Calorie maintenance query

mickwat155

Hey folks just thinking about changing things up and I was wondering is it feasible to drop body fat and still be in a calorie maintenance? Would it be a case of just weights to tone up and increase calories to match?

Mystery666

Nope. In general, you have to be in a caloric deficit to lose body fat.

Tar.Aldarion

Yes it is possible, easier for beginners. It just is a longer process than bulk/cutting.

Tiddlypeeps

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Yes it is possible, easier for beginners. It just is a longer process than bulk/cutting.

Why would the body burn fat when it is receiving enough calories for maintenance from food?

Tar.Aldarion

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

Why would the body burn fat when it is receiving enough calories for maintenance from food?

Because you are putting stress in areas of your body, and they are being rebuilt into muscle. Your body essentially is getting the picture that building muscle is important for you right now. The new muscle also increases your TDEE.

There is research that showed a "weekly rate of body-weight loss of 0.7% can permit muscle gain in both men and women while losing fat mass. Women were also able to increase muscle while losing fat at a weekly rate of body-weight loss of 1.0-1.4%. Men, however, lost muscle mass at this increased rate."


This is up to a certain level, when you have a very trained body this will stop happening. For beginners it is quite easy.

Tiddlypeeps

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Because you are putting stress in areas of your body, and they are being rebuilt into muscle. Your body essentially is getting the picture that building muscle is important for you right now. The new muscle also increases your TDEE.

There is research that showed a "weekly rate of body-weight loss of 0.7% can permit muscle gain in both men and women while losing fat mass. Women were also able to increase muscle while losing fat at a weekly rate of body-weight loss of 1.0-1.4%. Men, however, lost muscle mass at this increased rate."


This is up to a certain level, when you have a very trained body this will stop happening. For beginners it is quite easy.

What you are saying is that exercise causes the amount of calories the body needs to increase. So eating less than this new amount is a calorie deficit.

Tar.Aldarion

I'm not sure what you are saying. I am saying that it is both possible to gain muscle while eating at maintenance and while eating at a deficit.

Tiddlypeeps

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I'm not sure what you are saying. I am saying that it is both possible to gain muscle while eating at maintenance and while eating at a deficit.

If your TDEE increases but you don't increase calories eaten then you are not eating at maintenance.

Tar.Aldarion

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

If your TDEE increases but you don't increase calories eaten then you are not eating at maintenance.

I don't disagree with that.

Mellor

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

Why would the body burn fat when it is receiving enough calories for maintenance from food?

There's a few scenerios where that happens tbh.


Maintenance could be 2500.
You eat 2500 exactly enough energy from food. No storage or metabolism of fat necessary.

But if the body can metabolises fat over that period, you are in a pseudo-surplus. You haven't eaten a surplus but there is a surplus of energy available.