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Uncensored Q&A with Lyle McDonald

Lyle McDonald

Lyle McDonald is a physiologist and author who has spent over a decade obsessively finding ways to apply cutting-edge scientific research to sports nutrition, fat loss and muscle growth. In this uncensored Q&A, Lyle answers your most pressing questions about diet and exercise.

Q. I'm a 43 year old male who is extremely overweight (5' 6" and 265 pounds). I've recently started to portion control my food, choosing whole foods over processed. You said it was difficult to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously. Should I alternate weeks of weight training with walking and adjust my calorie and carbohydrate intake accordingly, or incorporate aerobic and anaerobic training?

A. In general, it is difficult to gain muscle while losing fat. However, there are a few exceptions to this.

One is people that have been in shape before and gotten out of shape; they often regain lost muscle while dropping bodyfat. Another exception is total beginners, especially if they are carrying excess body fat.

Initially, they can usually gain some muscle while losing body fat at the same time. Simply combining a basic weight training program with moderate amounts of cardiovascular/aerobic activity and making some basic dietary changes works well.

At some point, when gains in the weight room slow, moving to alternating phases of active dieting (where the goal is fat loss with muscle mass maintenance) and mass gaining (where the goal is muscle gain with limited fat gain) seems to work best.

But at this stage, you probably shouldn't worry about it. You can expect to gain some muscle while dropping body fat for a little while.

Q. Are there such things as fat burning foods? If so, what are they?

A. No.

Q. If I want to lose 10-15 pounds of fat, I know to restrict calories and increase cardiovascular exercise. But what about weight training? Do I let it go until I reach my weight goal or do I "keep my hand in it" even though I know I won't be able to make muscle? Will I destroy muscle if I continue lifting?

A. Weight training should always, always, always be part of a proper fat-loss program, although the total amount you do can be cut back. Weight training will help to maintain your muscle mass (and some people actually use certain types of weight training for fat loss) while on a diet.

The key is to cut back the volume and frequency (but never the intensity) of your lifting while on a diet. A couple of full body workouts per week may only take 30-45 minutes (this is what I advocate in The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook) but will help you to maintain muscle, and make switching back to gaining muscle (when the diet is over) easier.

Q. For years, I've heard there are about 3,500 calories in one pound of fat. Is there some science behind this number or is it one of the myths that became reality through repetition?

A. 1 pound is 454 grams so technically, one pound of fat should contain 454 grams of fat. At 9 calories per gram, this comes to 4086 calories.

However, one pound of fat is not 100% stored triglyceride, it's about 85-90% (the remaining 10-15% is water and the cellular machinery that does everything that a fat cell does).

So 454 grams x 0.85-0.90 = 385-408 grams of stored triglyceride x 9 calories per gram = 3465-3677 calories in one pound of stored fat.

Books by Lyle McDonald

The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook (e-book)
Maybe you need to drop weight fast for a special event, like a class reunion or a wedding. Perhaps you want to look good in a bathing suit and didn't start your diet and exercise program early enough... or you might just want to get your diet over as quickly as possible. If so, the Rapid Fat Loss Handbook will reveal the fastest, most effective way to shed both weight and fat in the shortest time possible. Now includes FREE home exercise program and easy-to-use online diet calculator.

The Protein Book covers everything you need to know about protein and muscle growth, fat loss and athletic performance. Referencing over 500 scientific studies, the book is the ultimate reference on all aspects of optimal protein nutrition for anyone who's serious about building a better body.

The Ultimate Diet 2.0 (UD2)
The UD2 is possibly the most comprehensive and complete guide to losing stubborn body fat ever written. Inside, you'll discover the secrets of calorie partitioning, how to control where the calories go when you overeat, and where they come from when you diet... the hidden metabolic advantages that elite athletes have, and how to duplicate them to improve your results... why stubborn fat is so stubborn and how to get rid of it... how muscle grows and why so many different training systems can all be right... and much, much more!

A Guide to Flexible Dieting
A Guide to Flexible Dieting reveals how being less strict with your diet can actually make it work better. You'll discover how deliberately breaking your diet (in a controlled fashion) can make it work better in the long run. Free meals, structured re-feeds and even a full diet break are all discussed and explained in detail.

The Ketogenic Diet
The Ketogenic Diet is the first and only book to examine in-depth the scientific evidence regarding low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets. At 325 pages and containing over 600 scientific references, this will be your complete reference for ketogenic diets. It's unlike any other book on low-carbohydrate diets that you have ever read or seen.

Bromocriptine: An Old Drug with New Uses
The problem of getting very lean or simply losing fat and keeping it off is not a new one. New research is finally explaining the reasons and physiology behind dieting failure and it turns out that many of the problems are in your brain. Bromocriptine: An Old Drug with New Uses explains the physiological reasons behind dieting failures, along with discussing a potential fix: a very old drug called Bromocriptine.