Jun
Is it possible to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time? And if so, how? The very idea that you can lose weight and gain muscle simultaneously is surely a contradiction in terms. To lose weight one must consume less calories, whilst to gain muscle, one must consume more calories. Well this is the theory. In practise it’s somewhat different, as I shall explain below.
To understand how it is possible to lose weight and gain muscle it is important to have a basic understanding of how our bodies work in relation to how we metabolize our intake of fuel. It’s not as cut and dried as if you consume an excessive amount of calories you’ll put weight on, whilst cutting back will lead to weight loss.
Each and every one of us has what is called a resting metabolic rate. This is the rate at which our bodies burn calories when we do absolutely nothing - when we’re expending the least amount of energy. That’s at rest and breathing (yes, even breathing consumes calories!) Everyone’s resting metabolic rate is different, so the notion that one diet program or fad fits all is nonsense. It is possible to have your resting metabolic rate measured. Once you know roughly how many calories you need on a daily basis just to stay alive, you can then work out a diet plan to lose weight based on all the other calorie burning activities you do, and work out how many calories YOU need to function normally and lose weight. It may well be that the recommended daily 2000 calories for women or 2500 for men could still result in weight gain if you have a relatively low resting metabolic rate to start with. What determines our resting metabolic rate? Our muscle mass.
Too many weight loss programs concentrate heavily on the ‘lose weight’ side of the equation, and ignore the ‘gain muscle’. The majority of ‘faddy’ diets we see in the weekly women’s (and men’s!) magazines advocate cutting calories to ridiculously low levels or leaving out whole food groups altogether. The resulting weight lost is usually firstly, water, and secondly (and very importantly), muscle mass. If these kind of diets are reducing muscle mass the results will be an even lower metabolic rate. Your body registers that fewer calories are being consumed, which triggers a ‘famine alert’, and your metabolic rate slows right down. You’ll need even less calories for basic survival, and anything consumed over this reduced amount will result in weight gain.
To lose weight safely you therefore need to work on increasing your metabolic rate by increasing your muscle mass. It is therefore important to incorporate some weight bearing exercise into your diet program. Weight training won’t result in great hulking bodybuilder-type muscles (unless that’s what you’re after!), but some weight-bearing exercise will increase your muscle mass, which will in turn raise your resting metabolic rate and the rate at which you burn calories.
Any diet program should therefore start with the aim of gaining muscle. Work on increasing your muscle mass, and with a balanced lower calorie diet that incorporates all food groups (proteins and carbs), the weight loss will take care of itself.
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