# How do you lose fat and keep muscle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703 "2011-07-03T11:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/1 "2011-07-03T11:19:38Z")
If muscle is more “expensive” than fat, and if, when pushed, the body will jettison muscle _before_ fat, how do you lose the fat and keep the muscle? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/2 "2011-07-03T11:27:31Z")
Taking [creatin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine_supplements) as a daily supplement is recommended to both body builders and gastric-bypass patients. It is harmless, not very expensive, and can be bought at any health store. ---
**Author:** ![George\_Kaplin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3e96dc/32.png) [@George\_Kaplin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/George_Kaplin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/3 "2011-07-03T11:37:32Z")
I can’t take creatine as I have a slight kidney disorder, I’m afraid. Doctor’s orders ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/4 "2011-07-03T12:42:14Z")
Exercise will convince your body to maintain or even build muscle. If you burn more calories than you consume daily then your body will dig into its fat stores to fuel itself while maintaining the muscle IF you exercise. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/5 "2011-07-03T12:55:03Z")
That’s what boxers often have to do when they move up a weight division - put on muscle while simultaneously stripping down their body fat. The answer, basically, is eating a lot of food, but making sure it’s the right diet and coupling it with the right physical workouts. A boxer who’s putting on weight will often have a diet that’s about 6-7 medium sized meals a day, heavy on the meat and vegetables (500g of cooked chicken breast or steak and a plate full of raw vegetables, with a liter of water, for instance). Supplements might have an effect at the margins but putting on muscle and losing fat is not a product of supplements, it’s a product of diet and workout program. [This](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article4449284.ece) is a description of David Haye’s diet when he’s in training. (Granted he lost last night, but anyone who can put on 17lbs and still look like [this](http://www.hayemaker.com/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/imagemanager/files/Haye%20in%20heavyweight%20training1small.jpg) is probably a good model to follow). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-lose-fat-and-keep-muscle/587703/6 "2011-07-03T13:36:44Z")
1. Lose the fat mass slowly enough. 2. Include resistance exercises, such as weight training, and _mix it up_. Include some intensity. If you want muscle mass you need to push the higher weights lower rep end of the spectrum, but still do other work outs too. (The little that creatine _might_ do is allow an athlete already pushing their intensity during a work out to get a small bit more intensity per session. That can translate to a small additional gain, which at that very competitive level may make a difference. Short of the elite level people who use it are fooling themselves.) 3. Make sure you get in some protein [within the anabolic window](http://jap.physiology.org/content/106/5/1692.full) of the work out. Studies show good results with such a snack either immediately before or immediate after the weight training work out. Either one can work. More than an hour after and there is less benefit. 4. Eat breakfast. 5. Lean protein, nuts and seeds, veggies, fruits, overall low fat and fewer and more complex carbs … you know that drill. Yes, pretty much what **Broomstick** and **isaiahrobinson** said. You don’t need to work out and eat like David Haye’s, but scaling down that idea. And a [scientific citation](http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/adis/smd/2006/00000036/00000003/art00005) supporting the claim is always nice. > [@](#): > > The foremost objective of a weight-loss trial has to be the reduction in body fat leading to a decrease in risk factors for metabolic syndrome. However, a concomitant decline in lean tissue can frequently be observed. Given that fat-free mass (FFM) represents a key determinant of the magnitude of resting metabolic rate (RMR), it follows that a decrease in lean tissue could hinder the progress of weight loss. Therefore, with respect to long-term effectiveness of weight-loss programmes, the loss of fat mass while maintaining FFM and RMR seems desirable. > Diet intervention studies suggest spontaneous losses in bodyweight following low-fat diets, and current data on a reduction of the carbohydrate-to-protein ratio of the diet show promising outcomes. Exercise training is associated with an increase in energy expenditure, thus promoting changes in body composition and bodyweight while keeping dietary intake constant. The advantages of strength training may have greater implications than initially proposed with respect to decreasing percentage body fat and sustaining FFM. Research to date suggests that the addition of exercise programmes to dietary restriction can promote more favourable changes in body composition than diet or physical activity on its own. Moreover, recent research indicates that the macronutrient content of the energy-restricted diet may influence body compositional alterations following exercise regimens. Protein emerges as an important factor for the maintenance of or increase in FFM induced by exercise training.