Can Muscle Turn Into Fat?

Can Muscle Turn Into Fat?

Can muscle turn into fat (or vice versa)?  Technically…no.  But it can sometimes look like it.  This illusion is precisely why most women spend less than 5% of their weight loss efforts trying to build muscle, and over 95% (spinning their wheels!) trying to tone it.  Today, we’re setting the record straight about why this simply isn’t possible and how having outdated beliefs about muscle and fat being interchangeable ends up causing more problems for 40+ women than it provides solutions… (full video below)

 

Understanding Body Composition

Before we dive into the myth, let’s take a moment to understand the characteristics of muscle and fat.  Muscle tissue is composed of protein filaments and is responsible for movement, strength, and endurance. On the other hand, fat tissue serves as an energy storage depot, storing excess calories in the form of triglycerides.

The Distinct Nature of Each

Each cell is distinct in their composition and function. Muscle cells contract to produce force, allowing movement, while fat cells store energy as triglycerides. These two tissues have different structures, purposes, and metabolic activities, making it impossible for muscle to transform into fat or vice versa.

Weight Loss and Changes in Body Composition

During weight loss, it’s common to experience changes in muscle mass and fat stores. However, it’s crucial to understand that these processes are separate and not interconvertible. A calorie deficit can lead to overall weight loss, but if not managed properly, it can result in loss of muscle and potential gain in bodyfat. Proper nutrition, exercise, and a balanced approach to weight loss are key to preserving lean body mass while reducing fat.

Factors Influencing Muscle Loss and Bodyfat Gain

Several factors can contribute to muscle loss and fat gain. Inadequate protein intake, lack of strength training exercises, and prolonged calorie deficits can lead to muscle breakdown. On the other hand, excess calorie intake, reduced physical activity, and an imbalanced diet can contribute to fat gain. By addressing these factors, we can maintain muscle mass and promote a healthier body composition.

Preserving Muscle and Reducing Bodyfat

To preserve lean body mass and reduce bodyfat effectively, it’s important to adopt specific strategies. Engaging in regular strength training exercises helps to maintain and build muscle mass. Consuming an adequate amount of protein is crucial for muscle growth and repair. It’s also essential to create a moderate calorie deficit that supports fat loss while minimizing muscle loss. Finding a sustainable approach to nutrition and exercise is key to achieving long-term success.

 

Conclusion: Muscle cannot turn into fat, and fat cannot turn into muscle. They are distinct tissues with different structures and functions. By debunking this myth, we aim to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their fat loss journey. Remember, preserving muscle mass, reducing bodyfat, and achieving a balanced body composition require a combination of proper nutrition, regular exercise, and a sustainable approach.

 

 

 

 

 

3 Surprising Reasons Family And Friends May Resist Your Weight Loss Efforts

3 Surprising Reasons Family And Friends May Resist Your Weight Loss Efforts

Are you trying to lose weight but your family and friends resist your weight loss efforts? You’re not alone. In this video, I’ll share three surprising reasons why they may be doing this – and what you can do about it.

3 Surprising Reasons Family And Friends May Resist Your Weight Loss Efforts

The #1 reason that people don’t support you is they don’t believe you. I’ve done a series on our Youtube Channel before where I kind of pinned down my husband and asked him why husbands tend to sabotage their wives. And as I’ve talked to different people in families, especially within the Eat More 2 Weigh Less community, a huge reason why people don’t support you is that you don’t believe them.

Maybe you are that girl that cries wolf, or you’ve experienced that person constantly changing things up. This is their seventy-eighth fad diet, their twelfth time quitting smoking, or they’re starting a new MLM or whatever it is. There’s always this person constantly starting something but never finishing it. And perhaps, that’s been you in the past.

Typically the people closest to you remember all those things. So whenever you start trying to change something, especially if you’re that person, that girl who’s always just been kind of radical and taking everything to the extreme. If that is you, then you can’t really expect people to just jump on board. Even I tend to hold people to that standard. If I know somebody who is always saying that they’re gonna do something, I just wait it out to see if this is really something that’s gonna stick or not. And that could be what somebody’s doing for you. So whether you’re that person that doesn’t believe people or you’re someone that nobody believes, just make sure that you’re committed first before you try to get other people to jump on board.

Watch the video above for more reasons why family and friends may resist your weight loss efforts

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Body Recomposition: Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle at the Same Time?

Body Recomposition: Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle at the Same Time?

