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How to Eat and Exercise to Lose Fat and Build Muscle

When you start a weight loss journey, you are likely going to lose both fat and muscle at the same time. So, if you want to lose weight while building muscle, you should realize that your goal is difficult but not unachievable. In other words, you can lose fat and build muscle at the same. However, you need to master how you eat and exercise if you want to accomplish the goal.

In this article, we will take the time to describe how you can eat and exercise to promote fat loss and muscle gain at the same time.

Cut down calories smartly

If you are looking for ways to lose fat, it is important for you cut the calories that you consume. However, you are also likely going to lose some muscle because the reduced calorie intake will affect your workout. Additionally, low caloric intake can reduce the rate of your metabolism.

Therefore, you need to be smart with the way you cut down calories. It is recommended that the calorie intake should be reduced gradually. This allows your body to adjust to the changes without a drastic depletion in your energy level. The amount of energy burned in your body will decrease so that you can save some calories. Over time, you will help you to lose fat while still preserving your muscle.

Use protein as your major source of calories

Basically, it has been estimated that an average adult requires a daily intake of at least 0.8g of protein for each kilogram of body weight. That is, if you weigh 70kg, your daily intake of protein should be at least 56 grams. With this amount of protein, you will have enough protein to carry out your daily activities without any problem.

However, for people that want to lose fat and build muscle, the recommended daily protein intake is not enough. In other words, you need to increase the amount of protein that you consume every day. This is because protein is responsible for recovery after workouts. Therefore, failure to take enough protein will have an adverse effect on your workout performance. As a result of this, you will neither be able to burn lots of fat nor build much muscle. So, if you want to perform well during your workouts, you need lots of protein.

You need to make sure that proteins form at least 30% of your daily caloric intake. Beans, sprouted rice proteins, and pea are good examples of plant-based proteins you should consider. Turkey, chicken, and salmon are also great sources of animal-based proteins.

Perform lots of strength training

When it comes to building muscle and losing fat, you need to lift lots of heavy weights. Dumbbells and barbells are some of the best tools you need to get for strength training. It is advisable to look for a weight that tires you out after about 10 to 15 reps. Such weight will play a key role in ensuring that you build muscle while still losing unhealthy fat stored in your body.

However, if you start feeling that such a weight is too easy to lift, you need to increase it. Over time, you will start noticing a significant increase in your muscle.

Alternatively, you can also do high-intensity interval exercises that are capable of building muscle and lowering body fat. One of these exercises is sprinting on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

But you need to avoid overdoing the strength training as this can put too much stress on your muscles. Instead of helping you to build muscle, the training will prevent your muscles from growing. Therefore, you need to restrict the training to about 4 days every week. Also, when you feel uncomfortable, you should not hesitate to end the training for the day.

Recover with cardio

As you reduce the amount of calories you take, it will become increasingly difficult for you to build muscle with cardio. But since you are already lifting weights, you don't have to be bothered about this issue. However, you still need cardio.

The main benefit of cardio is to assist you to recover quickly your workouts. As your recovery rate increases, you will be able to continue lifting weights to build muscle and also lose fat. Notably, the cardio should come in between your strength training.

Some of the best low-intensity cardio you can consider include:

● Cycling

● Swimming

● Jogging

● Walking

These aerobic exercises are also excellent belly fat exercises for men struggling with weight.