Best Foods To Eat To Gain Muscle And Lose Fat At The Same Time
If youre wondering what are the best foods to eat to gain muscle mass and, at the same time, lose fat mass, weve got you covered. These six foods are the best when it comes to shaping a jaw-dropping body.
Building muscle through exercise while on a high-protein low-calorie diet makes you lose body fat faster, states a study from McMaster University.
Whats important here is that this particular combination of weight loss factors also helps increasing your lean muscle mass.
Doing the same thing with a different kind of diet wont lead to that result, though youll still burn some fat.
Thats why its essential to make sure your muscle-building diet is filled with the right foods.
Breakfast Lunch And Dinner Diet To Lose Weight And Build Muscle
Don’t eat too many calories, don’t eat too few calories coming up with meals to lose weight and gain muscle can be tough when there’s so much advice out there on the best way to do it. Are you better off loading up on protein? Or should you emphasize carbs instead?
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Despite any misconceptions you might have heard in the past, it’s possible to improve your muscle strength and performance while you still lose weight. And no, you don’t have to follow any fancy eating plan. Focusing instead on basic nutritional wisdom and exercise guidelines will help you achieve an improved body composition. Here’s what you should know, along with a few ideas for meal plans and recipes to lose fat and gain muscle.
Find Out Which Nutrient
There are plenty of resources out there explaining how to lose weight and we are all familiar with the traditional method of creating a calorie deficit to drop some pounds, but if you want to be fit, strong, and healthy, you likely have two goals in mind to lose fat and gain muscle. This is where it gets tricky because you need a lot of energy and specific nutrients to accomplish both of these at once. In order to be successful, you should keep one eye on your calorie count, but above all else, eat the right nutrient-rich foods. Ready to make a change? As always, speak to your physician before making drastic changes to your diet and lifestyle. Once you’re ready to embark on this journey, you can work these foods into your diet, challenge yourself in your workouts, and be sure to drink plenty of water to build muscle, lose fat, and feel your very best.
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Eat Protein Every Day To Lose Fat And Build Muscle
Protein is essential to both fat loss and muscle gain. For fat loss, include protein in every meal to have an increased thermic effect. You see, protein-rich foods help to increase your metabolism because your body requires more energy to digest them.
Which foods increase the thermogenesis, or fat burning process?
- Chicken and turkey
- Cottage cheese and full-fat yogurt
- Eggs
- Red meat like pork and beef
Cook To Reach Your Weight Loss Goals
Meal preparation is your friend! Scrambling to prepare food last minute is not fun, and personally I dont do it.
At minimum, I will prepare meals one day in advance to avoid the risk of not reaching my caloric or macro nutrient requirements.
Also dont leave yourself with an empty fridge and being forced to consider ordering some fast food which will most likely be filled with gluten, enriched wheat flower, and other ingredients which may taste great in the moment, but will have you paying for it later with weight gain, inflammation, and much more.
I dont get overly complex when preparing meals because Im not that into cooking. I do it to ready my meals and reach my goals, but I dont enjoy cooking as a hobby.
If you enjoy cooking, then thats great! You can get really creative with your dishes and have fun while doing it.
In either case Im sure if you try some of these recipes youll not only start experimenting yourself with ingredients, but youll start seeing some serious gains in terms of weight loss, or gaining muscle strength. Now youre ready to start learning how to get fit!
Good luck and bon appetit!
Featured photo credit: Pexels via pexels.com
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Weightlifting And Hiit Training Are Where You’ll See The Most Gains
Dont be scared of weight training, Oprea tells her clients that are worried about looking too jacked. It’s actually a major part in accomplishing fat loss and muscle gains at the same time.
“Weights help you to put on more muscle mass and the weights also help you to burn more calories,” Khader says. How? Because muscle burns calories but body fat does not. “People think ‘I dont want to put on muscle because I dont want to get bulky,’ but thats not true. Lifting weights helps you to burn more fat more efficiently,” Khader says.
“Lifting weights helps you to burn more fat more efficiently.”
When it comes to body recomposition Catadul recommends 34 days a week of 45minute strength and weight training exercises with 60 second rests in between exercises.
But he’ll also do a 15-20 minute HIIT workout. Oprea’s go-to is a tabbata workout where each round lasts four minutes. You’ll do 20 seconds of all out intensity, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times. “HIIT is the most efficient way of burning fat,” Catadul says. “Youll burn as many calories in a 15minute hit session as you would in an hour of jogging.”
Losing Fat And Gaining Muscle At The Same Time
To understand why losing fat while gaining muscle can be problematic, we need to explore both processes.
Lets consider the following points:
-
To lose fat, your body needs to be in a caloric deficit. This deficit forces your body to use pre-existing fat stores for fuel.
-
To gain muscle, your body needs to be in a caloric surplus. This surplus provides the energy your body requires to repair and build bigger muscles.
