How I Simultaneously Built Muscle And Lost Fat
Over a ten week period, I did the unthinkable — I lost 3kg of fat and gained 2.5kg of muscle, as confirmed by a DEXA scan (see below). I became the leanest I have ever been — shedding a tear when I saw my abs for the first time. Most importantly, despite losing weight, my enhanced proportions and leanness made me appear bigger and more muscular. It’s by far my proudest physical achievement, and the best I have ever felt in my skin after a lifetime of feeling inadequate.
The best bit is these were not “newbie” gains — I’ve been training for over a decade. During that time, I’ve heard the same thing repeatedly:
- It’s impossible to build muscle while in a calorie deficit
- You can only build 0.5lbs of muscle a month naturally
- Dieting makes you look small and weak
This bro-science was proved incorrect by my firsthand experience. Maybe it’s time we stop believing everything we read and start experimenting on ourselves.
What follows is a detailed account of exactly how I achieved this. This post is purely intended to tell you what I did — I am not interested in debates about whether it was right, wrong, efficient, etc. There may be easier ways to get results, but this is what worked for me — a person who struggled to see change over ten years of training.
The Truth About Body Transformation
I have been in the gym for ten years and seen minimal visual results. Yes, I can deadlift 180kg, complete 15 pull-ups, bench press 1.5x bodyweight. But I didn’t look like I could do any of that because of an honest truth — unless you are genetically gifted, it’s all down to your diet.
I’ve wasted years of my life trying to out-train diet. It’s not as though I ate badly before. My choices were generally sound, often choosing whole foods, avoiding the junk, and sometimes following the gluten-free fad. What I neglected was tracking how much I was eating consistently.
The difference that made the difference was calorie counting, high protein, and carb cycling.
Once I got my diet in meticulous order, my body started changing rapidly. I would go to grab pockets of fat and be shocked at their disappearance. All of a sudden, veins were popping across my biceps, and I could see the lines of my abs starting to peak through.
Let’s take a look at the approach.
The Diet
Duration: 10 Weeks
The diet approach was a modification of an old strategy called the “Get Shredded Diet” by John Berardi of Precision Nutrition. I rudely tweaked some of the parameters by reducing the meals, implementing fasting, and not using all the supplements. In other words, I did what any true Millennial would do and changed the plan, assuming I knew better. Fortunately, it worked for me.
Format At A Glance:
Schedule — Intermittent Fasting (8 hours eating window)
Calories — Bodyweight (pounds) x 10
Macros — 10% Carbs, 45% Protein, 45% Fat
Cheat Day — Every 14th Day (up to 3x normal calories)
Supplements — Optimum Nutrition BCAA, Creatine Monohydrate
Workout — Daily Strength Training/Bodyweight Exercises
My Implementation
- I only ate during an 8-hour window, typically 11.30am-19.30pm
- My calories were restricted to 1450 (bodyweight x 10)
- Protein and Fat were kept high, and carbs were minimal (<40g a day)
- I ate the same few meals every day because it was easier for me
- Every 14th day I was allowed a “Cheat Day” where I could eat 3000–4000 calories from whatever I want, as long as I hit my protein intake and worked out fasted
Sample Diet Day
09:30 (Pre-workout) Workout Drink + Creatine
10:00 Morning Workout (Fasted)
11:30 Salmon Fillet and Vegetables, a handful of nuts
15:00 Vanilla Skyr Yoghurt and a handful of nuts
18:00 (Pre-workout) BCAA Drink + Creatine
20:00 Salmon/Chicken Wings and Veg, Dessert — 2 Squares 90% Dark Chocolate/Nuts
22:00 Fish Oil
Sample Cheat Day
09:30 BCAA Workout Drink + Creatine
10:00 Morning Workout
12:00 Scrambled eggs, salmon, sourdough toast, pancakes, cheesecake
13:00 Two Doughnuts
15:00 Chicken Nuggets, Turkey Dinosaurs, Chips, 2x McFlurries, Apple Pie
18:00 Large Meat Feat Pizza, Milkshake
The Workout
I performed two workouts a day — one in the morning fasted, and one when I arrived home from work. Having the second workout kept me focused and prevented me from going out drinking every day. It was a huge sacrifice, but it paid off. Whether it was necessary is a different question.
