Gain Muscle and Lose Weight - Easy to Follow Step by Step Instructions

You can lose weight quickly and effectively without starving! Learn how Philipp managed to speed up his metabolism to get his dreambody. Meal and workout plans for weight loss are provided for free, so you can start gaining muscle while losing weight immediately! Learn all about how Philipp managed to lose 47 pounds in only 38 weeks and gained muscle at the same time. The recipe for success is 3 to 4 short workouts a week and a balanced and healthy diet. Read all about his strategy in this article and join Philipp on his journey to reaching his dreambody!

Photo by ShapeGanic

-47 lbs in 38 weeks with simultaneous muscle gain

Why did Philipp decide to take this step?

Before explaining in detail what Philipp did to achieve his dreambody, let me first tell you about the beginnings of his journey. It's very important for you to understand what the motivation and inner drive behind this incredible achievement were. I would also like to tell you how the contact came about and how the collaboration went. Also you will understand why it is very important to track your calories and macronutrients as well as your body weight.

Philipp's Motivation

What distinguishes a successful person from an unsuccessful one? Why does one person achieve his goals, while another fails again and again? How is it possible that Philipp lost 47 pounds and gained a decent amount of muscle in only 38 weeks? At the same time, many of us lack the motivation to walk around the block once a day. Is it a matter of genetics? Are we just the way we are and can't change anything about it?

The truth is very uncomfortable and makes many excuses and apologies meaningless. What you are about to hear may take you out of your comfort zone. The reason why some of us just make it and others don't is not 'I'm just like that and there's nothing I can do about it'. The thing that makes us different is what we do, it's our choices. It is not a question of disposition! So the only decisive thing is our motivation, the inner drive, i.e. good and solid reasons to do something. You have a goal? Why do you want to achieve it? What drives you? What are your good reasons? Write them down!

Philipp had very good reasons. His motivation was solid and consistent. He had been struggling with being overweight for several years. Although he has been working out regularly, there were still bad habits in his daily routine that kept him from reaching his desired weight. Philipp also wanted to feel more comfortable and to take care of his health in the long run. Vanity, ambition and striving for ideals also played a huge role. This is Philipp's solid mental foundation, which ultimately moved him to take decisive action.

Photo by ShapeGanic

Like Philipp, you can do it too!

The First Contact

I posted photos from a bodybuilding competition on a social media platform shortly before our first contact. These photos showed my shape before and after the diet. Philipp had seen the photos and they obviously impressed him. Shortly after that, he contacted me to learn everything about my diet and workout routine.

Philipp and I had a longer conversation especially about nutrition and workout strategies. Many questions could be answered in this first conversation and in particular Philipp quickly realized that his goal is different from mine and therefore some aspects would have to be adjusted. Philipp and I are good friends, so I made him the offer to be his diet, workout and motivation coach.

In the weeks and months to come, I noticed that Philipp is extremely serious about his commitments. So he took a few days to think about the collaboration. Fortunately, he agreed which makes me pretty grateful in hindsight especially whenever I look at his transformation. The next section describes Philipp's diet in detail.

You must optimize your diet to lose weight!

A rule of thumb says that a successful diet consists of 70 % nutrition and 30 % proper workouts. Therefore this section is dedicated to the most important component to losing weight quickly and effectively which is the diet. The first meal plan for weight loss I created for Philipp, which can be seen below, provides 2290 calories, 260 g of protein, 220 g of carbohydrates and 40 g of fat. This yields a macronutrient ratio of 45 % protein, 39 % carbohydrates, and 16 % fat. Use this free app to effortlessly determine both macronutrient percentages and total macronutrient amounts. But how did I calculate Philipp's daily calorie needs? That's actually not a secret, there is a pretty straightforward equation I use for my athletes. A very accessible and detailed explanation can be found HERE.

The following section describes the diet meal by meal. This way you'll understand the purpose of each chosen food.

Breakfast

This diet plan's breakfast is rich in protein and carbohydrates and at the same time extremely low in fat. Especially in the morning it is important to provide your body with easily digestible protein and quickly available carbohydrates. Cottage cheese and chicken breast are the sources of protein. Also, this breakfast does not require any preparation time. It is therefore very suitable when you have little time available.

First Snack

To prevent cravings from arising in the first place, it is important to eat meals on a regular basis. In Philipp's case, there are 3 larger and 2 smaller meals. The first snack is mainly a supplier of protein and carbohydrates. In addition to protein, cheese also provides a moderate amount of fat. Also keep in mind that quick meal praparation has been of great importance to Philipp. For instance a slice of cheese just needs to be placed on a slice of bread, done. Moreover a whey protein shake can be taken anywhere and anytime if put in a shaker bottle. If you want to learn more about how to best prepare your everyday whey protein shake, go ahead and read THIS ARTICLE.