It’s entirely possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. In fact, you may even find that your body composition changes quite a bit in the first few weeks of starting a new workout routine. But is it healthy? And more importantly, is it sustainable? Watch the video below to learn about Body Recomposition and if it’s the right path for you.

 

Body Recomposition: Can You Lose Fat and Gain Muscle at the Same Time?

 

Body recomposition is losing fat and gaining muscle. These two things are the epitome of what you typically try to do when you want to lose weight.

This is not to be confused with Body COMPosition. With Body Composition, if you hire a personal trainer, they take your weight, picture, measurements and have you do something like a DEXA scan, which helps you understand what your body fat and muscle mass are. However, when doing a Body Recomp, you will usually find that the fat percentage went down and the lean body mass percentage went up. What this does is instead of just focusing on weight loss, like stepping on a scale, you are making sure that the weight that you look at changes.

Watch the training above for a more in-depth look into Body Recomposition…

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Healthy Eating Doesn’t Make You Lose Weight

Healthy Eating Doesn’t Make You Lose Weight

So you’re trying eat better, but the weight isn’t coming off? You’re not alone. Here’s why “healthy eating” alone doesn’t work for weight loss.

The Truth About Healthy Eating

Getting healthy does not guarantee weight loss, and thinking that way may be getting in the way of you reaching your physique goals.

I know that for many ladies – weight loss and the journey to become more “healthy and fit” coincide.  And the line is often blurred, with so many “health” foods, gadgets, and supplements being marketed as a magic solution to make you fit, trim and lean. But the thing is, those things are not one in the same. So here’s a few things to consider if you want to be healthy and lose weight.

Weight Loss Basics Still Matter

Most of us have expressed the desire to be more fit and healthy as if they’re the same. We tend to assume that being healthy and losing weight are the same goal and, depending upon the information you consume, that thought is likely being confirmed.

Maybe you’ve experienced going to the doctor and constantly hearing about how you need to lose a little bit more weight to help solve some problems that you have in an area that has nothing to do with weight loss, like a knee issue, back pain, or fertility. We’ve often heard that if we lose weight, it will help. And while losing weight does affect blood markers, that does not mean that getting healthy and losing weight are the same.

Think about it.

There are so many loving, caring moms out there, who only eat organic foods.  Some grow their own vegetables, and even grind their own  grains, almonds, etc to make bread and other whole grain or gluten-free products. Yet they rarely lose weight, and many are gaining!  This may even describe you, a person doing alllll the healthy things, but not seeing the scale move the way you want it to. This is because a healthy diet does not automatically equate to weight loss.

Many ladies assume that as long as they eat clean, healthy, or organic, that calories don’t count. The reality is that you may see beneficial health improvements from an extremely healthy diet, but not see physique changes. This is because gaining or losing of fat and muscle require either a surplus or deficit of calories:

 

If you are trying to lose weight and are eating an excess of calories, even if those are the most amazing healthy organic calories, they’re still going to cause weight gain. If you are eating maintenance level calories of the most nutritious foods on the planet, you are still eating maintenance level and will stay the way you are. If you’re eating less food, you will probably see the scale go down or some weight shredded off, even if it’s “junk” food.

 

If you want to be healthy and lose fat, you need to eat healthy at a calorie deficit.  If you’re going to gain muscle and be healthy,
you will have to increase those same healthy calories, to put yourself in a caloric surplus.  If you’re someone who is on the fence – you want to lose a little bit of fat but eating super healthy foods isn’t all that important to you – good news! you still can lose weight and not be eating 100% healthy, clean and organic.

That’s why it’s essential to know both ends of the spectrum. The reality is, it doesn’t matter how healthy you are if you’re eating too many calories, and it doesn’t matter how unhealthy you are if you’re eating fewer calories. You will probably still lose some weight, whether or not that is a healthy weight that you’re losing.

So if you can find a healthy medium where you’re doing both, that will be the best-case scenario mainly because you are tailoring it to yourself. You can be “kind of” healthy, hitting your macronutrient level by eating a sufficient amount of treats, even if those things are what somebody else might consider junk food.

As long as you’re hitting the amount of protein and fiber your body needs and hitting the calorie level for your specific goal, then you can still see progress. This should give you both hope and a reality check!

