How can I best lose fat and preseve muscle when dieting?

Hi Mohamed

Losing fat without losing weight means you have to gain muscle. Unless you just started training in the last year or upped your intensity or duration or frequency of training, you are unlikely to increase muscle whilst losing fat - unless you have fantastic genetics or are on steroids.

So focus on losing fat and not losing "muscle" - this can be done. Keep protein high and get on or stay on creatine monohydrate and along with heavy, high-intensity training, you should be able to keep your muscle and get leaner!

See the following previous answer for more info...

How to bulk up but not gain fat?

Hi Dan,
Thanks for your response first of all :)
Well yeah, I always was in shape as I did a few sports, yet when I stopped all and carried on lifting weight only I realized this is what I love most, I lifted heavy and intensly for years but didn't realize the fat that started to grow bit by bit :D
I train 4-5 days a week, usually three days on, one day off. And then two days on and another day off. And my split is day one: chest, day two: back, day three: shoulders.
Then after the day off I would do arms in one day and legs the following day.

I don't use supplements much actually, I'd jst throw somthing in every now and then depending on the need, I get most of what I need from food. Now I have amino max and creatine monohydrate, I also have L-carnitine.

I said have and not use as I've been off the gym for exactly amonth, yet ill be back in about a week, and won't be taking it easy this time, I will shut the Fat up :D

I hope that wasn't too long, and thanks again.

Hi dan,

Your assumption is right, I am big enough to the “big guy walking over there” and I can still touch my toes.

I have no dietary restrictions at all (as long as we avoid pork)

 

I am planning to be doing cardio after weight training as I can hit the gym only once a day.. and I actually read about HIIT here on this site , however im not sure if I really understand how to incorporate it in weight training,  and im absolutely fine with training more than one body part at a time.

 

Regarding nutrition I usually have 5 meals a day,  each contain protein  some carbs, and salad,  so an example for breakfast would be eggs, a bit of cheese and break,  plus some fruit. And then during the day id be eating beef and rice +green salad or tuna with bread + green salad ect.

 

That’s wat I call standard food, the problem I think is the Non-standard food that falls in between sometimes. Such as doughnuts with coffee in the morning or cheese cake during day time, cookies of different types,

If once aweek it should be ok, yet it sometimes goes like , cheese cake once a week, chocolate cookies ones a week, doughnuts once a week.. and that’s the same week!

 

I try to do as much as I can with no supplements, cuz where I am they are not very affordable not source trusted in some cases.  But if I have to, I will take all supplements

What I have at home at the very minute is Creatine, Amino, Carnitine, Centrum  and Animal m-stack

Hi Mohamed

From the look of your pic you definitely have plenty of mass and now its time to reveal what you have created.

Personally while dieting I like to follow 1day on 1 day off routine with my 1 day off consisting of 20 minutes of interval training in the morning to fire up my metabolism. I would also supplement with an essential amino acid and a fat burner such as Grenade to kick start my energy levels.

My training split would be as follows -

Mon - legs + Abs
Tue - cardio
Wed - Chest + Biceps
Thuesday - Cardio
Friday - Back + Shoulders
Saturday - Triceps + Abs
Sunday - REST

Training is the easiest part of dieting. As they say "Abs are made in the kitchen and maintained in the gym" Once you have your diet in place you will start to see results very quickly and should be looking to loose an average of 1-2 kilos per week.

Interval training has shown to be VERY effective and would highly recommend using this style of cardio. I am currently training a guy who is 4 weeks out from his show and we came to a brick wall. His system needed to be shocked and his metabolism elevated so I put him through an intense interval session on the treadmill and the water weight he lost was amazing. Almost 6lbs in one week.

Everyone is different and the only way of finding out what works is trial and error.

Supplementation is very important. Although its great you get most of it from food sources, post training is vital that you have a quick uptake of nutrients to kick start recovery. I would definitely recommend and EAA pre workout, a BCAA post workout and a whey protein isolate post workout and all can be found at www.tropicanafitness.com where you can also call and speak with myself personally.

If you want real results, you won't be able to get all the information you need of a website. Doing weights, is not that simple...but defintely do them. I have a folder 5 cm thick on nothing but rest periods, reps, sets and tempo of exercise. It's THAT indepth if you want the ultimate. Otherwise, yes...do as suggested. Work out your protein and carb level (by carbs i mean nuts and veg, no bread rice pasta potatoes oats cereals etc) and stick to it...for as long as it takes. Consume high amounts of omega3s and fish oils, by which i mean up to 60g a day...yes, 60 grams a day and train till you're sick. Unfortunately, "getting" a six pack isn't how they make out in magazines. You also have to look into food intolerances, digestive issues and mineral levels. Good luck, don't let the bad days take over...use them as ammo for the good days!!

Hi Mohamed

I don't recommend such high levels of omega-3s as Chris (2 to 6 grams is more than enough and it depends upon if you are eating oily fish and how often). Also, many professional bodybuilders and fitness models can eat varying amounts of starchy and sugary carbs (mostly after workouts for the sugary carbs) and continue to lose fat. The key is to adjust the intake of these carbs weekly depending upon how much weight you've lost - aim to lose 1 to 3 pounds a week dependent on how much you have to lose.

Hi Richard,
Thanks for all the information, that actually seems like a really affective programme, ill be trying it for sure, ill check the website as well and if they ship to the middle east then I finally found a good source to deal with..
What do u think weight training should be like though? Shall I really doing crazy high rep ranges of 25 reps and above in all exercises or shall I do that with isolation movements, while going heavy as I like when doing a compound movement?

And guys yes, I agree with you Chriss of couse, and I've been reading for years man :) yet sometimes and specially when u r about to do somthing new u may ask a question and then listen carefully to everything said, for sure u will learn somthing new, and there u go thanks fir the advice on Fish oil and Omega , although I really agree with Mark that I shouldn't use that much, I think 2-3 grams should be enough, as I eat fish and prawns quite a lot, I'm a big fan actually :D