Lunch

Lunch is probably the largest meal in terms of food volume. It is also particularly rich in proteins and carbohydrates. In addition, it provides solid amounts of fiber, which are mainly present in green beans. Of course, you can also swap rice for buckwheat, which has higher nutritional value and also provides better satiety. Likewise, potatoes or even sweet potatoes would be a useful alternative. You could also alternate the carbohydrate sources regularly. I would not resort to pasta. They have an extremely high glycemic index, which means they cause high insulin levels, which can quickly lead to cravings. Experience has also shown that they do not keep you full for long, which is anything but helpful, especially in a diet.

Dinner

The macronutrient composition of dinner is completely different compared with other meals. Dinner is practically low carb and consists mainly of protein and fats. The special thing about the protein in cottage cheese is that it is predominantly casein. Casein is a very slow-digesting protein, which makes it a great source of protein for the nighttime. This way your body is supplied with amino acids over a long period of time. If you don't like the taste of low-fat cottage cheese, or if you need a healthy snack every now and then, you can alternatively fall back on casein protein powder as well.

Walnut oil is a very healthy source of fat. It provides omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are very important for your health and also support your dietary efforts. There is still a common misconception that dietary fat makes you fat. First and foremost, dietary fat has nothing to do with body fat. The latter is produced by the body when there is a calorie surplus with regard to food. Where these calories come from does not matter in the first place! So remember: you need healthy fats in your diet regardless of whether you are aiming to lose weight or not! A good alternative to walnut oil is flax oil. It also has an excellent profile of fatty acids while having a different flavor than walnut oil.

Second Snack

The second snack has two functions. It is taken either as a meal between lunch and dinner or directly after training. Accordingly, it depends on whether you are training on that particular day or not. Again, it is a meal that requires virtually no preparation time. The macronutrients supplied here are primarily quickly absorbable whey protein and quickly available carbohydrates. A viable alternative for the banana in this meal would be instant oatmeal which is very soluble oatmeal that you can simply add to the same shaker or blender as whey protein. Instant oatmeal provides you with complex carbohydrates that keep you full for a long time because of its low glycemic index. To get the same amount of calories, simply replace one banana (125 g) with one serving of instant oatmeal (30 g).

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Quick and effective weight loss with a proper meal plan!

Use cheatdays to overcome stagnation!

Let's talk about a very popular and at the same time very controversial topic, which is the cheat day. This is also known as carb backloading or refeed. There are self-proclaimed fitness gurus who come up with the wildest and most creative guidelines. Some of them specify a fixed macronutrient distribution and only a slightly increased amount of calories. Others advocate a very simple approach that can be summed up as "eat anything you want and as much as you want as long as you have the discipline to stick to your diet meal plan the next day."

I definitely see myself more as a proponent of the latter approach. Philipp ate and drank literally everything he wanted every two weeks on a weekday of his choice, usually a Saturday or even a holiday, without restricting himself or even weighing his food. Fast food such as burgers with fries, pizza, ice cream, chips, coke, sweets or other treats is literally no problem on this one day. Whatever your cravings are, go for it and eat whatever you want. Does it work? Just take a look at Philipp's before and after photos to get the answer!

But why does this approach work? The longer you stick to your diet, the bigger the risk that your metabolism will slow down. Speaking in terms of genetics, your body basically goes into survival mode due to low calorie intake. Your metabolism runs as economically as possible. By having a cheat day every two weeks, you oversaturate your organism with calories and carbohydrates, so your body speeds up its metabolic rate again. After all, it now has the impression that a sufficient supply of calories is guaranteed.

Another reason for the effectiveness of this approach is psychological. What are you more likely to get through mentally, knowing that you can eat your favorite food again for the first time in a year, or the certainty of eating every two weeks on a whim? Your diet is thus divided into short sprints and at the end of each small sprint there is a big reward. This way you condition yourself for success, you reward yourself for your ambition and discipline.

Optimize your diet with this nutrition strategy!

Have you wondered why you should eat the same on workout days as well as on non-workout days? Most importantly, you may have wondered why you should eat the same amount of calories and macronutrients regardless of whether working out or not. In fact, this is a very good point! And in Philipp's case, we've taken advantage of this knowledge to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. You will now learn how we proceeded.