Getting “Fit” vs Getting Lean

The second thing that I would say to consider when we’re thinking about being healthy is that being fit is not the same as being leaner or thinner. As I said in the first point, someone can be unhealthy and underweight. So assuming that because someone is skinnier than you means they are healthy is just not the case.

If you are taking excellent care of your health and body, working out consistently, eating healthy foods like whole grains, vegetables, and high protein, you are a healthy person even if your weight does not reflect that. On the contrary, some people are not exercising, not eating the healthy foods, getting insufficient protein, and not correctly fueling their body; even if they are underweight, that does not mean that they’re healthy. Knowing this allows us to have the freedom on our journey to do what it is that we set out to do.

How does this relate to your goals?

Well, if fat loss is your goal, understand that exercises that are “heart-healthy,” high endurance, or make you feel good may not actually be related to your goal of a physique change.

Your endurance may improve, but endurance and fat loss are not the same. Having a “healthy” heart does not automatically equal a smaller body size.  So if you’re attempting to lose some fat, you may need to adapt the style of exercising accordingly.  This means specifically executing fat loss behaviors, such as hitting a certain amount of protein, eating a certain amount of calories, doing some strength training workouts (your best friend when you’re trying to lose fat because it helps you hold on to muscle mass and keep your metabolism nice and high), and sometimes – limiting cardio for periods of time.

Sure…If you’re only looking to be healthy, then that means you can do whatever exercise makes you feel good.  Get your heart pumping and get those endorphins…

Just remember, endorphins don’t cause weight loss.

So..what do you really want? 

When you start to see fit/lean and healthy/weight loss as separate entities, you can begin creating the goals that you want, knowing what to expect from the actions that you’re taking. If you’re looking to lean out, then it’s about understanding what the basics of fat loss entail and making sure that those are incorporated, regardless of your health goals.

You can have a health goal, and you can have a fat loss goal. Just make sure that the actions and expectations align. That means you should not be upset when you eat healthily, exercise a lot, and see physique changes. Don’t say, “I just want to be healthy again,” when you mean “I just want to be the size that I was.”

Remember that your journey has different seasons, and each phase brings something new.

When you are in a muscle-building phase, you are looking to build muscle. You’re not necessarily looking for fat loss.

 

When you’re in a fat loss phase, you’re not looking to build muscle. You’re looking to lose fat and hopefully hold on to some of the muscles that you had.

 

There’s also the Chill phase when you’re not looking for anything. You’re not paying attention to what you eat. It’s a time to relax, be more intuitive, and have some mental freedom from tracking food all.the.time. BUT…that means you’re not expecting fat loss. You’re not expecting muscle gain. You’re not expecting anything. You’re just taking life as it comes because your focus is on mental clarity, relaxation, and not having to log everything.

 

It may seem nitpick-y to spell the differences of these phases out, but when you’re working your butt off to get results, it helps to make sure that you are getting the terminology right to express what you are looking for.

The terminology you uses indicates where your mindset is, and can be a huge indicator of why you’re not seeing the progress you want. So don’t be afraid to sit with the question “what do I REALLY want” and answer it unapologetically – even if it’s “unpopular.”  I get it, we live in a society right now where either side of the fence can be looked at as horrible.  One community is shouting, “Love yourself the way that you are, don’t ever try and change anything.” But then another community is telling you to change everything about yourself because “You suck, you’re fat. You don’t belong in this society.” The person who wants to enjoy life and not be concerned over their weight is shamed for being “unhealthy”, while someone else who wants change how they look is made to feel bad about it.

I see so many ladies don’t want to admit their actual goals, for fear of being excommunicated from the self-love community, or health-shamed.

Find your happy medium!  What are your standards of beauty? Own it, even if it’s unpopular with another crowd. You’re going to be 100% unhappy if you’re in one camp shouting “Rah, rah!” when what you REALLY want is the results of another camp.

If you want to lose fat, there is no shame in that.  If you are pleased where you are and want to be healthy, there is no shame in that.

If you want both, then be honest with yourself and do what it takes to make the two of those things align in a way that works for you.

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5 ways to take home workouts to the next level

5 ways to take home workouts to the next level

**How to avoid the biggest mistakes that most home exercisers make**

I’ve always been an advocate for having a home gym setup in case of emergencies.  But for some people, working out at home is the reason why they DON’T see the progress they want.

With more of us working out at home than ever before, there are even MORE options for the home exerciser than everrrrr before. Nearly every gym is offering “on-demand” options online, and every fit pro on IG is providing “quick and easy” moves you can do with little to no equipment from home.

