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How to Increase Muscle Mass While Burning Body Fat
How to Increase Muscle Mass While Burning Body FatNovember 21st, 2024 Disclaimer: Not Medical Advice. Opinions are my own. βSponsor The Newsletterβ
In today's bonus newsletter, we will explore how you can implement habits to increase lean muscle mass while losing body fat. If you are looking for shortcuts to achieving this result, don't waste your timeβthey are not in this newsletter. Though tremendously impactful, embarking on your health and wellness journey requires effort and discipline. I hope this newsletter motivates you to take the first step, reintroduce, or continue toward your 'healthiest' level possible.
Why the Struggle is Worth ItWhy should you willingly create discomfort? First, life is hard. Surely, you have faced adversity and will continue to in the future. Purposely putting yourself in situations of controlled challenge, knowing you will be uncomfortable, builds the foundation for lasting discipline. I wrote an entire newsletter on why doing hard things matters, and you can read it here. Jocko coined the idea, "Discipline equals freedom". The things you want are on the other side of hard things. Discipline keeps you showing up. Show up enough times, and you move closer to your goals. Second, it could save your life. There is ample evidence that exercise, solid metabolic health, and proper fueling can drastically improve one's life. You are actively decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, cancer, and neurodegenerative disease by simply moving every day. β The Problem with Your DietWe are in a pivotal time for human evolution. Since the Agricultural Revolution, humans have been able to grow, harvest, and store food successfully. Prior, we relied on the wrath of Mother Nature and the luck of our next hunt. Why is this a problem? We are one short commute to the grocery store, or an Uber eats away from our next meal. Modern-day convenience has eliminated the blood, sweat, and tears around obtaining our food. This has led to more than two-thirds of us being overnourished. When we consume more calories than we use, those calories must go somewhere. That somewhere is first stored in adipose tissue. Next, it spills into our liver and muscles. Not good. Understanding how many calories you ingest daily will provide a crystal ball into your future.
How to Lose Weight 101We have been trained to associate 'diet' with losing weight. The definition of diet is (noun) 1. the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats. Sounds much more like a lifestyle, not weight loss. Nowadays, 'diet' groups are almost religious cults. "Keto," "vegan," "Mediterranean," "gluten-free," and a thousand more that may come to mind. My approach is that everyone has their own instruction manual. There is no one-size-fits-all. I know countless people who have succeeded in achieving their ideal weight and improving their basic lab values with a simple diet change. The magic they experience from their diet is primarily due to a caloric deficit - meaning they use more energy than the digestible energy they eat. My biggest concern with modern-day 'diets' is they are frequently temporary. You see progress for 30, 60, 90 days and then revert to your old eating habits. In my eyes, the best diet is the one you can stick to. If you are overwhelmed with the diet options, try this simple food guideline: Meat, Fruit, Vegetables, and Water. This can result in dramatic changes following this 80% of the time. β Calorie Counting + TrackersDo I think counting calories and keeping a food journal are necessary? Yes. Do I think you have to count calories forever? No. You can't improve what doesn't get measured. If you track your food for 30 days, you will clearly understand your average daily caloric intake. If you follow this equation, you will lose weight: β βBMR + Active Calories Burned > Calories Consumed β Stop overcomplicating it. A quick word on calorie trackers. If you are looking for accessible apps on your phone to show the calories you consume, I recommend Lose-it or Myfitnesspal (not sponsored). There are many options for wearables to capture daily active calories burned. I recommend Whoop (Note: Whoop is a newsletter sponsor). Wearables are NOT 100% accurate when it comes to calories burned. Use them to gauge how much you move daily and assume they are overestimating. β Gaining or Maintain Lean MassCalorie restriction can be a helpful tool for people who are overnourished or metabolically unhealthy. However, the goal isn't only to lose weight. An endless, severe caloric reduction could lead to sarcopenia (muscle loss), which causes more harm than good. The focus should be on achieving a healthy weight that produces healthy lab results and a body you are proud of. We want to reduce our fat storage and build/maintain as much lean muscle mass as possible. Two significant pillars to achieve this:
You want to trigger the process of Muscle Protein Synthesis, where cells produce new proteins to repair or build muscle tissue. It plays a crucial role in muscle growth, maintenance, and recovery. Increasing your protein alone from high-quality sources will help you maintain/increase muscle mass.
Muscle is the organ for longevity - Dr. Gabrielle Lyon.
β Real World ResultsThis all sounds great in theory, but here is a real-world example. My oldest son, Max, started his health journey less than 2 years ago. He started by tracking every calorie he put into his mouth. After two months of data, he knew roughly how to gauge his daily calories. Max ate relatively clean, focusing on protein intake while staying under his caloric limit. He committed to the gym 4-6 days a week for resistance training and utilized walking on an incline treadmill to increase burned calories. In 4 months, he lost 21.1 pounds of Fat Mass while gaining 2 pounds of Lean Mass. He is also astronomically better mentally and physically. β You may be crushing it on your fitness journey, and I applaud you. That requires hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Keep grinding. If you are ready to change your trajectory toward the healthiest version of yourself, I encourage you to take the first step. The only difference between actual results like my son Max and you is: starting and consistency. β All the best, Jeremy London, MD P.S. - Here are the recipes of the week:
β β Have a Burning Health Question?No more scrolling through 'Doctor Google.' With 365MD, you now have a Personal AI Health Assistant with you anytime, anywhere.
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βJeremy London, M.D.
Join 44,000+ other readers of Human who are focused on building a healthier, happier life. From fitness, diet, and lifestyle to an inside look at Cardiovascular Surgery, my goal is to optimize your life for a better tomorrow.