How to Lose Body Fat and Gain Muscle Effectively
Most people want to learn how to lose body fat and gain muscle at the start of every year.
Run a Google search, and you’ll find countless results for diets and exercises. Your social media feed is probably filled with your friend’s new lifestyle regimen for 2021.
Unfortunately, the myriad of tips available could seem overwhelming. It can be confusing to choose the best way to build muscle and lose fat.
Thankfully, you could follow the common principle behind weight loss: diet and exercise. Most of the fitness fads and traditional methods recommend these two.
Focus on Diet
All methods on how to lose body fat and gain muscle typically include healthy eating habits.
It would be best if you had both diet and exercise for effective weight loss. However, reducing calories is more crucial for losing weight than increasing physical activity.
This difference is also known as a calorie deficit. To achieve weight loss, you must attain calorie deficits every day.
It’s mostly achieved by eating less, but you must consider other factors as well. Your calorie deficits will depend on your daily foods and exercises.
Most methods on how to lose body fat and gain muscle emphasize reducing calorie consumption. It’s because most people lose more calories doing this compared to exercise.
Although, effective weight loss means cutting calories with diet and burning them with exercise. Exercise boosts your dieting efforts, leading to better weight loss.
Protein-Based
For effective weight loss, you may follow a protein-based diet.
It involves increasing your protein intake while reducing carbohydrate consumption. You should eat starchy and sweet foods moderately, so you could avoid having high blood sugar.
Instead, choose food with “complete protein” like meats, eggs, dairy, poultry, and fish. You may also add vegetable proteins from seeds, legumes, beans, grains, and nuts.
Why is protein recommended when discussing how to lose body fat and gain muscle? Well, this vital nutrient facilitates weight loss and improves overall wellbeing:
- Prevents unnecessary cravings – Protein helps you feel full much longer after meals. This could help you strictly follow a diet regimen, so you’re likely to lose weight.
- Improves your metabolism – Simply put, protein helps your body burn more calories. Studies show it could boost your metabolic rate up to 20%-35%.
- Builds muscle mass – A protein-based diet may increase muscle mass and strength gains from resistance training.
Supports bone health – Eating more protein could strengthen your bones. In turn, you may reduce your risk of related complications such as hip fractures. - Facilitates recovery from injuries – Experts found that high-protein diets could improve healing wounds sustained from injury or surgery.
- Reduce muscle lost due to aging – People lose muscle as they grow old. A study showed that a protein shake every day could protect the muscles of older men.
If you want to start your protein-based diet, eat at least 25-30 grams of protein per meal. This is the recommended minimum for effective weight loss and improved health.
Furthermore, you should eat a well-balanced diet by incorporating other foods. Besides meat, you should eat vegetables, fruits, and other plant foods as well.
Nevertheless, remember that there are other ways on how to lose body fat and gain muscle. This method is highly recommended, but you may find others that better suit you.
Fitness and Workouts
Physical activity is the other crucial aspect of weight loss.
As we’ve mentioned, physical fitness boosts your diet’s effectiveness. Consequently, exercise and diet are the keys to weight loss.
Even better, exercise has numerous benefits for overall health:
- Lowers risk of heart problems
- Helps in managing insulin and blood sugar levels
- Improves mood and mental health
- Maintains brain function as you age
- Facilitates sleep
Reduce risk for certain types of cancers
Lengthens life expectancy
However, what fitness program is the best for weight loss? It can be confusing since there are many suggestions on losing body fat and gaining muscle online.
Strength Training Focus
According to a Cleveland Clinic article, strength training helps in burning fat and building muscle.
It involves adding resistance to a certain muscle movement. As a result, it exerts more effort and gains more strength.
Moreover, it breaks down muscle tissue, causing soreness afterward. Then, your body fuses the damaged fibers, increasing muscle growth.
Even better, you could lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously by including a protein-based diet. Together, they comprise the best method on how to lose body fat and gain muscle.
What’s more, strength training comes with these other benefits:
- Boosts metabolism
- Strengthens bones
- Improves physical appearance
- Enhances balance and coordination
- Reduces risk of injury from physical activities
- Improves performance in sports
You may start strength training by consulting a fitness coach so that you can follow a safe weight training program with proper lifting techniques. You may visit your local gym or check online for fitness training.
Typical strength training programs involve lifting weights like barbells and dumbbells. Also, they could include weight machines and bodyweight exercises.
Lose Weight at a Slow Pace
Every method on how to lose body fat and gain muscle follows a slow and steady pace.
In this age of same-day shipping and instant cooking, people expect immediate results. This is the reason why many of them still fall for promises of instant weight loss.
Worse, some people try to rush to lose weight. They might workout too hard or diet too much, hoping they could hit their goals quickly.
Unfortunately, crash diets and excessive workouts are unsustainable. People usually can’t sustain the drastic lifestyle changes, so they end up quitting their fitness goals.
Remember that every method on how to lose body fat and gain muscle involves changing your life. You should strive for a healthy weight, then sustain it every day.
Stretch and Meditate
Your fitness program should always involve stretches. Also, you could include meditation practices to improve your weight loss routine.
Stretching encompasses physical activities that lengthen the muscles involved. Here are the reasons why stretching is important:
- Prepares the body for exercise
- Relieves soreness after workouts
- Decreases injury risks
- Improves posture
- Reduces muscle stiffness
- Helps muscles relax
- Aids in managing stress
- Improves blood circulation
What’s more, meditation could help you lose more weight. It’s a type of complementary mind-body medicine that produces relaxation and tranquility.
Most meditation techniques involve maintaining focus and clearing jumbled thoughts in mind. Although, you may choose from several types of meditation methods.
It’s an additional way to lose body fat and gain muscle for many reasons.
It helps in maintaining a healthy appetite, so you can follow your fitness routine easier. Meditation may also reduce stress, so you don’t overeat in response.
Final Thoughts
Protein-based dieting and strength training are important in reducing weight.
Though, it’s not the only way on how to lose body fat and gain muscle. The best method will ultimately depend on your body’s unique characteristics.
As we’ve mentioned, you should consult with a fitness professional for the regimen that suits you. They will check your body composition and other factors to determine the appropriate weight loss program.
Nevertheless, all ways to lose body fat and gain muscle are paved with patience and discipline.
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