How Much Food to Build Muscle and Lose Fat (Including What I Eat)

People trying to build muscle while losing fat can be broken into 3 groups. The first group is overweight and wants to get lean. The second one is guys who are gaintaining, they keep their weight the same while building muscle. Both these groups can build muscle while losing fat.

The last group are guys that want to get lean, shredded and see their abs. These guys are going to have a tough time building muscle. Their goal should be to keep the muscle they have while they cut.

I was in this group over a year ago when I cut down to about 10% body fat. I did a long slow cut, eating the same types of food I ate before starting, just reduced the amount of carbs and fats while keeping the protein intake appropriately the same

I’ve added over 10 pounds of body weight. Now I’m in the second group where I’m gaintaining, and when I see my physique tightening up and my abs becoming more visible, I add in more food and gain a couple more pounds. This works better for experienced lifters than trying to do a true body recomp.

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When it comes to foods, you should focus on mainly whole foods; the less processed, the better. You need enough protein; lots of veggies.

If you are over 18% body fat, you should go into a calorie deficit, reducing your food intake by 300 to 500 calories depending on how fast you want to lose weight until you reach 13%.

Here, you have the option of gaintaining between 13 and 15%, or you can cut right down to 10%, where you can really see your gains and then go into a small calorie surplus until you reach at least 13 to 15% body fat or you can continue to add mass until you’re up to 18% as it’s easier to build muscle in a calorie surplus up to a point.

High-protein foods should be prioritized but not over-emphasized, as we need a balanced diet, including all macronutrients.

One study on weight loss in athletes found “that 2.3 g/kg or 35% protein was significantly superior to 1 g/kg or 15% energy protein for maintenance of lean body mass in young, healthy athletes during short-term hypo-energetic weight loss.”

2.3 g/kg is just over a gram per pound of body weight. It should be noted that these athletes were already reasonably lean. So, if you are overweight, this will have you eating excessive amounts of protein. You’re better off going by lean body mass.

Which is your body weight, less your fat mass or using a percentage of daily calories consumed.

The last thing I want to mention in this study is the macro split; we already know it was 35% protein, with the other two macros being divided into 15% fats and 50% carbs.

To get a better idea how much protein we should be taking in, let’s look at a meta-analysis that analyzed 49 different studies involving 1863 people.

They found that “protein intakes at amounts greater than 1.6 g per kilogram per day do not further contribute to resistance training-induced gains in fat-free mass.” This was in healthy men under 45; for those over 45, they felt there weren’t enough studies done to make a recommendation.

1.6g/kg/day works out to be .73g/lb/day, so if you are under 45, that’s a good number. Because of anabolic resistance in older men, we might want to increase that to a gram per pound, although the research is inconclusive.

Personally, my protein intake is about 30% of my daily calories.

I would bump the fats to at least 20% to ensure good hormone function.

Eventually, I’ll be cutting weight, and the first foods to go are peanut butter and cheese; these foods have a high-fat content but very little food volume, so they don't have much of an effect on fullness. When I cut these foods, and I eat them daily, I reduce my calorie intake by 200 calories a day, and it won’t make me any hungrier.

Carbs aren’t something healthy men should be afraid of, and we need to make sure we’re taking in enough to replenish our muscle's energy stores after hard training. So, we’re ready to give 100% in our next workout.