Going from a diet to gaining lean muscle...

[KDCross]

I am stumped. For the last year, I was on a diet (healthy lifestyle) program. Recently, I switched and started working out more and gaining lean muscle. However I have hit a plateau, for about 2 months. I don't know what I am missing from my diet so that I can lose weight while gaining muscle. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, I just don't know how to eat (portions of each food group) in order to get past this plateau and lose weight again.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

You basically can’t chase two rabbits at the same time (build muscle AND lose fat), so it’s usually better to focus on one goal at a time: lose fat (and try to maintain as much muscle as you can) OR build muscle (and try to gain as little fat as possible). This is because muscle mass is gained optimally in a caloric SURPLUS, while fat can only be lost in a caloric DEFICIT. If you are eating at maintenance, not much of either will occur.

If you want more details on this, check this video on The Lean Gains Myth. 

[KDCross]

Oh! That makes a lot of sense! Thank you for this! I guess that means I
will have to choose which path I want to take! I'm thinking toning/lean
muscle gaining, so I will probably have to go see a nutritionist to get my
calorie/nutrient intake adjusted!

Thanks again!! Really appreciate it!

--
Karina Cross

[Dominique]

If you are already eating a healthy diet and want to go slightly hypercaloric, you can gradually add small amounts of healthy fats (e.g. nut butter) to your diet. If you have been dieting down to your current weight for a longer period of time, it can be a good idea to spend some time at maintenance before switching to a surplus. 

One mistake I made last year was regaining weight too quickly after losing it. I went from about 67 to 63 kg in 6 months, but went back to 67.5 kg in 5 months:

This year I have dropped more weight and gone lower (67.5 to 60.5 kg), taking more time (8 months):

I will try to regain less weight (maybe 60.5 to 64 kg), taking more time to do it. If you regain weight too fast, it’s more likely a larger share of the gain will be fat.

[Baltoscott]

What @Dominique said.  

Some of the weightlifting books and articles I've been reading say you can expect to lose fat and lean body mass at about a 4/1 ratio (4lbs fat/ 1lbs LBM) while in a slight calorie deficit (while you are losing a pound or less/week say) -- assuming adequate protein in you diet and a weight-lift program, and that you can expect to gain fat and LBM at about a 1/1 ratio while in a slight calorie surplus.  That's why body builders typically go through cutting (calorie deficit) and bulking (calorie surplus) cycles as they change their body composition.

I have lost about 40 lbs this year at about a 3/1 ratio (i.e., down 30 lbs fat and 10 lbs LBM -- according to my Withings Scale).  Plan to start a bulking phase for 10 lbs beginning in a month or so to see if I can hit the 1/1 ratio to gain some more muscle before cutting calories again.  We will see how it goes.

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I think of a plateau as a resting phase.  I can eat a little more, practice maintaining and when I feel ready I can work on losing.  I'm not sure why, but I am able to gain muscle and lose as long as I stay under a 2lb loss each week.  Maybe it is because I am 20lbs over my goal weight?  Anyway, to increase muscle while reducing calories, I just use my muscles more.  This is for me, sets of planks, burpees, core exercises, and push ups along with walking/jogging.   I don't belong to a gym so I just do my own thing using my own body weight.

[Mukluk4]

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@MagsOnTheBeach wrote:

I think of a plateau as a resting phase.  I can eat a little more, practice maintaining and when I feel ready I can work on losing.  I'm not sure why, but I am able to gain muscle and lose as long as I stay under a 2lb loss each week.  Maybe it is because I am 20lbs over my goal weight?  Anyway, to increase muscle while reducing calories, I just use my muscles more.  This is for me, sets of planks, burpees, core exercises, and push ups along with walking/jogging.   I don't belong to a gym so I just do my own thing using my own body weight.

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How are you determining that you are gaining muscle? 

[MagsOnTheBeach]

I went to a health fair at work, they used a scale type machine and then compared my old results with my new one.  It was awesome.  Plus....the muscle is very visible where I had none showing before. 😄

[MagsOnTheBeach]

My initial screening was skeletal muscle = 22.5%

My most recent screening was 27.21%.

[Baltoscott]

@MagsOnTheBeach — having a higher percentage of muscle after losing a lot of weight is not quite the same thing as gaining muscle in absolute terms. Say you dropped from 200 lbs to 150 lbs, for example:    22.5% of 200 lbs = 45 lbs, and 27% of 150 lbs is 40 lbs; so a loss in absolute terms, even though a gain in percentage.   Even so, increasing your muscle percentage by 5 points is pretty awesome.  Well done!