How to Lose Body Fat AND Gain Muscle at the Same Time (2023 Science Based) 

I've been saying this for years. Your body is an amazingly adaptive survival machine. If you are in a caloric deficit but still taxing your muscles, your body will realize it needs muscle to meet demands more than it needs fat, so it will burn fat stores to help fuel muscle retention and even growth, even in a caloric deficit (as long as the raw materials, i.e. protein, are there). The stored fat becomes the source to make up for the deficit in caloric intake JUST LIKE IT IS SUPPOSED TO! (Never forget that your body stores fat as a source of emergency fuel for use when intake is low). I have had great success with body recomp phases where weight has stayed the same over months but fat has melted off while building muscle because I undersand this principle.

SO I am 12 weeks into a recomp phase having great success doing exactly this. Here are my numbers and program. 49 Years old (turning 50 in 2 weeks), retired army guy. No TRT/HRT or supplementation beyond creatine and protein. My workout program: lifting 2-3 times/week (full body lifts averaging about 30 sets each); Brazilian jiujitsu 3-5 time/week; and an occasional 5k run maybe every other week. My diet: estimated 500-800 calorie daily deficit ( I don't count really, just estimating) using 16/8 intermittent fasting 4-5 days/week (I don't go to jiujitsu fasted and sometime I go in the morning, so those days are non fasting days - I need fuel for the intensity). Supplementing diet with 100 grams of protein via shakes every day - estimating about 1 g/lb. Results over 12 weeks: Starting stats: 5'10", 179 lb, 20% body fat (measured by three-site skinfold caliper). Fat weight: 35.5 lb, lean mass: 143.5 lb After 12 weeks: still 5'10", 175.5 lb (loss of 3.5 lb). 12.3% body fat (loss of 7.7% fat). Fat weight: 21.5 lb (loss of 14 lb), lean mass: 154 lb (gain of 10.5 lb). The numbers don't lie. I gained over 10 lb of muscle while losing 14 lb of fat in 12 weeks at 50 years old. It not only CAN be done, it isn't really that hard. Although my workouts are very intense. I also take joint supplements and tumeric for inflammation. At my age with this intensity, joints need support. I hope this inspires someone.

My health has alot of positive results ever since I restarted watching your videos in a long time.

I had 2 DEXA scans 6 months apart. Lost 19lbs of body fat and gained 4.1lbs of muscle!! Focused on protein and a calorie deficit.

I keep my protein around 100-120 per day & carbs around 50-75 a day. I’m 56 years old pre-diabetic & hypertension. I was able to get my waistline down 4 inches during this time whereas I never could do it in the past! I appreciate your videos!!

This is good news. I am trying to get back into good shape but need to lose a few pounds along the way, about 10 in my estimation. Good to know I can do a slow cut and make strength progress at the same time! You're the best, buddy!

The only food binge I enjoy is binge watching Thomas Delauer videos about food lol

Awesome! Thank you Thomas ! 🙏

I've always had a problem buying into the all-or-nothing notion of caloric surplus/deficit and muscle hypertrophy/atrophy. I'm sure growth is not optimal in deficit but, as this study suggests, stimulus of growth paired with enough nutrition seems to alter the equation drastically.

I am 68 years old. For the past 7 weeks, I have been fasting for usually 23 hours a day. I started out at about 275 pounds. I am working away from home, and have worked out at planet fitness. Not as consistently as I would like, but from 3 to 6 days a week. I am lifting heavy. I don't have a scale, but I have lost almost 3 inches on my waist, judging by belt holes. I was doing 8 sets of benchrest with 185 pounds, now I am doing them with 215 pounds. I have fasted for 5 days per week, slacking off on the weekends, usually eating 2 big meals, and dirinking a few beers. I have occasionally had breakfast during the week. I have eaten just ribeyes most of the time, but sometimes get some dairy, eggs, avocado, onions, broccoli sprouts, and even a potato or two. But, I feel better when I just eat the ribeye. It is thursday, and I am going to cheat for a change. I am going to eat a big ribeye, a double whopper, and a few beers. I am going to try a 48 to 84 hour fast after that! I have probably lost about half the weight I need to loose. Wish me luck! I'm on a roll! Not a jelly one!

I think this is the best video yet! Awesome information

Thanks again Thomas.

