7 Steps to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle

How do I lose weight and gain muscle? This is probably the top-ranked question heard daily by a personal trainer. The question is not easily answered since fitness programs are not one-size-fits-all. That said, the following is a general list of 7 steps to lose weight and gain muscle that will be helpful to achieve your goals:

Mental Readiness

If you’re not mentally ready, your body is unable to follow. Mental readiness is accepting a change that is needed in your life to improve your health. This may have been prompted by a doctor saying your cholesterol, triglycerides, or blood pressure are too high. Likewise, a health professional may have told you that being overweight has contributed to these issues, potentially increasing your risk of diabetes or heart problems.

Most often, the desire to change your health comes from reaching a point of not liking how you feel or what you see in the mirror. As a result, you finally feel motivated to commit to eating healthy and exercising regularly. This mental readiness starts your journey to adopting a healthy lifestyle. 

Plan to Succeed

Nothing happens without good planning. Achieving fitness goals with a qualified personal trainer or solo will require knowledge and a plan to succeed. For example, reliable fitness and nutrition information will be needed if working on your own. As well, selecting a qualified personal trainer will require some research into their qualifications. 

If you are new to fitness, hiring a qualified personal trainer may be helpful to kickstart your plan to succeed. Proper fitness and nutrition coaching can motivate you in the right direction. If taught correctly, you will gain lifelong education on healthy eating, proper exercise techniques, weight loss management, and muscle growth.

Whatever plan you choose, it will be important to use realistic approaches to fitness and stay away from fad diets and trends. These are typically short-term quick fixes without long-term solutions.

Food and Fitness Journals

Recording progress is a great strategy for successful weight loss and muscle gain. You can include ‘before’ pictures and measurements, feelings of the day, daily food and water intake, and exercises performed in your workout. This consistent information will allow you to repeat successful weeks and show you where things didn’t go quite right.

Progressive Fitness

Getting fit is a progressive process. It will require patience and consistent effort. Every step toward your fitness goal is making a positive difference even when you don’t see it right away. For example, using progressive overload during weight lifting means starting with a certain resistance and increasing over time as you get stronger. It’s a slow process but if you keep going, the results are amazing. 

Eating Healthy

Losing weight and gaining muscle will require eating to achieve these goals. For this reason, the majority of your food intake will include vegetables and leafy greens, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, and lots of water. As a result, a nutrition lifestyle change is implemented and healthier eating habits are your new normal.

Physical demands will also increase the number of calories coming from healthy foods. For example, weightlifters and long-distance runners will require more fuel than an individual selecting a light aerobics class for physical activity.

Exercise

Workouts don’t have to be extreme or long duration to be effective. Furthermore, fitness is often overcomplicated and workouts are considered a burden. That said, it will be important to find an exercise program you enjoy and can stick with.

Working out at least 4 times per week is recommended to increase muscle mass and reduce body fat. A well-balanced workout program includes exercise that challenges your aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility.

Applying a progressive workout strategy is also important. Allow yourself to be a beginner and slowly increase exercise intensity and duration. This will give your body time to adapt, promote muscle growth, and progress at a healthy rate reducing the risk of injury.

Healthy Lifestyle

Adopting a healthy lifestyle includes a combination of eating right, exercise, adequate sleep, and life balance. Losing weight and gaining muscle are typical results of living this way.

Getting healthy is a realistic goal achievable for everyone. Applying these 7 steps to lose weight and gain muscle is a great way to start seeing results that will last a lifetime.

As a personal trainer and coach for over 30 years, I share videos and posts specific to the importance of aging well through proper fitness and nutrition on my Instagram page. I look forward to having you as a follower.

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