Given this, losing fat at the same time one is gaining muscle seems impossible.
However, if we go a few steps deeper into the science, it IS possible!
To appreciate the nuance here, letâs get into some specifics on losing fat and gaining muscle separately, and then weâll combine them.
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How Muscle And Strength Is Gained
Working out and exercise is clearly going to yield muscle and strength gains, however back to my point of consistency this will be a huge factor.
You should be moving your body at least 3 days of the week intensely, meaning increasing your heart rate and building up a sweat, and moving with low-intensity for the remaining 4 days.
Now youre probably thinking wait, 3 + 4 = 7.. common now, I need to exercise 7 days a week? Well, yes and no.
Yes you do need to have low impact cardio movement such as walking at a brisk pace, or hiking/trekking, or even basic body weight squats or Hindu squats.
When you move your body, you are activating all sorts of neurotransmitters in the brain, and chemicals dispersed throughout the body as well.
With even a couple 10-15min brisk pace walk each off-day from training , you will notice significant improvements in circulation, breathing, weight loss, muscle development, and overall happiness and well being.
Your brain functions better when you move! When your brain functions better, you make better decisions, and allocate energetic resources properly.
Should You Take Supplements
The most popular question that comes up when people think of building muscles is what type of protein supplement to buy.
My recommendation is to try your best to get protein from food sources first because they are a natural source of amino acids, minerals, and micronutrients. Eating the protein versus drinking the protein will help to keep you full longer because your body needs to break down the food.
However, there are times where youre on the go, and you simply do not have time to sit down and eat. In that case, a protein shake would be a good option.
Do your research on a protein supplement before you buy so you get the best one for your needs. Below are recommendations of what you should look for in a healthy and clean protein powder:
1. 3rd Party Inspected
The first thing you should research is if the protein supplement you are considering has been inspected by an independent third party company. This will tell you if the protein per serving on the nutrition label is accurate.
At the same time, the inspection will also check for contaminants and heavy metals that could be present and harmful to your health.
2. Amount of Protein per Serving Is Close to Serving Size
You also want to make sure that youre paying for a protein supplement and not a meal replacement that is full of carbs and minimal protein for your muscle building diet. You can check by looking at the nutrition label.
3. Minimal to No Fillers
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Steak And Bean Burrito Bowl
Serves: 4Nutrition: 450 calories, 13 g fat , 563 mg sodium, 42 g carbs , 41 g protein
What better way to eat some of our favorite protein-packed foodsblack beans and grass-fed beefthan in a burrito bowl. This tortilla-less dish is not only delicious but also budget friendly. Even though grass-fed beef can be pricey, this recipe doesn’t only rely on the beef. That way, you can save money and be just as satisfied by the ample amount of veggies it’s served with.
Get the recipe from Gimme Delicious.
With The Right Plan And The Right Discipline You Can Get Seriously Shredded In Just 28 Days
Youre training hard every day with your program, going heavy on the weights and sweating up a storm with cardio. News flash: While thats critical to your ultimate success, its just not enough for you to lose the excess fat.
To reach your get-lean goal, you must also follow a get-lean diet, filled with the best foods to burn fat. Why? Even if you work out hard for an hour every day, that still leaves 23 more hours for you to wreck all your hard work in the gym with just one slip-up: a measly handful of chips, a beer with the guys, or a burger at lunch. Diet is a huge, so to speak, part of the fat-loss equation. Its the backbone of your entire plan, the foundation of a hard body.
Bodybuilding nutrition consultant Jim Juge says nutrition determines your success or failure, plain and simple. The diet is 65% of what you need to get in shape, he says. Juge would know, as hes helped countless dedicated people reach their goals, from achieving their best body ever to placing first in bodybuilding competitions.
10’000 Hours / Getty
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Meals For Gaining Muscle: The Right Nutrition For Muscle Growth
Gaining muscle is not quite as easy as going to the gym and lifting weights. That is just one part of the equation. In reality, gaining muscle requires two main things: a stimulus for growth and the energy to grow tissue.
Whether you are a Certified Nutrition Coach, Sports Nutrition Coach, Bodybuilder, or an enthusiast looking to optimize your muscle growth – this blog will show you the nutritional requirements and necessary food for gaining muscle.
Let’s dive in!
Is It Easy To Follow A Whole Food Diet
Once youve got your head around having ingredients rather than ready-to-eat things in your kitchen cupboards, its actually very easy. The only issue is the lifestyle and habit changes that come along with it.
It is very likely that for many people, following a totally, religiously whole food diet may be unattainable at least some of the time. For example, there are days where you dont get time to make your lunch or if you want to enjoy social eating. Similarly, people who have young children or who are working more than one job are unlikely to be able to follow a whole food diet all of the time.
Sometimes, we put ourselves under pressure to be as perfect as we can with diets like this, which can lead to an eating disorder called Orthorexia, which is a preoccupation with healthy eating.
