A Good Muscle Building Weight Loss Diet & Exercise Plan

Some controversy exists about whether it is possible to achieve weight loss while maintaining muscle tone. Successfully losing weight and not muscle is a delicate balance of managing what you eat and how you exercise. Proper nutrition, cardiovascular training, weight bearing exercises, and the duration and form these take are all necessary to see optimal results. A good muscle building, weight loss and diet plan should include all of these components and necessary adjustments for you to obtain your goal.

Cardiovascular Training

Although aerobic exercise is an important factor for overall weight loss, which type you choose and its duration can affect your muscle tone. Working out at high intensity for an extended period of time can lead to fat loss and muscle break down. The intensity of exercise is based on your maximum heart rate, which is determined by subtracting your age from 220, according to the American Heart Association High intensity exercise is classified as such because you are typically working at 85 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. In contrast, moderate intensity aerobic exercise means that you're working at 65 to 75 percent of your maximum heart rate. To maintain lean muscle, adjust the length, frequency and intensity of your cardiovascular workouts to preserve muscle mass.

Resistance Training

Weight bearing exercises, otherwise known as resistance exercises, are an integral part of maintaining muscle tone and facilitating weight loss. A study conducted at the University of Michigan, which researched the effects of lifting weights while dieting, concluded that adding resistance training increases the retention of lean body weight. Researchers Katch, Ballor and Becque investigated 40 obese women and found that diet plus weight training preserved lean muscle more than diet without exercise. Lean muscle tissue also displaces fat to give you a sleeker appearance. Another benefit of having a higher lean muscle to fat ratio is that lean tissue burns more calories at rest which boosts your metabolism.

Exercise Plan

The Centers for Disease Control's recommendation for physical activity is 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and two to three days of resistance training per week. Incorporate weight bearing exercises into your routine by using moderately heavy weights while taking a sculpt class, weight lifting on the gym floor or doing exercises that use your own body weight. Since the body adapts to changes, gradually and safely increasing the amount of weight you lift will improve muscle tone. Moderate weights should cause some discomfort by the completion of the second set. An example of a good routine is one that combines full body workouts with moderate weights two to three times weekly and moderate intensity aerobic work two to three times weekly. Incorporate rest days to minimize discomfort.

Diet

Simply put, what you eat affects how you look. Although it is possible to lose weight from calorie restriction and exercise alone, eating the right nutrients can help to preserve and build muscle tone. The most common way to build lean muscle from food is to eat a diet rich in protein. Protein is a building block of muscles and facilitates weight loss because it keeps you feeling full longer which leads you to eat less.

Eating Patterns

Whether or not you eat only three times daily or five small meals per day depends on your appetite. The premise behind eating five small meals instead of three is that eating often prevents you from going hungry. When you are too hungry, it becomes easier to make poor food choices. However, the frequency of your meals is not as important as their protein content, as shown in the study " The Effects of Consuming Frequent, Higher Protein Meals on Appetite and Satiety During Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Men" by researchers at the University of Missouri. Include a higher ratio of lean protein in a meal that also features complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.