Can we lose weight and build muscle at the same time?

I assume you are a beginner and need help deciding how to start losing weight. You also want to have nice, firm muscles. How do you get started?

Unfortunately, from my own experience, you can’t do both at the same time. Think about it logically: to build muscle, you’d need to put on extra weight and to lose weight, you’d need to lose fat. This is very difficult to do at the same time because you have to drastically change your diet and also incorporate a lot of (weight) training into your lifestyle.

You’d have to meticulously count macros and calories per meal and switch to very high amounts of protein. If you’re not used to that, it’s challenging. In the short term, you’ll hate chicken, pork, beef, fish, cottage cheese, eggs, and protein powder: in other words, everything that’s essential for building muscle.

You’d also need to add 3-5 weight training sessions to build muscle and, of course, cardio to burn fat.

There have been too many changes, and I think that’s the best chance you have of giving up in a few weeks.

Instead, start counting calories to see how many you’re putting in. Start doing cardio comfortably: walking 3-4 times a week for 35-40 minutes in a steady fat-burning range, running, Zumba, dancing—whatever you feel like. Use your smartwatch to see how many calories you burn each week.

From there, it’s easy: calculate your ideal calorie intake. Shoot for a BMI of around 21-22, a good approximation for men and women. Add up the total active calories you accumulate per week. You’ll get three values: don’t exceed the maximum and minimum for daily meals; anything in between is considered good.

I shot my BMI at 20.5, and my average weekly amount of exercise in the last few weeks has been 4000 active calories. So, for example, now, in April 2024, my recommended maximum intake is 2128 calories, and my minimum is 1660 calories.

If I did no exercise and just wanted to lose weight by eating, my maximum calorie intake would be 1557, and I shouldn’t go below 1214. Even that would be manageable, although I would have to get used to far fewer calories than I have now. It wouldn’t be impossible: after all, if I didn’t move out of the house, I wouldn’t have a high energy demand, would I?

So what do you eat? Stick to calorie limits, whatever you like or desire. I’m having chocolate with nuts and fried chicken breast fillets. That’s what I’m craving. I just have to ensure that the chocolate doesn’t have any dairy in it because I’m not compatible with it in the long term.

You can help your weight loss with a higher protein diet, roughly 1.5 - 2.2 g of protein is recommended per lean kilogram of body weight. For example, eating half a kilo of vegetables or fruit daily alongside protein is also a good goal. Unless you have some kind of food allergy, you don’t need to put anything on your ban list.

Intermittent fasting can also be a good idea: for example, an 8-hour-a-day eating window and a 16-hour no-eating period. Anything more than 50 calories is said to break the fast, so that’s something to watch out for.

It’s also important to only go below 1200 calories if you know what you’re doing. And only go below 1000 calories if it is supported by a health professional you have consulted.

And, of course, experiment! Try new forms of exercise, new diets, or anything that makes you like the change.

It’s safest to seek the advice of a specialist. You may be extremely overweight, have an illness, or have any other condition that makes it difficult to try any of the above. I’m not trying to discourage you; I’m just making you aware that there are risks you need to consider.

• weight loss
• healthy lifestyle
• calorie calculation

Translations:

• hu: Lehet-e fogyni és izmot építeni egyszerre?