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Throughout my personal fitness journey, the vast majority of people I speak share with me how they would also like to lose some body fat. I typically counter that the best way to go about it is through Body Recomposition, the process of building muscle while losing body fat. And that conversation ultimately leads to these five pillars of fat loss and muscle gain which for me has been realized through the MacroFactor Calorie Tracker and MacroFactor Workouts app but that is just one portion of the complete picture.
If you are reading this then chances are you too would like to lose body fat and build muscle. Rest assured you have come to the right place as below I lay out the five things you cannot skip past when building muscle and losing fat. Follow these tips with consistency and the results will follow. It’s science.
5 Things You Cannot Skip When Building Muscle And Losing Fat
While there are truly an infinite number of ways to go about body recomposition (losing fat and building muscle), these five pillars of the process are non-negotiables. If you want to set yourself up for success then abide by these five: (1) Creating a Caloric Deficit, (2) Tracking Macros, (3) Resistance Training, (4) Eating a Daily Variety of Whole Foods, and (5) Proper Recovery.
Download the MacroFactor Apps For iPhone or Android – use code ‘brobible’
Right off the bat, I can tell you that using MacroFactor will make streamline this process in a way that you will come back here and thank me for. I used MacroFactor’s calorie tracker last year to lose nearly 50 pounds while gaining muscle and since January I have been using the MacroFactor Workouts App to help me in the gym. But let’s get into it!
1. Caloric Deficit
Cass Anderson / BroBible
This is a non-negotiable. In order to lose body fat you will need to be in a caloric deficit. This means the calories coming into your body are fewer than the calories you are burning.
How do you get there? For me, and I’ve written about it many times here at BroBible, I used the MacroFactor calorie tracking app. By tracking my macros and hitting my daily recommended Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrate goals the MF App ensured I wasn’t losing muscle but instead my body prioritized losing fat throughout the body recomp process.
I’ve spoken to countless people who have told me they’ve tried being in a caloric deficit and it didn’t work for them. The fact of the matter is that unless you are tracking what you are eating all day, snacks and meals, then you truly cannot know if you are in a caloric deficit or not. MacroFactor has made tracking insanely easy for me. I can just snap a picture of my plate and the app’s AI feature estimates the calories and macros. I have saved recipes and favorite foods within the app’s shortcuts to access and add quickly on the go.
Then MacroFactor estimates my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) based on how rate of weight loss because once it knows what is going into my body it can accurately estimate how many calories I’m burning. This is a must.
Download the MacroFactor Apps For iPhone or Android – use code ‘brobible’
2. You Cannot Skip Protein
Cass Anderson / BroBible
When building muscle protein is your best friend. A post-workout protein snack is a must. Ensuring you are hitting your daily protein goals is the difference between your body burning fat or burning fat and muscle along the way. You just want to lose the fat and keep the muscle that you’re working hard to build.
How much protein should you eat? The true number is a large range. For the general population, the recommended amount is 0.36g of protein per pound of body weight. For those who are trying to lose body fat the recommended amount is a little higher at between 0.55 to 1.0 grams per pound of body weight. And for athletes engaging in intense exercise the recommended amount is 0.73-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
I’m around 150-155 pounds on any given week, workout twice a day and compete in triathlons. I try and get anywhere from 140-160g of protein each day, but really I try and make sure by Sunday that has been my average over the course of the week.
3. Resistance Training / Weight Lifting
Cass Anderson / BroBible
Another thing you cannot skip when losing body fat and building muscle is Resistance Training aka Weight Lifting. You need to get in the gym, activating each muscle group 2x a week, through a variety of different workouts, and you need to push yourself hard (but not to the point of injury).
We could go deep here on the need to ‘lift to failure’ or not, but the reality is that guesswork has all been done for you in the gym. MacroFactor Workouts is their newest app, released back in January, and it will create custom workout routines for you, based on your available equipment and fitness goals, and you can bundle the subscription with the MacroFactor calorie tracking app.
My best gym advice is to become a complete creature of habit. Go the same time of each day you workout. Don’t skip workouts. Never skip leg day. Stay consistent. Consistency is key. And you can track all of your progress with MacroFactor Workouts.
Download the MacroFactor App For iPhone or Android – use code ‘brobible’
4. Eating A Variety Of Whole Foods
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A book that really changed my life last year was How Not to Die by Dr. Greger. While he is probably the most persuasive voice in the plant based diet movement, it’s just not something I will ever be able to fully embrace. Instead, what I took from the book is I can make tiny tweaks here and there to my diet.
After the book I started ensuring I was eating at least 5 different fruits and 4 different vegetables daily. I get a major leg up on it first thing in the morning with my protein smoothie which includes strawberries, blueberries, bananas, blackberries, and dragonfruit on top of protein powder and creatine. After I made that switch, I had my annual lab work done and I was in the ‘healthy’ range across the board, on every single metric, for the first time since college. It works!
As for how it relates to fat loss, you need those carbohydrates for energy. If you’re working out hard you need carbs. It’s simple science. Follow the recommended carbs/fat/protein macros through MacroFactor and you’re on the gravy train with biscuit wheels. Furthermore, within MacroFactor you can see your ‘Nutrition Overview’ to see if you are meeting the daily recommended micro nutrient intake amounts and hitting all of your vitamins. If you are like me and respond well to gamification, it’s perfect. Chase that recommended daily fiber intake! I’m in the top 1% of Americans these days. Join me.
5. Recovery and Sleep
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The last component here is one you cannot skip past. So much of the metabolic change we are looking for is done during rest days.
We have to give our bodies a chance to heal and grow. This happens while we’re sleeping and on rest days. Get those 8 hours of sleep every night, 7 if you can. If you are working out 7 days a week you will crash out eventually. Take that rest day. Relax. Active recovery of walking is fine. Stretching, yoga, these things are great on rest days. But take the rest day and when you get in bed at night turn off the screens and go to sleep. Don’t sit there scrolling on your phone or watching TV. Get that recovery.
Last but not least are just a few tips I’ve found that have helped me in the past 18 months. So-called ‘Retail Therapy’ is helpful when I’m losing steam. Buying a new pair or running shoes or a workout outfit. I like new things, new clothes, and giving myself a reason to wear them is motivation. I’ll set my outfits out the night before if I’m working out early to lock in that intention.
Another thing I’ve found immensely helpful is finding ways to incorporate my interests into exercise. For longer runs I’ll drive somewhere and run trails, trying to spot wildlife along the way. If I’m traveling I no longer dread exercise because a quick few mile run gives me a chance to see new places and take in the sights from outside of a car.
Lastly, I love dessert. I’ve got a sweet tooth. The NINJA Creami has been huge for me. Google ‘NINJA Creami Protein Ice Cream’ recipes and there are thousands out there. Finishing each day with protein-rich ice cream was the ultimate game-changer for me. It filled my need for something tasty and delicious at the end of the night but also gave my body protein for muscle growth and fat loss.
Ready to get started? You can download the MacroFactor Workouts app by following any of the links throughout this article. Using the promo code ‘BROBIBLE‘ you will receive a 2-week free trial. That is ample time to know whether or not this will be for you. I use it, I swear by it, and I would not recommend this to you all if it wasn’t something I believed in.