Lose Weight, Gain Muscle

QUESTION:

Hey, your story was really inspirational, good work on your videos- they have really been informative.
I am 16 years old, at 6"2 and weight around 100kg.

I want to lose weight and at the same time build muscle. Could this be done?

How do i set out my weekly workout routine so i am getting enough exercise to lose weight and gain muscle?

My current routine; Monday- back and bicep. Tuesday - chest, wednesday - cardio, thursday - triceps and shoulders, friday- legs (weekend rest)

do you think this is a good routine to gain muscle, and loose fat?

My usual diet consists of;

Whole grain cereal - with fruits - e.g. banana/ blackberries/blueberries

Chicken breast with salad/brown rice

lean meats with cottage cheese, complex carbs e.g. yams, brown rice/broccoli etc etc etc..

And how do i find out how much calories i should be having daily?

thanks for reading this..

ANSWER:  As long as you are new to lifting it is possible to lose fat while achieving new muscle mass.  However, due to the fact that you are in a caloric deficit this will not last longer than the first few months.  Luckily, if you lift weights while trying to lose fat you will maintain much more muscle mass than if you did not lift weights.  This is highly desirable because muscle is a metabolic tissue so it burns calories throughout the day naturally which directly impacts the speed of your metabolism.  

Your routine looks very good and it is a common split.  My advice to you if you want to burn more calories during your weight lifting session would be to only take 60-90 second rest periods because this elevates your heart rate which burns more calories.  I suggest having your routine last between 45-60 minutes.  

Your diet also looks good in order to lose weight and maintain muscle mass because it seems low calorie but still has a good amount of protein.  my only suggestion would be to eat more protein because without protein your muscles will break down. Ideally, for your weight and height i would suggest you eat nearly 200 g of protein per day.  You could also decrease your carbs and replace them with healthy fat sources to keep you body in a good hormone balance.  



To figure out how many calories you should be eating you can simply go to google and type in calorie calculator.  Go to one of the sites and enter your information and the result should be the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight.  From there subtract 500-700 calories and this is roughly the amount of calories you will need to eat to lose 1-2lbs a week.  If you do not lose weight with this amount of calories after 2 weeks then you will simply need to decrease your calories, increase your amount of exercise, or utilize a combination of the two.  If you want the weight lifting routine that I used to lose weight and maintain muscle while cutting you can find that in my blog archive.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.