I'm 5'4 and 160lbs and muscular, but I want to be skinny and fit. I don't have a big belly, it's small, but there's some fat there and some on my pecs. I want to be able to keep most of my muscle,and just lose the fat, I think something around 140lbs or 130 would be nice for me. I'm running/walking for about a hour, but now I'm doing it 5 days instead of 3 a week. and I'm cutting my meals in half. Think this is healthy? I'm still having 5 meals, morning is milk and apples or grapes and fried eggs in the morning. Then I take two small snacks ( usually bananas, peaches, and pears.) and then my lunch is always rice with fish curry or chicken curry, and for dinner I also have rice once again with this type of stew called dal. And that's my diet. I'm keeping the same diet, but cutting my portions in half. Would this make me loose a lot my muscle? Or is there other ways?
How to Lose Weight With Shift Work
Recommended Answer:
Well to minimize your muscle loss while dieting, you'll probably want to consider several factors...For one, you'll want to focus on your diet. You'll need to be burning more calories than you consume, but by eating in a way that will not cause your body to catabolize muscle as a fuel source. If you were strictly dieting, then to accomplish this, it would require you to only restrict enough calories to force your body to use some of your body fat to fuel your activities at times, but not restrict them too much to where your body will sense that it needs to sacrifice some muscle tissue (which is your main calorie burner) in an effort to avoid starvation and death. If it senses starvation, your body will choose to cut off the main calorie burning source (the muscle), before it chooses to cut off the calorie source itself (fat supply). This would lead to an eventual slowing of the rate at which fat is being burned, and also a loss of muscle of course.Slowing of metabolism is a dieter's worst enemy, the faster your metabolism is going, the more calories you will burn, and the more likely it is that your body will choose body fat as a fuel source. When the body goes into starvation mode, internal processes lean towards preferring muscle as the fuel source as opposed to fat as a survival mechanism. This is obviously the thing you are trying to avoid. But in this case you are choosing to exercise, and one thing about fat loss is... it's much easier to burn it off than it is to starve it off. It takes time for the body to slip into starvation mode, as it is a result of metabolic changes which happen within your body, and those take some time to come into effect. That can happen within a week or so, but not within the period of a few hours... which is when you're burning a large amount of calories during physical activity. So you'll want to take advantage of that, and make the time that you exercise the time when your body will be at it's greatest calorie deficit, by exercising on an empty stomach and forcing the body to use body fat as the primary fuel source. Try not to eat 2 hours before you exercise. During the time when you're not exercising, you will still restrict calories, but not to an extreme degree. This will keep your metabolism going strong, and will keep your muscles fed and replenished, which will keep them from being broken down and/or used as fuel. Also, it may be helpful to spread your food intake out into smaller meals, eaten more frequently throughout the day. If you're eating 3 right now, then try to take the same amount of food that you're eating in those 3 meals, and divide it into 4 or 5 meals instead. This will help your body to burn the calories more efficiently, and will also keep it in a more constant calorie burning mode, which will keep your metabolism going stronger. So in short... restrict calories, but not too low. Eating a very small amount of food will work great at first, but eventually that will slow down and lead to an outcome as I've explained. And, workout on an empty stomach, and also be sure to replenish your body well with good nutrition after exercise. Post workout meals are the most crucial ones you can eat, as this is the time when you need to give the body the nutrients it needs to heal itself after the stress of exercise. So don't skimp on meals post workout, save the bulk of your calorie restriction for times other than this. And finally, choose meal sizes that will nourish your body sufficiently and give you energy, but will still leave you feeling hungry before you eat your next meal. This will let you know that you are in a calorie deficit, and that your body is probably having to use fat as fuel at the time. And, eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day will probably lead to more success in fat loss.
Other Answers:
- To start i would research a more balanced diet and also find out what your "maintenance calorie intake" is, this is the required amount of calories to maintain the weight you are at. . once you have found this out reduce it by 150 - 200 cals keeping it higher protein moderate carbs and lower fats. This should reduce weight at a rate which allows you to maintain as much muscle mass as possible. When weightloss slows, take another 50-100 cals off. . . remember this is a SLOW process!
