Losing fat without being in a calorie deficit?

Most people know that to lose “weight”, you must burn more calories than you consume. Social media has helped spread this message around the world, calling out many fad diets and bullsh*t artists in the process. However, what if I was to proclaim that you could lose “fat” without reducing your caloric intake? Would you call me a bull sh*t artist too? Let me explain.

So, firstly, notice how I used the word weight at the beginning, whereas previously I referred to fat. There's a valid reason for this. It is possible to alter your body composition, without actually changing your overall weight. Meaning you don’t have to lower your calories. Although most people will typically refer to their goals as “weight loss”, a lot of the time people are seeking to positively alter their body composition. Hence the reason they’ll go to the gym. Indeed, this common goal of gaining lean muscle while losing body fat is referred to as body recomposition, or “recomping”. This so-called Holy Grail of body transformation is sought after by a variety of individuals from bodybuilders and athletes, all the way to general populations.

Firstly, there are a few things to unpack here. The common question I get asked is, “Peter, how do I know I'm gaining muscle and losing body fat if the scales are not moving?”. Good question, and without getting a detailed analysis of your body composition it's hard to tell exactly. If you’ve got money to burn and don’t mind paying for a Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, known as a DEXA, well by all means go for it. These are a 3-compartment model commonly used to assess body composition, which can distinguish between bone mineral content, fat-free mass, and fat mass. However, these are expensive and can cost upwards of $300 AUD (~€200), so how else can you tell? Well, a couple of ways that can help provide some feedback include; taking progress pictures, still tracking the scales, and measuring performance in the gym (lifting numbers etc.). Pictures can show changes, although they won't over a short period of time. The scales can help ensure you're not going too far in the wrong direction and can help provide further support when combined with the following method. TRACKING YOUR TRAINING. Chances are if you're lifting heavier, or the lifting the same for more reps, you are likely gaining muscle. Although not 100% guaranteed, it’s a pretty decent indicator of progress in the right direction. Combine these with a scale weight that isn’t moving, and you should be changing in those progress pictures over time. This “body recomposition”, does however require a little more patience and trusting the progress in comparison to a more linear goal such as losing or gaining weight, which can be tracked more accurately via body weight scales.

Now, you're probably thinking well then how the f*ck do I “recomp” Peter? There are a couple of things that will help maximise this process. Firstly, and arguably most importantly, protein intake must be high. Higher than would be the case for just gaining muscle. A good starting point would be 2g per kg of body weight per day. So for a 60kg individual, you'd be aiming to hit 120g of protein per day. Then, once hitting this number comfortably, I’d be looking to push protein intake up towards 2.2 - 2.5 g per kg of body weight per day. On top of this, heavy resistance training is also vital. This will ensure the “recomping” effect occurs. A further focus point I’d look to ensure is sleeping. Where do you think all this is going to happen? Not while, you're lifting in the gym anyways that’s for sure. Sleep is imperative, studies have shown that although when calories are equated, the total amount of weight loss is identical (when protein and energy expenditure are the same), when sleep is reduced, a greater percentage of that weight loss can occur from muscle rather than fat. This was shown in a study comparing a group of individuals sleeping for 8.5 hours per night compared to 5.5 hours. The overall weight loss was similar, however, the sleep-deprived group lost 80% of that weight from muscle, compared to the 8.5-hour group which only lost 48%. Although this study only included a protein intake of ~1.2g per kg per day, which is a bit less than what I've recommended. This should hopefully highlight that sleep is important.  

To conclude, not everyone will be at a point whereby they are seeking to “recomp”. Although in my opinion, this is a very healthy place to be at. When you have more weight to lose, it's maybe best to focus on strictly losing fat which your cardiovascular system will thank you for. However, when you get to a point where your social life and physique goals are maybe butting heads.  For example, if you are preferring the almond croissant over seeing an extra drop in the weighing scales, maybe it's time to transition to recomping. Recomping may also favour individuals with higher body fat upon starting, as fat stores may provide endogenous energy to support muscle mass accrual. Nevertheless, although maybe to a lesser extent, this is also possible in more trained individuals. Now to give you some practical tips to take away.  Firstly, it IS possible to alter body composition without being in a calorie deficit. To optimise this, focus on a high protein diet (2.2-2.5 g/kg/d), resistance training (x3 times per week) and a good night's sleep (7-9 hours depending on the individual). Protein supplements (i.e., whey and casein) may be used to assist with the increase in daily dietary protein intake as well as a tool to maximize muscle protein synthesis. Sorry for the click bait. If you found this useful, feel free to pass it on to someone else who might, or share it on your socials. The aim is to help as many people as possible and get this information out to the public.

Thanks for reading.

Peter