularly
- Weigh yourself regularly throughout the week
- Batch cook meals and freeze them
- Consult a dietitian or personal trainer
- Continually review body composition
Important Note: A cutting diet can help someone lose fat while maintaining muscle, but it should only be followed for the short term. Restricting foods on a long-term basis could lead to disordered eating.
High-Volume Foods for Satiety
Feeling full and satisfied is crucial for sticking to a calorie deficit. Incorporate high-volume foods that take up a lot of space on your plate without adding too many calories.
Five high-volume foods that can make fat loss easier:
- Potatoes: A great source of energy and fiber, especially when boiled or baked without added fats.
- Broccoli: Low in calories, high in protein for a vegetable, and delicious when lightly steamed or roasted.
- Fat-free Greek yogurt: An excellent source of protein that can be added to smoothies, overnight oats, granola, fruit, and savory dishes.
- Popcorn: A great snack for when you're not too hungry but want to munch on something, as you can eat a lot for not many calories.
- Strawberries: High in water content, nutrients, and fiber, making them a great low-calorie, high-volume food.
Sample Meal Plan for Body Recomposition
This meal plan can serve as a starting point for your recomp diet:
- Breakfast: Avocado toast with three eggs on whole wheat toast, with spinach on top.
- Lunch: Salad with chicken, walnuts, beets, raspberries, cottage cheese, and a citrus vinaigrette.
- Dinner: Shrimp stir fry with vegetables (like carrots and broccoli) and brown rice.
The Truth About Muscle Loss and Weight Loss
Weight loss is the cornerstone of therapy for people with obesity because it can improve or completely resolve the metabolic risk factors for diabetes, coronary artery disease, and obesity-associated cancers. However, the health benefits of diet-induced weight loss may be compromised by the loss of lean body mass, which could increase the risk of sarcopenia (low muscle mass and impaired muscle function).
- Compared with persons with normal weight, those with obesity have more muscle mass but poor muscle quality.
- Diet-induced weight loss reduces muscle mass without adversely affecting muscle strength.
- Weight loss improves overall physical function, most likely because of reduced fat mass.
- High protein intake helps preserve lean body and muscle mass during weight loss but does not improve muscle strength and could have adverse effects on metabolic function.
- Both endurance- and resistance-type exercise help preserve muscle mass during weight loss, and resistance-type exercise also improves muscle strength.