# Reversing the quarantine fat gain and muscle loss



## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

I have never been in this position where I have so much body fat that it bothers me. I have solid love handles and a gut that shoots past my pants. (see pics) Like many, the quarantine lead to me losing muscle and gaining fat. I have lifted weights or the last 15-20 years with only a couple longer breaks. Whenever I get back to the gym after a long break I gain the muscle back rather rapidly. However this time I have a bunch of fat on me to lose. Can I gain back the muscle and lose fat at the same time due to muscle memory? I know generally you can't add new muscle and lose fat at the same time.

If I have to do one or the other (gain muscle or lose the fat) which should I do first? Better to start with a clean slate or add the muscle back and then cut the fat away?

Right now I lift weights 4 times per week for around an hour each session. Right now I am eating high protein and low carbs, as well as less calories than I would otherwise eat. I just started back at the gym this past week. I am hoping to get some advice so I can avoid spinning my wheels.

Thank you

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11 weeks in and 16 lbs lighter, but still plenty of body fat. Not sure what my BF percentage is at this juncture. I am still cutting because my bf is still higher than I want it to be. Muscle is not growing at all with the lack of caloric surplus


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## deanko (Jul 28, 2016)

Hi,
I'd just work out without stressing about the muscles, you'll start losing fat and normally you'll gain muscles back, just stay consistent.
If there's no progress with losing fat, let me know.
Good luck


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

deanko said:


> Hi,
> I'd just work out without stressing about the muscles, you'll start losing fat and normally you'll gain muscles back, just stay consistent.
> If there's no progress with losing fat, let me know.
> Good luck


 Ok, just wanna make sure I understand this correctly. Keep the calories down and keep hitting the weights, the fat should start to come off and the muscle come back? I will keep you posted. It has been two weeks now since I went back to the gym. Seems like I am getting stronger again on the amount of food I am currently eating.


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## 125921 (Nov 22, 2020)

UKtraffic said:


> Ok, just wanna make sure I understand this correctly. Keep the calories down and keep hitting the weights, the fat should start to come off and the muscle come back? I will keep you posted. It has been two weeks now since I went back to the gym. Seems like I am getting stronger again on the amount of food I am currently eating.


 You look exactly like me after lockdown. Don't stress. The muscles will come back if you train hard and keep your protein intake high.

A bit of cardio twice a week in addition to your weight training will help you shift some fat.

But you are generally right to think it's very hard (if not impossible) to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

Me personally, I am training hard and eating a calorie surplus to get all my strength back. Then after 4 weeks of that, I'm gonna throw in cardio 4 times a week, lower calorie intake slightly, and this should shift the excess fat.

Get muscles back first, then lose the fat. (Basically a mini bulk, followed by a mini cut)

That's my plan... and that's what I'd recommend you do also. It's worked well for me in the past.

Once that's done, I'm then starting a steroid cycle, which should beef me up further. And voila, I will be looking great again.


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## 125921 (Nov 22, 2020)

May I also add that it's easier to burn fat when you have larger muscles, since you expend more calories.

So it makes sense to get all your size and strength back first. Then tackle the cardio and fat loss after.


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## deanko (Jul 28, 2016)

UKtraffic said:


> Ok, just wanna make sure I understand this correctly. Keep the calories down and keep hitting the weights, the fat should start to come off and the muscle come back? I will keep you posted. It has been two weeks now since I went back to the gym. Seems like I am getting stronger again on the amount of food I am currently eating.


 Well, I'm not a big fan about calories, I don't track them, the most important is to eat healthy food, and don't skip breakfast. 
For example, when I recommended a diet with an extra 800-1200 cals for a few days/week, he started to lose weight/fat and his muscle tone is nicely visible.
So, yes, just keep hitting the weights and keep us updated


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## Sasnak (Oct 11, 2016)

Eat more calories than you burn in a day equals fat gain

Eat less than you burn in a day equals fat loss

So you need to calculate your tdee and track what you eat. MyFitnessPal is ideal for this. If you don't have an idea of how many calories you need you are playing blind. Minus 500 in tdee will see you lose about 2lb a week. Adjust calories as required.

Cardio and weights assist by creating a larger calorie deficit

You won't build any noticeable muscle whilst dieting. Fat loss will reveal the muscle you have so you'll look better


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## Rob27 (Apr 29, 2018)

Sasnak said:


> Eat more calories than you burn in a day equals fat gain
> 
> Eat less than you burn in a day equals fat loss
> 
> ...


 This ^^^


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Sasnak said:


> Eat more calories than you burn in a day equals fat gain
> 
> Eat less than you burn in a day equals fat loss
> 
> ...


 Appreciate the reply

The tdee calculator said I'm a fat ass and need to lose weight haha. Had me around 2300 cals for light exercise.

I am currently eating around 2000-1800 cals a day. 
8 eggs, 1-2 pieces of toast, chicken breast, veggies, one small potato, 3-4 protein shakes, bowl of granola.

Before all of this I would eat an entire box of granola every day and I wasn't really getting fat, just maintaining. I am hoping this will be enough of a deficit to lose fat.

My strength has started to go up, I have two full weeks under my belt back at the gym, on third week now.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Chicken_Boy said:


> You look exactly like me after lockdown. Don't stress. The muscles will come back if you train hard and keep your protein intake high.
> 
> A bit of cardio twice a week in addition to your weight training will help you shift some fat.
> 
> ...