As the diet progressed, we gradually had to reduce Philipp's calories a bit more in order to stay on track for success. Nevertheless, it has been important for the long-term success that Philipp does not starve at any time. That's why I created two different nutrition plans, one for workout days and the other for non-workout days. When working out, the calories amount to 2015 kcal and are thus almost unchanged from the beginning of the diet. On days without workouts the calories were reduced to 1535 kcal. Which makes total sense, since the calories burned decrease. The difference in calories is mainly characterized by a reduction in carbohydrates on non-workout days, as these are especially needed for intensive exercises.

Diet Plan On Workout Days

Fast and effective weight loss without starving is possible. It is also much easier than you might have imagined. The secret is, among other things, to eat foods that are as unprocessed as possible. They keep you full for a long time and provide you with important nutrients to keep your metabolic rate as high as possible. Philipp's meal plan for workout days at the end of his diet is described in the following section.

There are certain similarities between this and the first diet plan. The meal plans were not completely changed, which offers both a food variety and established eating habits. Short meal explanations are provided below.

Breakfast

In order to bring your body out of a catabolic metabolic state after a night's rest, it is important to eat quickly digestible proteins in combination with complex carbohydrates. For this purpose, a portion of whey protein with instant oatmeal is optimal. Round off your breakfast with a tablespoon of walnut oil or linseed oil. These ingredients can easily be added to a shaker or blender. The recommended liquid is low-fat (lactose-free) milk, oat milk, coconut milk or simply water.

Lunch

With a generous serving of rice, lunch will provide you with the greatest amount of carbohydrates. As a source of fiber, it's best to add broccoli to the portion of chicken breast. Broccoli is not only a source of fiber, but it also helps you being full and it has extremely important health properties as an alkaline food. Alkaline foods raise the pH of your blood, so they make it less 'acidic'. This can have a positive effect on your joints and your regeneration!

Dinner

Dinner is kept very simple. It consists of a package of low-fat cottage cheese and 3 whole eggs. The goal is to keep your blood sugar level as low as possible through this combination of proteins and fats before going to bed. This way you will lose fat while sleeping and build muscle by releasing growth hormones like HGH and IGF-1. You can add flavor and enhance nutritional value by adding fresh or frozen fruit. The preparation of the eggs is entirely up to you, for example, you can fry them with fresh chives and herbs and serve them with a tomato and cucumber.

Snack

The snack is especially intended as a meal after workouts and requires practically no preparation time. In case you are on the go, you can simply put the whey protein in a shaker and pack it together with the banana. This way you have a full-fledged small meal with you, which supplies your body with quickly available proteins and short-chain carbohydrates. Especially directly after training, this leads to a strategically important release of insulin, which ensures that amino acids can be metabolized quickly and effectively and migrate into your muscles.

Meal Plan - Day Off

The following meal plan shows what Philipp has been eating on non-workout days. The calories here are reduced from 2015 kcal to 1535 kcal. As already mentioned above, this results mainly from a reduced amount of carbohydrates. In particular, the protein intake is kept relatively high to supply the muscles with amino acids, which counteracts muscle loss. This is extremely important for your dieting efforts, as it will become increasingly difficult for you to lose weight the less muscle you have. For more information on this topic, see this article on calculating your calorie needs.

Breakfast

Breakfast consists of banana and rice cakes as sources of carbohydrates, which is rounded off with a pack of cottage cheese as protein provider. The carbohydrates are composed of both simple and complex carbohydrates. Cottage cheese mainly consist of casein protein which supplies amino acids for several hours.

Lunch

Unlike lunch on workout days, a day off lunch does not contain direct sources of carbohydrates. The onions and zucchini are a source of fiber while contributing a pleasant flavor. They also ensure that the portion of chicken breast can be prepared in a tastier way. Protein foods, such as a big portion of chicken breast, have the great advantage of keeping you full for a long time and equally supplying you with important amino acids. This keeps your blood sugar level constantly low and you lose weight and build muscle quickly and effectively!

Photo by ShapeGanic

Gain muscle while losing weight!

Dinner

Like lunch, dinner is a low-carb meal. The strategy behind this is that Philipp only ate carbohydrates in the morning so that he can subsequently metabolize body fat better during the rest of the day. Eggs are a source of both protein and healthy saturated fat. In addition, eggs contain healthy HDL cholesterol and are a source of lecithin, which can increase mental performance. Mushrooms are micronutrient suppliers and increse food volume. They were added to the eggs to make a delicious omelet.

Snack

The snack consists of a generous whey protein shake which should be consumed when you are a little hungry. Especially with a delicious flavor it can significantly improve your mood in a diet.

These activities help with weight loss...

Just like Philipp, you may also have the desire to lose weight while gaining muscle. You already know the tiniest detail about Philipp's diet meal plan. But what about working out? After all, there are countless types of sports and it's pretty difficult to tell which are effective and which are not. Now you'll find out what you really need to keep in mind when exercising and which sports combination is by far the best.

