The whole calorie thing

[nsteck2345]

Ok I understand that if you have a calorie deficit you lose weight, and if you have a surplus you gain. What I don't understand is what is going on in your body if you have a calorie deficit, but are working out. Some kind of muscle growth has to be going on. And if you are to be on a calorie surplus, would fat be added also or would the muscle just grow but you your fat would stay the same. It's all very confusing.

[Scrutiny]

Hi mate,

When eating in a deficit of calories you will lose weight.
Fat and muscle will be lost to some degree, and this degree largely depends on how good your training and diet is. Lifting weights will help maintain the muscles, but since the body is taking in less than it requires there would be then no reason or resources to support new muscle growth.

When eating in a surplus of calories you will be gaining weight.
Fat and muscle will be gained to some degree, but this degree is largely dependent again on the diet and training. If you keep a close eye on the diet and training you should be able to gain a significant amount of muscle whilst keeping the fat gain to a minimum.
This can be done by tracking calories and eating exactly what you require from your protein, carbs and fats.

You will always gain fat to some degree while bulking, but the amount added will again be determined by your diet.

[santosa]

Originally Posted by Scrutiny

Hi mate,

When eating in a deficit of calories you will lose weight.
Fat and muscle will be lost to some degree, and this degree largely depends on how good your training and diet is. Lifting weights will help maintain the muscles, but since the body is taking in less than it requires there would be then no reason or resources to support new muscle growth.

When eating in a surplus of calories you will be gaining weight.
Fat and muscle will be gained to some degree, but this degree is largely dependent again on the diet and training. If you keep a close eye on the diet and training you should be able to gain a significant amount of muscle whilst keeping the fat gain to a minimum.
This can be done by tracking calories and eating exactly what you require from your protein, carbs and fats.

You will always gain fat to some degree while bulking, but the amount added will again be determined by your diet.

Very well and detailed explanation.

Another way to keep the fat growth to a minimum is by having just a small calorie surplus (100-200 as opposed to 500). Your bulking won't be as fast, but you'll never have to worry about cutting later on. The problem is you have to evaluate your weight and diet every so often to make sure you maintain that small calorie surplus as you grow. Otherwise, your growth will stop at some point because you don't have any surplus anymore.