To lose fat while preserving muscle, patience is king

“I want to lose fat and build muscle” can be worded many ways. No matter how you want to phrase it though, that is one of the most popular topics in nutrition. Many people are trying to achieve this trade of fat to muscle and are willing to try just about anything to do so. That is a recipe for a lot of potential problems.

It’s hard work to build muscle in the first place! And if looking to lose fat, we don’t want to lose that muscle along with it. For the body to lose weight it comes down to consuming less calories than our body burns. To keep the body going though it needs to still get energy from somewhere. Our goal is to get the body to focus on pulling from fat for that energy.

The faster that weight is lost though, the greater the risk that muscle will be pulled from. Faster weight loss means less calories being consumed and naturally the body is looking for energy wherever it can get it to keep going. That is the formula for when muscle becomes collateral damage. While the scale may have a lower number, what’s lost to quickly get there likely isn’t worth it.

So then how can we lose fat while building muscle?

1) Hard work in the gym

Again, it was a lot of work to build muscle in the first place. That doesn’t change during this time period where we are looking to lose fat. Keep lifting and stimulating that muscle growth.

Athlete working out in gym doing a deadlift.
Clock on the grass representing patience.

2) Patience

A weight loss of ~0.5 pound to 1 pound per week is a good rate. This slower rate loss allows the ability to still provide enough calories to fuel our workouts and our muscles while still losing weight.

3) Extra protein

Having extra protein will provide the building blocks to help the body build and maintain muscle. Aim for around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. (Ex: 180 pound person = 180g protein per day)

Table with protein rich foods surrounding the written word 'protein'.
A pug puppy dog laying in a bed with its head on a pillow, a blanket pulled up and sleeping with its tongue sticking out.

4) Sleep

Turn off Fortnite and go to bed! When we sleep our body does the most recovery and muscle building/repairing. If we don’t get enough sleep our body has an increase in stress as well. This added stress can cause a hormonal shift making it tougher to lose fat as well as to build muscle. So go to sleep! Sometimes the simplest advice is the toughest to do.

Focusing on these keys and doing them consistently will set you up beautifully. Like in most situations, good things come to those who wait! Throwing in some sweat and hard work helps too 😉