Weight-Loss Metabolic / Catabolic states

Weight-Loss
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edinburgh1975

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Hope i'm posting in the correct section... Can anybody explain to me the difference in Catabolic and Metabolic state, and is Anabolic another, if so an explanation would be good... Been reading up a lil but makes no sense to me...

Reason I ask: I've hit my short term goal, so I am now bumping up my calories a lil as I am now going to be focusing on muscle growth, and I believe I have to go from 1 of the above to another, friend tried to explain it to me, but then said he wasn't sure what he was talking about either, lol :D

Cheers.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't sweat it. It's not important.

If you *need* an explanation, keep it as simple as catabolic is the process of breaking down and anabolic is the process of building up. The sum of these processes is your metabolism, in very general terms.

If your goal is to add some muscle, you simply need to eat adequate amounts of calories and nutrients and lift weights progressively. Do you have experience with strength training?
 
Well I have been training since jan this year, 3 sessions per week on average with 45mins strength and 45mins cardi - I've lost nearly 4 stone, but still have a lil fat around my waist and belly... So I have been advised that rather than keep losing weight, I should eat more, and do 1hour strength and 30mins cardio in my sessions, except the 3rd session where I do all weights, started this week on what I call "phase 2"... Hope that helps
 
Well it's important that you understand that the look most women are shooting for requires a greater base of muscle than they currently have. It's what leads to that lean, toned look once fat is lost.

In general terms, a caloric surplus is required to build noticeable muscle.

Yes, I'm sure you're not looking to get bulky... but that's not what I'm talking about.

However, and here's the kicker, any time you're consuming more calories than your body needs, which can be labeled as a requirement for muscle growth, some of those calories are going to be partitioned into fat.

Put differently, you can't gain all muscle and no fat when eating more energy than your body needs.

I bring this up because if you're not ready for something like this... if you'd feel comfortable losing more fat first... by all means, I'd stick with your current plan.

There's no right or wrong here, though... it's ultimately a decision you personally have to make.
 
ok - so what is the best way (nutrition AND exercise) to lose the lil belly I still have, because atm im 12stone but i'm also 6ft3... It sounds a bit crazy for me to be 11stone? The advice i got was to increase the strength training to fill the area out, rather than go into the underweight zone... Just seems like a catch 22 situation :(
 
It is my understanding that you don't really go into a "underweight zone" unless you're body fat drops too low. You can't just go by what some textbook or BMI calls underweight. If your muscle mass is low, you can be underweight according to the standards even if you're at a healthy body fat %, same as a guy with a ton of muscle and 10% body fat can be considered obese, according to BMI. Even if you switch to gaining muscle now, you're still probably going to want to at some point switch back to cutting fat to get the look you're going for and show off your "toned" muscles.

In otherwords, if you think you have 5-10lbs of fat you still want to lose, you can either lose it now, or lose it in 6 months after you put some muscle on. If you have that fat to lose now, losing it now isn't going to put you into an underweight zone. And as steve pointed out, either way, the act of adding muscle is going to put on a little more fat that you'll have to lose again.

So, the "best way" IMO, or at least the quickest way to lose your belly if that is your goal is to keep calories in < calories out, and keep lifting weights to hold on to your muscle mass that you do have while you're in the defecit. Gaining the muscle now might give you a little more definition, but the layer of fat won't go anywhere until you get back into a defecit to lose it.
 
Yea, I mean I've seen folks who have dismally low levels of muscle. They can diet until they're blue in the face but no matter what, they'll never look look. They can be skeleton like and still look soft.

Look at some of the old time pics from concentration camps.

But without seeing pics of you, it's hard to say what I would or would not do in your position. Speaking very generally, most folks in your predicament that I run across could still stand to lose body fat.

Sure, adding muscle can help with the process of leaning out.... but only when body fat is pretty low to begin with. Remember, subcutaneous fat always sits just under the skin and that means on top of the muscles... regardless of how big those muscles are.
 
ok guys, thanks for the input... I'll keep doing what I was doing for another 2 months then review my situation then, thanks! :)
 
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