IF you’re working out at home for only a week or two, then feel free to take FULL advantage of testing any and every idea or option available right now.  Use this time for getting in YOUR movement any way that you can, and discovering styles of exercising that you didn’t know even existed to see if you find something you like. Give yourself the gift of variety at some point of your journey, it can be just the thing you need during high stress periods, or for a quick break from your usual (more strategic, less variety) workout plans.

However, physique adaptations can happen in as little as 3 weeks, so plan accordingly.  Rest weeks and planned downtime can be an amazing gift if you’ve been running yourself into the ground – OR – it can be the nail in the coffin of your goals.

IF you will likely be working out from home for LONGER than 2-3 weeks, have a back up plan.    

To make the best of your at home workouts, and assure you get continual, compounding results even during the quarantine, avoid these 5 mistakes most home exercisers make: 

1) Not taking your workouts seriously. Just because you’re home, doesn’t mean you get to slack off/do laundry between sets (ok…so I’m talking to myself on that one! 🤣)

2) Being Random. Workout with a purpose. Once you’re out of the newbie phase, random Pinterest/homemade, etc. workouts won’t have the same effect that they used to.

3) Not progressing. When a workout gets easy, or you can lift heavier, etc…do it! Just because you sweat or can still “feel the burn” doesn’t mean it’s “working” in the way you think. The only way to keep seeing changes is to make an effort to progress in your workouts.

4) Not changing it up. Doing the same exercises/workouts/videos is not going to have the same results in Month 6 that it had in month 1. Don’t be afraid to move on (even if it’s just for a little while) when the workout is no longer serving you (or… if you can quote the video word for word.)

5) Not giving yourself room to grow. Make it a point to purchase heavier weights, incorporate new videos, or other equipment that allows you to make the exercise harder over time.  Don’t stifle yourself by refusing to equip yourself for the next level.

Remember, if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you! 

Why Increasing Calories in the Winter is Beneficial

Why Increasing Calories in the Winter is Beneficial

Increasing calories is an important aspect of building muscle. As we discussed in a previous blog post, you cannot build muscle and lose fat at the same time. So there should be a point in your year where the focus is on building muscle, and winter is usually a great time to do just that.

Increasing Calories in the Winter

There are two major reasons for increasing calories in the winter – maintenance eating and building muscle.  For most people, there is a natural tendency to “fall off” dieting in the Fall and Winter.  Because the urge to increasing calories is normal during these colder months, it makes sense to utilize this for muscle building.  By doing so, this sets the stage for success in the Spring/Summer when fat loss is desired. In addition to heeding natural tendencies, taking an extended diet break during this period gives your metabolism a chance to heal/re-boot from cut phases.

(Remember: Over time your metabolism adjusts to whatever calorie level you’re eating consistently. So if you are in a cut for too long, that caloric level becomes your new maintenance.)

A winter reset (eating at maintenance) actually helps your metabolism to heal, giving your body a good amount of time to “remember” where TDEE is before another cut is attempted. During this time, many in the fam will choose to eat in surplus of their TDEE (Bulk). Bulking gives your body extra calories, which helps to build more muscle. Whether you eat at maintenance or bulk during the winter, either will help achieve greater fat loss in the spring. Too many dieters think that restricting calories for many many months will help get to goal faster. The truth is, without taking those breaks – you often feel as if you look worse because of the muscle loss from non-stop dieting. Just remember, you can’t show off muscle in the summer, if you haven’t built the muscle under the fat in the winter (or at some point throughout the year!).

It’s no secret that muscle building phases can cause some gains on the scale and “puffiness” on the body (as muscle builds underneath the fat layers, pushing it outward).  In many parts of the world, winter tends to be the time where layers of clothing are worn. Those heavier sweaters, hoodies, sweatpants, blanket scarves, etc provide the perfect opportunity to stylishly “hide” areas you’d rather not flaunt, while you get down to business (building muscle).  By fully embracing this as a time of year for muscle building, you can fully enjoy your fat loss phase in the spring and summer (with the benefit of increased metabolism!).

Be sure to take advantage of the colder months to rest, recharge and take a break from a reduction in calories. But do so with purpose (not simply “I’ll start over in Spring!”). Tracking calories and paying attention to your macros are still very important during this time. Be sure to enjoy yourself, but remember that maintaining now allows for a successful cut later.

 

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