To lose fat you need to build muscle!

In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat. So you might be tempted to do any sport in order to simply burn calories to achieve a calorie deficit, such as jogging, soccer, cardio, cycling or aerobics classes. Sure, you burn a lot of calories, but will it really make you slim in the long run? The answer is definitely NO! This may sound like a shock to you, but the explanation is pretty simple. Your body will do everything it can to protect its energy reserves, that is, its fat stores. This is the way we are basically programmed by evolution.

As soon as your body goes into 'survival mode' due to a calorie deficit, it will metabolize your muscles to lower its basal metabolic rate. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to continue losing weight until your efforts become totally ineffective. But what can we do about it? A protein-rich diet is fundamentally important in order to protect your muscles with the amino acids supplied. Moreover, you have to make sure that your muscles are sufficiently stimulated to prevent muscle atrophy. In addition, it would be desirable to gain muscle which in turn increases your basal metabolic rate. As a result your diet becomes much easier and you will be able to eat more without gaining weight in the long run.

Philipp's Workout Plan

The following workout plan consists of 3 units which are labeled legs, push and pull, each performed in a saparate workout. Philipp executed this workout plan 3 to 4 times per week. The units are intended to be periodic, so after doing pull you basically start over with legs. Between each set take a break of about 90 seconds.

Leg Workout

The entire lower body workout consists of 5 exercises that stimulate your front and back thighs as well as your calves. After you have warmed up extensively, the first exercise you perform is squats. This is a basic exercise that strengthens not only your thighs but also your entire body. Follow up with leg presses and leg extensions, each of which stimulate primarily your quadriceps. The thigh workout concludes after leg curls which stimulate the leg flexor in isolation. You're done with your workout after several sets of calf raises.

Push

The term push is used to describe exercises in which a weight is moved away from your body. The corresponding muscles perform a stretching movement. These muscle groups include your chest, shoulders and the arm extensor also know as triceps. The session begins with chest exercises which are incline bench press and butterfly. Butterfly can be performed using a machine, cables or with dumbbells. The chest exercises are followed by shoulder exercises which consist of vertical shoulder press and lateral raises. The training session concludes with tricep pushdown and EZ bar tricep extension.

Pull

The pull unit is essentially the opposite of the push unit which stimulates muscle groups that perform a flexing movement towards the body, such as your entire back and your biceps. The workout starts with 3 sets of pull-ups, which you can also substitute with lat pulldowns, especially if you're not yet strong enough to perform regular pull-ups. This is followed by dumbbell rows and seated cable rows. This variety of exercises will reach the complex back muscles from all angles. The unit concludes with 5 sets of bicep exercises such as dumbbell bicep curls and preacher curls.

Cardio should be short and intense!

Although you should focus your workout on lifting weights to gain muscle, it is also important to engage in a moderate amount of aerobic activities that specifically burn calories, such ascardio. In fact, Philipp's cardio routine was pretty simple. It was important to him to do cardio as time-effective and low-volume as possible. Philipp performed an intense 15-minute cardio workout on the stepper or cross trainer after every other regular workout. If that's too boring for you, do something you enjoy as for instance aerobics, biking, rowing, playing soccer, football or volleyball. You get the idea!

Ab workouts are overrated!

You probably noticed that Philipp's workout plan does not contain any explicit abdominal exercises. That's because you can actually perform ab exercises right after every workout. Philipp's abdominal workout consists of 3 sets of leg raises, 20 to 25 reps each. Leg raises is an excellent ab exercise because they basically strengthen the entire abdominal muscle and in particular your V-cut abs.

But is there a special workout that helps lose belly fat? The fat distribution of our body is both genetically determined and gender-dependent. Some tend to gain belly fat while others gain fat on their hips, legs or butt. This means that you cannot specifically lose fat on a certain part of your body, as some dubious TV commercials may promise in order to selling their products. Consider the following a law of nature: in order to lose weight you need a calorie deficit. You cannot influence where you lose weight fastest or most likely.

Does this mean that an abdominal workout is unnecessary? No, absolutely not! Strong abdominal muscles are of enormous importance for your health. They ensure a healthy posture and support your spine. Pronounced abdominal muscles are also visible with a higher body fat percentage. This in turn means that you will have a visible six pack at a much earlier point in your diet. These are many reasons why a regular abdominal workout should be an integral part of your workout routine.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Do you know the feeling when you've been reading up on a topic for what feels like an eternity, but then you realize with disappointment that exactly YOUR particular question remains unanswered? I know this only too well, that's why you get here a question-answer catalog with which even your most specific question will be answered. Let's go!