Great info and really good news about not needing to go into a surplus for building some muscle. It dispels a lot of myths about body recomp not being possible

thank you for this video

Love your content and the research you put into the subject area. I am perplexed about the debate between plant based diet vs animal grass-fed, organic? I believe we all are in agreement that processed foods are destructive to our health. Have you discussed this debate? Can you discuss given your sponsor relationships? Keep up the terrific work. Thank you ❤

This is the single most to-the-point video I've seen on this question.

Great video I learn allot from this

What would be the appropriate macros when doing this? How to adjust the carbs and fats?

I fucking knew it.... Noticed this in myself the last 2 years. Also I think it matters if you are new to muscle building and then also follow a good diet that you can still build muscle in a deficit. And also I used to be muscular and had to quit for 5 years and then I started training again with keto IF and a deficit and a very safe routine with low weights and like 45 min workouts, 0 pump 0 burn simply had to rehabilitate. And I still gained muscle and lost fat even under quite bad circumstances. And this was simply because I maintained a good diet. I reckon if you are already pretty far into muscle building and close to your natural peak then it will probably not work so easily to keep building muscle in a deficit. It will probably definitely matter what level you are at this was not clear from the video. I think it's very important to mention what kind of people were in the study.

Thomas you need to have a Q&A again soon! I have a question i hope you can answer!

So interesting. Much needed research to show this as other trainers have made claims without no real studies.

I've started to come around to your notion of metabolic flexibility. When I hit a plateau in weight loss under keto, I add carbs. Under keto I traditionally went for the lowest carbs I could get -

Good info

I have lost 20kg of fat with Thomas's guidance in 2022,and in 2023, I am gonna get fit and lean.

I've never done a bulk, and I've gained muscle while dieting or at maintenance since I started IF, it is slower compared to just focusing on cutting or bulking, but it is posible, especially if you eat some days on a surplus and on other days at restricting calories, but of course, always focusing on protein.

Can you tell me that protein again and where I can get it I like to use that for meal replacement

Hey Thomas, can you do another video on the lastest research on burning subQ belly fat? I have a pinchable lower belly pudge I want to eliminate.

Like your videos Well presented Just wish you’d answer ( some ) of the hundreds of questions you get asked in all your videos You can’t do them all we get it but there is some very good interesting questions that many of us would like to hear your views on

What macro percentage woukd gou recommend to build muscle on keto?

What is that exercise band you are using (for rows) in these video?

Great video, but should the amount of protein per kg be based on total bodyweight or lean bodyweight? If someone is a very average 30% bodyfat, this distinction would make a significant difference.

Would love to hear a deeper dive into grehlin and satiety. I'm confused, and maybe it's a nuance I'm not understanding. I think you've said that hunger is good for fasting weight loss and that its related to grehlin levels. But eating more protein can help with hunger so can then help with weight loss. Is it a matter of grehlin functioning properly if its been dyfunctional? Ill see if you have any other videos on this, but it just sparked my curiosity because I realize I don't think I understand it very well. There are nuances which I feel like you have a strength for explaining really well.

That's what I have always been telling. It's all about hormones signalling which fuel to burn.

Thanks for the info, by the well how good do you look 😉

Train harderrrrr than last time! Love it haha

I'm building muscle on a strict keto diet in a pretty substantial caloric deficit. I'm not even intentionally counting my protein or trying to keep it exceptionally High. I'm just eating two meals a day with protein and vegetables. I think if you're weighing It Out by percentages stimulus created by your training, which I do high intensity 1-2 sets to failure, the training stimulus is probably 90% of the equation

Thomas how much do you weight and what is your height and body fat percentage?

This is especially true if you are at a high body fat %. Like 18% and above. Your body has plenty of stored energy in the form of fat tissue, so why would you need to be in a surplus to build muscle? As long as you hit your protein goal and progressively overload in the gym, things will be good.

Hey Thomas and thank you for your work! I actually started my keto journey from one of your videos. As for this video, I would like to connect it to one of your previous videos, where you advised for the muscle growth it could be wise to aggregate calories count for the whole week and ensure that the overall calorie surplus is around 5%, but it could be helpful to have about 20% surplus 5 days and really aggressive deficit for the other 2 days combined with intermittent fasting. In the light of the research mentioned in this video, what do you think would be the wisest thing to do?

Just found this, been on OMAD for about 9 months. How do I do intermittent fasting and lift weights build muscle? Should I move to two meals a day?

Yes you definitely can i know because ive done it

Two general questions... 1) When using a calorie counting app to lose weight, should you deduct calories burned or just keep your calories in a deficit regardless of calories burned? 2) Is it counterintuitive to take a fiber supplement when taking protein supplements? Will the fiber block the uptake of the protein?

