Health Fitness
The correct way to lose weight and gain muscle

The correct way to lose weight and gain muscle

Many people lose weight the wrong way. Some people try to starve themselves on super-low-calorie diets, while others will follow a low-carb or low-fat diet. These diets can leave you in poor health, with a damaged metabolism. A healthy diet would be one that has the right combination of protein, fat, and carbohydrates for the individual.

There are three main ways that your body loses weight. 1. Water or dehydration 2. Lean weight loss which is loss of muscle mass and 3. Loss of fat. Water and muscle is something you don’t want to lose. The more muscle you lose, the lower your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is the number of calories your body uses per day at rest. In my last post, I showed you how to calculate your BMR and how to add your activity level. That is the first thing you need to know.

Once you know your daily calorie intake, you can now divide your calories into proper macronutrient ratios. Macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. A good place to start would be a 1-2-3 ratio. One part fat, two parts protein, and three parts carbohydrates. That equals six parts. So take your daily calorie intake (DCI) and divide it by six. For example, let’s say our ICD is 3,000 calories a day. 3000/6 = 500. So each part will have 500 calories. So that would mean 500 calories from fat, 1000 calories from protein, and 1500 calories from carbohydrates. There are 9 calories in a gram of fat, 4 calories in a gram of protein, and 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrates. (1 g of fat = 9 cal) (1 g of protein = 4 cal) (1 g of carbohydrates = 4 cal). So if we do the math, it would be 500/9 = 55.5g of fat per day, 250g of protein, and 375g of carbohydrates per day. This is just a good starting point. If you are doing a lot of high intensity training, you could go with a 1-2-4 ratio. As you go along, you may find the ratio that works best for your body, but I wouldn’t suggest that you never go below 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Every cell in our body is constantly being recycled. Our new cells come from the protein we consume every day.

Now, how do we use this information to lose weight? The answer is zigzagging your calories to build muscle while losing fat! Remember that the more muscle you have, the more calories your body uses each day! For 4-5 days a week, reduce your caloric intake by two calories per pound of lean body weight. These days should be your light training days or rest days. For the remaining 2 to 3 days, increase your caloric intake by 2 calories per pound of lean body weight. These should be your intense or heavy training days.

Healthy fat loss occurs at a slow rate. This is one of the most effective ways to lose weight and build muscle mass.

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