Can you lose fat and keep/build muscle simultaneously

[thebigE92]

Hey this is my first post but I’m looking to get back in shape and need some opinions a little bit about my workout history I played high school football and stayed active moderately afterwards (lifting and jiu jitsu) so I’ve got a good base but I stopped some life events happened and I have since let myself go significantly. Currently I’m 25 5’10 last I checked I was pushing close to 400 and I’ve got a lot of body fat to burn so would a low calorie diet with protein shakes be good to lose and keep my muscle mass? My current workout regimen has been running 3miles daily and lifting MWF while eating 2000cals but being as that I have a lot more fat to burn will it help cut to back 1000 calories since I have a bunch of excess calories stored away for many winters to burn?

[Serpentarius]

No, otherwise nobody would ever bulk. The counterargument is bulking is more efficient, and no it isnt. You cannot make progress when you eat enough calories to maintain, let alone a deficit. The other argument is that newbies can gain muscle, which is absolute even further irrelevant, they dont stay newbies forever.

[skyjumper]

Currently I’m 25 5’10 last I checked I was pushing close to 400 and I’ve got a lot of body fat to burn so would a low calorie diet with protein shakes be good to lose and keep my muscle mass?

Your TDEE without exercise is about 3,367 calories. When someone is as big as you, you can do a large deficit, so you can do 2,200. Going down to 1,000 calories per day is too big a deficit.

At this point, I think your workout routines are much less important than getting the calorie intake under control. Yes, do strength training twice per week and cardio 3 times per week, that's all good but you won't be gaining any muscle, just looking to preserve what you have. You'll lose some muscle, it's unavoidable, but the strength training and protein (through normal food) will mitigate that.

What you really need is a food scale and an app to track. I like MyFitnessPal. Weigh all your food and track it carefully. Don't drink any calories. It's not time for protein shakes, just eat real food like beef and chicken and pork for your protein and get your veggies in. Whatever you eat, though, sticking to your calorie limit is the most important thing for weight loss.

On the plus side, people this big can drop weight very quickly. Stick to the diet and you'll see progress quickly, and that's very motivating.

[thebigE92]

Thanks guys I really just want to keep my mass should’ve been more specific but thanks for the knowledge I’ll definitely start with getting a scale and food diary Hear those help a lot thanks!

[melendfi]

The definite answer is " a Big No", but with that said. The closest thing to it is a concept of Body Re-composition as described in the Ultimate Diet 2 book By Lyle McDonald. I have been in this program for 6 weeks now.

These are my stats:
January 15 2018 198#, at 21% Body Fat, = 156 Lean Body Mass
February 21 2018 190#, at 17% Body Fat, = 157 Lean Body Mass.

In 5 weeks I have gained 1 pound on lean mass and lost 7 pounds of fat.

[kusok]

To answer the thread title only:

Yes. Especially as a noob or when RE-gaining muscle (aka muscle memory)

As you get more advanced it will be harder and harder to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, and eventually it will be more practical to focus on one thing at a time.

[Tommy W.]

Concentrate on fatloss. A good lifting program and a big deficit will give you the best of both worlds. You won't gain muscle or at least enough to matter however you'll get the fat off and that should be your #1 goal at this point.

[Rebuilt3]

don't cut your calories back too far, its not healthy to starve yourself. Run like the guys mentioned already around 2000 calories or so and keep your nutrition under control. strive to make some progress everyday. Little progressions add up to be big results. I am currently cutting myself too, and im half new to being back workout again, im still getting stronger while i'm cutting.

Good luck, and stick with it! Set up a bunch of small goals for yourself, and maybe download a calorie tracking app like my fitnesspal