Nutrition for weight loss vs muscle gain

[shanihib]

Specifically, I'm wondering what I can do to encourage muscle formation and what I can do to encourage body fat loss. I've heard that it is hard to accomplish both at once, so does anyone have any suggestions for eating for each of those specific purposes?

Thanks!

Shani

[lioness]

Hi Shani,

A while ago I was talking to a personal trainer who asked me about my diet. When I listed the foods that I normally eat in a day she suggested that I cut out some carbs and increase my protein. I didn't cut out carbs completely but when I made that change I lost 6 pounds and started to see some definition.

I'm not sure it will work for you but you might want to add more protein in your diet. The more protein, more muscle growth, the more burning of fat.

[DirtDiva]

I think it depends on how much emphasis you place on loosing fat versus building muscle. I know that I've adopted a less then 2 pound loss a week, more like one pound a week until I reached my goal, but didn't stop any heavy weight-lifting, just added more cardio and shook up my weight lifting schedule and how I lifted. What I'm trying to say is if you want to lose fat and maintain or build muscle you can't lower your caloric intake past a certain amount based on your height and weight, etc. For me, I'm supposed to take in 2,100 calories a day, so instead of taking it down to 1,400 or 1,500 I hover around 1,700 to 1,800 and continue on with my activities. I know I'm successful when the scale doesn't budge, but my measurements are going down all over. In effect I'm losing the fat and replacing it with lean muscle. I would lower my carb-intake, but not too much because you need carbs to grow muscle too.

[shanihib]

Yep, I'm basically there. I have upped my cardio and decreased my calories, trying to eat 1g of protein per lb of lean body weight. I was thinking more in lines of what to do to build muscle without creating additional fat, in comparison to losing. I found a couple of good articles today while googling "bodybuilding diet women" Now I just need more time to read them! Thanks for your help.