Good 👍 information

How do you reduce calories and increase protein if you are Carnivore? Would the calorie reduction come from the fat that is ingested?

Jaw dropping when he mention greg 😂😂😂 harder than last time

I've been doing keto with calorie restriction along with weight lifting for just a couple weeks. I'm still able to get strength gains for the amount of weight I can use for my first two sets of anything "heavy" - but my body is donezo by the 3rd set. Using a weight that I had just done 14-15x on prior sets, the 3rd set, I'll be lucky to get 10. Again, though, the next week, for the first two sets, I've still been able to increase the weight - so, still getting strength gains.

Figured this out myself, lost 40-50 pounds and am getting nice gains at the same time. I make sure my protein is high and eat good raw foods only (occasional whey shake)

So how much protein do I need, is it 0.8 grams per bodyweight or lean mass? Pls I need know

I dropped my carbs and increased my protein, lost average 2 pounds a week for 4 months, and that's with no exercise due to a Thalamic stroke in 21. Off all my dangerous meds that doctors profit from.

Makes sense.

That’s great news

This is the reason why many people who are overweight & begin to improve their diet, lower calories, & begin to exercise give up. They judge their progress only by reading the scale & since muscle weighs more than fat; they give up bc they see their weight remain the same or even the number on the scale increase. If people don't understand this fact, they become completely discouraged. 😑

Hey Thomas, what do you think of the Dukan diet? Thanks ✌

Very interesting and useful information. It seems to show that there isn't much of any good reason to load up on more than 1.6 grams per kg of body weight, which is still alot. I am around 79 kg, so that puts me at 126 grams of protein per day. If trying to keep or build lean muscle mass while losing fat, eating 0.8 grams/kg would be insufficient, and for me that would be only 63 grams of protein per day. Obviously that's a big difference. 63 grams is easy for me to get in 2 meals. 126 grams takes some work and planning for me to get in 2 meals per day. It would be very beneficial to find what is the lowest point where the benefits really become significant. As we age it is extremely important we maintain as much muscle mass as possible, but it is also beneficial to keep your eating window reasonable and our total calorie intake as low as required to maintain optimal health. It would be outstanding to see a study that tested 1.0 g/kg, 1.2 g/kg, and 1.4 g/kg, to see if it's possible to find that "sweet spot", or at least a range that would work best for the majority of people.

Is the Stevia leaf extract in that protein powder not a problem for your gut health? How are we promoting this?

And iam loosing fat and adding muscle same time but relatively slow , yes i lost almost 120 lb with mostly focus on cutting with low calorie but since last year i added calories in form of protein only and i gained 8 lb no fat at all iam even leaner now

Point plus understand micro and macro stich for complicated stimule 45lps acticve probiotic absdominal pain then 30lps be have cycle in calories survive body perspective remain just acne face or benefit resistent insuline.

Thomas is this amount of protein still safe for woman over 40? I just also saw your OMAD video.... So should I do very high protein and OMAD for myself over 40 for longevity and muscle preservation/weight loss?

MTN Ops FTW!! 💪🏼

Sun Warrior Protein Shake 💯💯💯💯

hello, i have been so confused about how many calories i am burning in a day, considering i am 18years old 5'10, 172lbs, walking 10ksteps/day and doing a 1h30 gym workout, how much will I be approximately burning in a day ? thanks in advance :)

Is that 1.6 and 2.4g/kg of lean body mass or total weight?

So I got the Organifi Red Juice, and for me it has a heavy beet taste. I am simply going to add a little lemon juice to effect this. Great stuff though!

Let us take courage in these dark and difficult times. God will make a way for us to overcome our trials and tribulations. He will uphold and strengthen us. Keep trusting. 🙏

can confirm it myself, just did loose a lot of body fat + built muscle at the same time, high protein low carb

I've put on atleast 10 kg of muscle in the time it took me to lose 40kg of fat so obviously you can put muscle on during a cut

My nutritionists, fitness friend Tim mccombsyhe turned me on to sunwar protein years ago. He's the guy who models for that brand he's like they're ambassador.

Sunwarrior proetin has stevia. I am leery of Stevia because it could harm the gut over time (that's what I see online quite often).

How does this ( train hard while in deficit) apply to peri menopause women who have tendencies to have adrenal fatigue? Is that still recommended?

Didn't Thomas say protein powder pumps insulin bc it is milled into powder...better to avoid these? Love this guy doctor deLauer

so it doesn;t matter if the protein comes from supplementation long as you're eating a ton of it but doing some hard training to make use of it ?