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You still have questions about fast and effective weight loss?

What should I eat for dinner at night to lose weight?

In the evening, you should avoid carbohydrates in favor of protein and fat. Foods containing high amounts of protein include cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, egg whites, meat, fish, lentils, beans, (chick)peas and protein powders. In order to eat high quality fat sources, make sure they contain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Good sources are walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, linseed oil, walnut oil, olives and olive oil, fish or alternatively codliver oil.

Simply use the meal plans for weight loss described in this article or just let your creativity run wild. How about grilled chicken breast and a delicious salad with walnuts and an olive oil based dressing. Or simply cottage cheese with fresh or frozen fruit and a tablespoon of walnut or linseed oil. You'll quickly find out what works best for you.

What is the #1 most effective way to lose weight?

This is a question that is asked often and, at first glance, easy to answer. Unfortunately, most people have a hard time finding solid and objective information to answer this question. If you have read the article in full, you will already have a good impression of how you can build muscle while losing weight. You will also find more articles on this topic in this blog in the future.

The best way to lose belly fat effectively is to have a calorie deficit which is slightly below your maintenance calories. This will ensure that your metabolism won't slow down in order to save calories instead of metabolizing body fat. The amount of protein in your diet should be relatively high in conjunction with moderate amounts of healthy fats. A low-carb diet is usually the most optimal strategy. Your workout should consist of both muscle-building exercises and a decent amount of cardio.

How long will it take to lose 20 pounds?

A calorie deficit of 300 calories per day results in a weight loss of 2.6 pounds of pure body fat per month. Accordingly you will lose 20 pounds of pure body fat in less than 9 months. However, as you can conclude from Philipp's success story, it is also possible to lose more than twice as much weight in the same time. Anyway, I strongly recommend you to be patient and you shouldn't be too concerned about your weight in the sense of a value on your scale. Your goal is visual, you want to see your dream body in the mirror, what your scale says is secondary. You can find all the information you need in this article.

How long after starting weight training will I lose weight?

The best way to lose weight is a calorie deficit which is actually the only way to sustainably lose weight. In other words, you need to burn more calories than your food provides. Does this mean that lifting weights at the gym is ineffective? Not at all! Lifting weights burns calories and at the same time is the cause for muscle gain. Building muscle increases your basal metabolic rate which means that you burn more calories at rest than before. This makes it easier for you to achieve a calorie deficit to reach your diet goals faster.

Can I lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

Philipp's transformation shows impressively that gaining muscle while losing weight is possible if you follow the advices in this article. Working out at the gym helps you build muscle which in turn increases your basal metabolic rate. This circumstance helps you lose weight tremendously. Additionaly, lifting weights helps you keep your metabolic rate at a consistently high level. So consider working out as a fundamental activity, which is indispensable for losing weight.

What Did You Learn From This Article?

Thanks for joining Philipp on his muscle building and weight loss journey. Now you know everything about his diet and workout. Philipp's transformation photos prove his strategy right and clearly demonstrate its effectiveness. There are no secrets here and no information hiding behind a price tag. You can easily adopt the plans so that you too can achieve your goals! What are you waiting for?

• You need a diet meal plan in order to achieve your fitness goals.
• It's best to use a reliable calorie counter to track your diet.
• You can divide your diet plan into workout and non-workout days.
• You should have a cheat day every two weeks.
• Gaining muscle by going to the gym increases the effectiveness of your diet.
• Cardio can help you lose weight.
• Keep a weight log to measure your success.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, the price remains unchanged for you. I only recommend products that I use myself and have absolutely convinced me. The proceeds will be used for the maintenance of this information platform to continue to create highly informative and independent expert articles for you in the future.

Lose Weight and Build Muscle

You read articles like this one because you have real goals. You want to achieve something, something that is important to you. You want to lose some weight to feel more comfortable, to be healthier, or to please yourself more. You want to build up muscles in order to have a slim and beautiful physique in the future. Supplements can be very helpful here, but at the end of the day, your total daily calories and the macronutrient distribution make the difference between success and failure!

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With the right calorie counter, your goal is in sight!

Total Calories and Macronutrient Distribution

To stay on track, you need to control your calories and keep an eye on them. But also the macronutrient distribution, i.e. the ratio of eaten protein, carbohydrates and fats, is extremely important. Determining these values daily by hand in a spreadsheet is very time-consuming and frustrating. To help you out, I'm providing you with a 100% free calorie counter app. It also helps you to log your weight and analyze it graphically. What are you waiting for? Start NOW!

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