Morning Workout
- Diamond Pushups (50 total reps)
- Pull-ups (50 total reps)
- Kettlebell Swings/Carries (100 swings/5x50m carries)
- Ab Wheel
Evening Workout
This was focused on strength and in particular my goal of hitting a 60kg overhead press. I used a deceptively simple program from legendary strength coach Dan John called the 40 Day Workout.
- Pick five exercises
- Perform them every workout for 40 days
- Go easy, rarely push and focus on quality
- Nudge the weight up naturally
Use the following rep scheme:
After the first two weeks, you can change the exercises or repeat the same cycle three more times.
It’s somewhat counter-intuitive as you leave fresh and don’t lift heavy, but it works. The hardest part is sticking with the program because you feel fresh and can’t comprehend how it’s going to work.
I chose the following exercises:
- Military Press
- Incline Press
- KB Rows
- Power Cleans
- DB Hammer Curl
If you haven’t read Dan’s work, I highly recommend you become acquainted with it. Although he would probably be disgusted at my approach (modifying the diet) and working out twice a day, I can say that I followed his program and hit lifetime bests on my Incline and Military Press — while in a calorie deficit. Results can’t be argued.
Ten Week Results
Physically my body changed dramatically. Below is a picture of the DEXA scans showing before on the left, and after on the right. You can see the decrease in the yellow shade (fat) from the stomach and hips.
Here are the summary numbers from the above scan:
My recomposition consisted of a 4% decrease in body-fat combined with a nearly 5% increase in muscle mass. I lost the most fat around my mid-section and thighs, while I gained muscle in my arms, back, and trunk.
This was an incredible result for me as I had never believed that you could achieve both favorable outcomes at once past the beginner stage.
I did take a “before” picture; however, I am not going to post it given the lack of clothing and sheer embarrassment. I am hoping that the hard numbers above are enough to convince people of the effectiveness my approach had.
Here are two pictures of me after, admittedly with decent lighting!
In terms of strength results, I was shocked that I could increase my lifts during a calorie deficit.
Before Maxes: Military Press 52.5kg, Incline 72.5kg, Row 32kg
After Maxes: Military Press 60kg, Incline 77.5kg, Row 40kg
Not only did I finally see my abs, but I also hit my long-time goal of pressing 60kg and increased my incline bench by 5kg. When I pressed 60kg I had to check the weights three times to make sure I hadn’t miscounted — it meant that much to me.
Lessons Learned And Final Thoughts
In summary, I want to condense a few key takeaways that I hope will help anyone on their journey of body transformation.
- Tracking calories was the missing ingredient for fat loss — although I ate well, I consistently over-ate without realizing it.
- This is even more important the lighter you are. Being 65kg means I have fewer calories to play with. If you are on the heavier side, then cleaning up your food quality will likely yield quick results without having to count initially.
- For me, having a stringent diet works best as the rules are unambiguous, and I have minimal leeway to fall off the wagon. The cheat day kept me motivated and ensured I had a respite and re-feed.
- Eating the same foods over and over made life simpler. Staying away from choices kept me on track and almost prevented me from knowing what I was missing.
- Strength training doesn’t need to be intense to make significant gains. Regular, high-quality, low-repetition training can work wonders.
- Gaining muscle and losing fat is possible
If I were to do this again, I would take better before and after pictures for personal reflection. I would also consider taking in more carbs from low-calorie sources such as fruit, as I think the calories were more important than the macro breakdown.
Overall though I am incredibly proud of what I achieved as it shows that with dedication and perseverance, changing my body is possible even after years of failure. I hope that this post might serve as some little inspiration to even just one person so that they can try something similar that is equally as relevant and empowering for themselves.
Where once I hated the way I looked and felt in clothes, for the first time I feel comfortable in my skin. I encourage anyone experiencing the same feelings of inadequacy to explore the concepts above, and complete their transformation.