Very simple less carbs and more other=less weight and mostly feeling better.

6:35 does anyone know what this is? Tofu?

Can the body observe (take/use) all the protein if you do OMAD?

True thomas iam 175 cm guy who if you believe or not almost accuretly consuming 2600 cal per day with 300 g of protein ( 290-310)

I use green pea protein and brown rice protein. Whey bloats me and actually bloats a lot of people due to concentrated milk causing low grade chronic inflammation. Goes for Greek Yogurt also. Green Pea and Brown Rice prorein combined has a near identical Amino Acid profile to Whey.

We're they absolute beginners? Because this is usually only possible at the very beginning of resistance training

So basically body recomp

Interesting. I wonder if Thomas finds these topics then “hopes” his affiliate links fit in with the content. Or, does he sit down, look at his affiliate links, then look for studies to present. I’d say the latter.

Age matters as well

I build all my muscle in caloric deficit not even much protein , most the time fasting but always workout hard

I think the fitness level of the subjects is imperative to inferring anything from this study. We already know, for example , overweight people and those begging or returning to training are negligibly affected by caloric deficit regarding hypertrophy. This means the study only infers what Thomas is saying if the subjects are well trained frequent gym goers. Otherwise it can be easily explained away

Does muscle weigh more than fat

Muscle is a function of muscle contraction and protein synthesis… why does mainstream fitness keep on saying calorie increment?

Is it reasonable to assume that the 0.8, 1.6 and 2.4g of protein per kg of body weight is in fact LEAN BODY MASS as opposed to actual body weight?

Testosterone enthate 250mg M/F , and ANAVAR works just fine. Tren also lol

This is the protein sparing modified fast...

I have nit to pick with the training harder in a deep cut aspect. It's just hard to do. If I am in a surplus or lift the day after a refeed I'll almost always hit a PR. 4 weeks into a cut and I am wiped out mustering the neural drive to carry maintenance loads. Sure, assuming one could push as hard it's the signaling that matters most, but I'd wager anyone who's been at this awhile can attest that their training isn't the same during a cut. We all wish it could be and that's why it's such a common lament.

Sunwarrior got bought out I thought. And the ingredients weren’t the same?

Does this apply to keto, and if yes how?

Have tried this many times, and it just doesn't work for me...

Thomas your biceps look really smooth and rounded , are you using synthol ,,just asking

Hi Thomas, I ordered some items from house of macadamia thru the links on one of your channels. I had ordered since February 4 and have not received the items . I tried to contact them, but the email was on my order came back undeliverable. Do you have any contact information because I think I got a scam or some type of fraud. Thank you

I’ll let you know how i make out!

👍

After looking at the numbers, I'm a little confused. Within the bodybuilding community, the advice always has been if trying to build muscle get at least 1g/lb of bodyweight of protein with some advocating 1.5g or even 2.0g of protein per lb of bodyweight. The recommendation here is a range of 0.7g - 1.1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. I'm curious why weightlifters have always had trouble maintaining muscle while losing fat if such a lesser amount is supposed to enable one to even build muscle while losing fat. Seems like natural bodybuilders would have never had much trouble at all building muscle while losing fat if such a modest amount of protein is needed. Something doesn't add up.

Can you remember, 120,000 years ago ? Your Cells do. It was 8 days since the "Clans last Kill" ! You Gorged yourself for 3 days. Ate the Heart and Liver, and Drank as Much Blood as you Could. Then you used Rocks to Smash the Bones and get the Marrow. Now,,, after 8 days to Catch up to the Herd, and Seperate a Calf,,, Way Beyond Caloric Deficit,,, Dying of Thirst,,, you have to Run on Pure Adrenaline to make "The KILL" ! And Replenish you Strength,,, to "SURVIVE ANOTHER DAY"... Your Cells Remember... Your Muscles Obey... Homo Hablis...

yep, for young overweight bodies that sounds reasonable. yet, from longevity point of view... I would not recommend it if age >30\40y.

I work out one day eat high protein recover for three days fast 36 hours eat breakfast work out repeat am 69 losing fat gaining muscle

But if I’m on keto, how am I supposed to eat that much protein? I thought if you have too much protein it will bring you out of ketosis? I am 153lbs trying to drop another 10lbs. I’m trying to consume 1550 cals a day. I’d appreciate any of advice. I’m in a body fat loss competition. I’m only eating about 90 g of protein right now.