This means that following a whole food diet, in principle, can be healthy and accessible for some people but not for everyone. It also means that those with previous disordered eating, as always, need to avoid any form of dietary restriction or rules around their diet.
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More On Building Muscle
Ive been a dietitian now for a long time , and if theres one thing I know for sure, its that fad diets are best avoided. This is why Im so pleased that whole food diets are being talked about more and more.
Rather than a diet, I prefer to think of a whole food diet as a way of life. Eating this way is balanced, and it is a great way to support your all-around body health and longevity. Plus, its delicious andin my opinionnot limiting either, which is a massive bonus.
A well-balanced diet follows some fairly basic principles and, in essence, consists of plenty of the following:
- Fruit
Eat Only Unprocessed Carbs To Lose Fat And Build Muscle
Packaged foods contain processed carbs that are not going to benefit you in any way. Get your carb count from unprocessed foods, and dont fill up on carbs unnecessarily. Look to fiber-filled veggies and healthy proteins as your primary food items, and add in some good carbs to round out the meal.
Carbs do fuel your muscles, but youve got to choose your carbs wisely.
- Brown rice
- Quinoa
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Spicy Sesame Zoodles With Crispy Tofu
Serves: 6Nutrition: 500 calories, 32 g fat , 750 mg sodium, 21 g carbs , 30 g protein
Looking for some plant-based protein? Look no further than this spicy zoodle recipe. Cubes of extra firm tofu are seared up, combined with fresh spiralized zucchini, and then covered in a sauce made with protein-packed peanut butter, sesame oil, freshly grated ginger, and spicy chili paste. Trust us, one bite and you’ll see that this will be your new go-to weeknight meal. Here’s a tip: When grabbing tofu, make sure to pick up a package that’s GMO-free and organic .
Get the recipe from Pinch of Yum.
Best Meal Prep Tips To Help You Lose Fat And Build Muscle
Do you want to lose belly fat? One of the biggest not-well-kept secrets to the success of every top athlete in the world is dietary planning and meal prep.
You can train as hard or as often as you want, but if its not underpinned by an effective and consistent diet, dont expect to achieve the results you want.
Having a structured and well-planned diet is critical to success, whatever your fitness goals be it strength and performance gains to compete in the Olympics or optimal body composition to look good on the beach. Ive worked with top athletes across the spectrum from GB Rowing and Weightlifting to UFC fighters and CrossFit Games athletes like Sam Briggs and we deliver exceptional results.
All our athletes and clients have one thing in common every meal they eat is prepared and planned, every calorie is counted, every macronutrient timed for maximum effect and every single ingredient used is of the highest quality to fuel their bodies for optimal performance.
But meal prep isnt just for CrossFit Games athletes and Olympians it is the cornerstone of success for anyone who trains to be faster, fitter, stronger and in better shape than ever. If there is one thing that will guarantee results, its a diet structured to meet your goalsand that starts with prepping meals efficiently and effectively.
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Maple Mustard Grilled Chicken
Image from thefitchen.com
The best thing about chicken is that its a blank canvas. You can marinate, season, and cook it in any number of ways to get the flavor you want while staying healthy.
This Maple Mustard Grilled Chicken recipe offers just one way to enjoy grilled chicken with some maple mustard flavors for a tasty meal!
This recipe is for a great summer dish that is perfect for the grill.
Its quick and easy to make, but it tastes like you spent all day in the kitchen. While it takes only 10 minutes to cook.
The combination of maple syrup and dijon mustard gives this dish an extra kick that will have your mouth watering before you even take a bite.
Calories: 150kcal, Protein: 24g, Carbs: 7g
How Much Protein Do You Need To Gain Muscle
Many people find themselves asking, How much protein should I eat to gain muscle? Like most things in life, there isnt a one-size-fits-all answer, but there are some guidelines that can help when it comes to muscle building foods.
How Much Protein Per Day?
The recommended dietary requirements for daily protein is at a modest 0.8 g/kg of body weight per day. This means if you weigh 130lbs, optimal protein intake would translate to eating a minimum of 47g of protein, or about 2 small chicken breasts a day as part of a muscle building diet.
This RDA requirement is the bare minimum of protein consumption and is based on the average sedentary individual. If you dont exercise and also sit for 8+ hours a day, then the RDA recommendation is perfect for you, and theres no reason why you need to eat more protein.
How Much Protein Per Day to Build Muscle?
I have found from training clients that a higher protein intake translates to faster fat loss and a higher metabolism versus a lower protein intake, even if you dont do strength training. Adding more protein to your diet causes you to eat less, which results in weight loss.
For building muscle and fat loss, I would recommend about 40% of your total calories come from protein, or about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
Good Sources of Protein
Instead, swap out your breakfast with high-protein choices like eggs, Greek yogurt, or smoked salmon, or throw a scoop of protein powder in your smoothie or oatmeal.
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