 Good to know I am not alone haha. I am eating enough that I don't feel hungry, currently around 1800 - 2000 cals a day. Week three of gym started and strength is coming back. Keep me posted on how your mini cycles go. 
I agree with you on having the extra muscle eating up more calories. 
I am doing 10 min of cardio before each lifting session currently. Thinking of rearranging that a bit to its own day of cardio.


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## DACTT (Apr 14, 2021)

I'd say focus on big compound lifts. Squat, DL, standing OHP, bench press (any variation of all). Concentrate on these lifts and you will gain strength, plus they are the most efficient at burning calories (not actually that much). Build a strong base and go from there. Unless the 10 minute cardio before weights is a warm up, I'd drop it. Do your cardio after. Either try moderate pace and work your way up in length. Or spend a bit longer and do low intensity. I'd say LISS should be around 30-40min+ and moderate at 20-30min+. It will be hard at first but you will get fitter.

All this being pointless unless your diet is dialled in and consistent.

It's said far too often that people want to lose weight but then say "I don't track calories, I just eat healthy". People massively under estimate calories.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

DACTT said:


> I'd say focus on big compound lifts. Squat, DL, standing OHP, bench press (any variation of all). Concentrate on these lifts and you will gain strength, plus they are the most efficient at burning calories (not actually that much). Build a strong base and go from there. Unless the 10 minute cardio before weights is a warm up, I'd drop it. Do your cardio after. Either try moderate pace and work your way up in length. Or spend a bit longer and do low intensity. I'd say LISS should be around 30-40min+ and moderate at 20-30min+. It will be hard at first but you will get fitter.
> 
> All this being pointless unless your diet is dialled in and consistent.
> 
> It's said far too often that people want to lose weight but then say "I don't track calories, I just eat healthy". People massively under estimate calories.


 I am tracking calories, coming in at 1,800 - 2,000 daily right now. I do the warmup to get my body going and some blood flowing. Its not a super intense 10 min cardio.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Curious if anyone can tell me how many pounds of fat do you have to lose before you can start to notice a difference in your appearance. If I manage to drop 10 pounds of fat, would that be noticeable?

When I started my diet the scale was reading 196 - 198. It now is 194 - 192 after week 4, plus I have gained some strength from lifting. I look in the mirror though and feel like all the same fat is still there just kicking it and hanging out.


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## DACTT (Apr 14, 2021)

UKtraffic said:


> Curious if anyone can tell me how many pounds of fat do you have to lose before you can start to notice a difference in your appearance. If I manage to drop 10 pounds of fat, would that be noticeable?
> 
> When I started my diet the scale was reading 196 - 198. It now is 194 - 192 after week 4, plus I have gained some strength from lifting. I look in the mirror though and feel like all the same fat is still there just kicking it and hanging out.


 If your lifting then your probably building muscle and storing glycogen. It's impossible to say when you'll notice a difference as everyone distributed fat differently. I'd say for you take measurements. The scales can be a head f**k.

4 weeks is nothing. I'd say 3 months before you notice a real difference as long as you are consistent. 1-2lb week, so 10-12 weeks would be about a stone.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

I was hoping to drop 10 lbs of actual fat in 10 weeks. Not sure how much of a difference that will make in appearance. I have a solid midsection doughnut right now.

I am eating a low carb diet, was doing 1800 calories a day but bumped it up a bit.


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## DACTT (Apr 14, 2021)

UKtraffic said:


> I was hoping to drop 10 lbs of actual fat in 10 weeks. Not sure how much of a difference that will make in appearance. I have a solid midsection doughnut right now.
> 
> I am eating a low carb diet, was doing 1800 calories a day but bumped it up a bit.


 No offence but at your bf%, that's more than achievable. As long as your consistent and eating correctly plus exercising at a decent level, staying active.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Zero offence taken, the question is , will 10 lbs of fat be a noticeable difference in body composition ?


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Posting update photos a long the way. 
First photos were taken at the end of week 2 of my return to the gym. 
Weight was 198-196 lbs

Now at week 4.5
Weight 194 - 192


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Chicken_Boy said:


> You look exactly like me after lockdown. Don't stress. The muscles will come back if you train hard and keep your protein intake high.
> 
> A bit of cardio twice a week in addition to your weight training will help you shift some fat.
> 
> ...


 How has your mini bulk and mini cut cycle gone? I was living in a fantasy world thinking losing 10lbs of fat was all I need to trim up. I am approaching a 10lb loss and still look sloppy as f**k.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

I am now in week 10 of this fat cutting. I will post updated pics when 10 weeks is done, but I clearly still have a lot of fat on my body. Is there a time limit one should stay in the cutting phase, or just keep going until your body fat is at an acceptable level? The only drag about doing this is gaining absolutely zero strength despite lifting weights.


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## UKtraffic (Apr 8, 2016)

Looking for some advice on when and how to transition back into a bulking phase. The no muscle and not getting stronger is definitely the hardest part of this fat loss process. I am wondering

At what percent body fat should one stop cutting and start bulking?

How many calories a day do you add to your diet to start bulking and is this done slowly or overnight?


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## Tonysco (Sep 6, 2019)

Eat less, lift more


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