How do I burn fat without loosing muscle tissue?

[bootcampgal]

I've been doing a lot of Bootcamp Cardio classes, and feel super fit and in shape.

The classes are super cardio/strenght training intense.

However, I've gained a lot of muscle and have not been able to burn the fat around it. So, now I look chunky, and heavier than before I started working out a year ago.

I don't want to lose the muscle that I've gained, but would like to burn the fat around it, in order not to look chunky.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[mamachug · Accepted solution]

About the only answer I would have for you would be to eat less food each day while continuing to do the bootcamp / cardio.  Cardio burns fat and strength training builds muscle but if you aren't eating less then you won't see the results.  Jillian Michaels says you can out eat ANY exercise you do!!  Just make sure not to go to low calorie wise.  I'm 4'10" and I eat about 1300 calories up to 1500 calories a day.  Every other week I take off Fri., Sat., and Sun., and eat whatever I want.  If I didn't do that I would have to eat even more calories on my "lifestyle" days.  You can google it and it should tell you how many calories you need to eat every day in order to lose a certain amount of weight in a certain amount of time.  GOOD LUCK!!

[slysam · Accepted solution]

My understanding from my nutrition teacher at university is that you are bound to lose some lean mass along with fat when dieting. You can minimize it to some extent by continuing to strength train on a regular, ongoing basis. Also, losing weight relatively slowly may help (i.e. 1 pound a week, the heavier you are the faster you can lose). And eating enough protein, so the body doesn't use your existing muscle to meet protein needs--something she said happens sometimes on the old school very low calorie i.e. 1000 calorie diets a lot of women use to follow. It sounds like you are doing well on the fitness front and maybe just ened to tighten up on your diet. I can lose a modest amount of weight early on if I go from sedentary to daily exercise, but beyond that it is mostly about diet.

[Mary]

I agree with everything slysam said.  

[bootcampgal]

Thank you so much for your help, guys!

So, I'll keep with the cardio/strenght training and lower my calories!

I appreciate your help and feedback!

[whome]

You might also consider getting an Aria or Weight Watchers or Tanita or some sort of scale that measures percentage body fat. I know some people have concerns about the accuracy of these things but the Tanita I bought at the local Goodwill (secondhand thrift) store seems consistant at least showing a drop of 3% body fat as I have lost 20 lbs the last 2&1/2 months. I have to admit I have been thinking about getting an immersion weighing done to see just how accurate the thing is but I like the 10 to 12% body fat it says I have and I would hate to find out it is actually higher - lol.

Good luck

Craig

[suzie007]

i have a jenny craig scale and just got my % fat checked by the BODPOD which is suppose to be one of the most accurate ways of determining % fat and LBM. my scale (which may be like the Aria or Weight Watchers or Tanita) measuerd 3% less than the bodpod.

AND MILES TO GO BEFORE I SLEEP! 🙂

[cammy_c]

I would recommend doing a few sessions of HIIT (high intensity interval training) per week. It requires only 15 mins, but it's verrrry intense. 
There's different ways you can do it (bike, treadmill, outside). I do it on the treadmill... I do 1 minute of light jogging, followed by 1 minute of sprinting. You can also do 30 secs and 30 secs, or 30 secs and 1 minute, whatever works for you. 
The point is that you should be doing intervals of rest followed by super intense intervals until you almost can't go on. It burns fat not only during the workout, but after the workout as well, because the body needs more effort to recover from the intense activity. HIIT isn't like any regular, steady paced cardio. Steady paced cardio actually destroys muscle, while HIIT actually helps build it. Honestly, you don't even need to go on a huge defitcit diet. Doing 3-5 sessions of HIIT per week will give you the muscle definition you want.

[Heybales]

Since HIIT is merely an attempt to get the benefits from lifting for the cardio-only crowd, why not just spend the time on the exercise that will give the max benefit.

Strength train, full body.

Actually, specific lifting while in a diet.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html 

[lefty12]

I would make sure you are eating small amounts of food (meals and snacks ranging from 200-400 calories) every four hours to keep your metabolism going. And drink lots of water. I did the Prevention diet once and lost about 15 pounds in a few months and that diet also included eating something with monounsaturated fats, like nuts, olive oil, olives, avocado, etc. every time you eat. It's supposed to help burn fat. 

[Dominique]

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@lefty12 wrote:

I would make sure you are eating small amounts of food (meals and snacks ranging from 200-400 calories) every four hours to keep your metabolism going. And drink lots of water. I did the Prevention diet once and lost about 15 pounds in a few months and that diet also included eating something with monounsaturated fats, like nuts, olive oil, olives, avocado, etc. every time you eat. It's supposed to help burn fat. 

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Actually, if you are going to eat 2400 calories during the course of the day, it doesn't really matter whether you are going to eat them as six smaller meals of 400 calories each, or three larger meals of 800 calories each. Even if you were going for just two even larger meals of 1200 calories, your metabolism is not going to be affected (you need to be much longer without food for that to happen).

As to eating "good" fats (with or without other food items), that alone isn't going to have any fat burning effect. The diet you mentioned promoted those fats because they are considered "good" / "healthy".