Transitioning from Fat Loss to Lean Bulking

by Dr. David Minkoff January 28, 2023 3 min read

Transitioning from Fat Loss to Lean Bulking

As we near the end of the Fat Loss stage of this or any protocol, fat loss will slow.

We’re at or near our personal goal.

We might still have some extra fat, but it’s not coming off or it’s coming off very slowly — and frustratingly.

Also, we’re getting hungry. Not for sugar or junk food or more food when we’re already stuffed, but hunger as in our body needs more food.

At this point it’s counter-productive to carry on with Fat Loss, even if we have a bit more to lose.

Our hormones have re-balanced to the point that they’re functioning correctly.

Our cells have majorly restructured, cutting out their addiction to sugar, and becoming able to use fat and amino acids for energy more easily.

If this hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have lost body fat.

But we’ve also built muscle, something that helped us with our fat loss and which is what will carry us over the finish line.

And this muscle needs to be fed to maintain it. The more muscle, the more it needs to be fed.

This is another place many people fall down after a successful diet and gain the fat back: They don’t continue on to the next important part of regaining their full health: building strength.

Every time you work out, you’re injuring your muscles to a degree. That’s what causes them to grow. They have to repair themselves and increase in strength so that in the future they’re less likely to get “injured” again.

But if you’re not now feeding the muscle enough to heal and grow, then your body will do the opposite, and choose to, instead of healing the injured cells, get rid of them.

So you lose muscle.

So don't try to go too far here. If you’ve hit the point where your body fat is in range and you’re starting to feel hungry again, then it’s time to switch from Fat Loss to something called Lean Bulking.

Lean Bulking means adding muscle without the extra body fat.

This is what helps you lose that last bit of body fat you may want to lose, and also what sets you up so it’s easier to keep the extra fat off in the future.

It’s quite simple:

Just take your current macros you’ve been using and raise each of them by 10%.

Do this by multiplying your current macros by 1.1.

So if your protein is at 100 grams, multiply 100 x 1.1. This give you your new amount for protein — 110 grams.

Do the same for fats and carbohydrates.

Change nothing else.

Now push harder in your workouts.

This will lead to increased muscle building and you will very soon start feeling hungry again, maybe even the next day. When this happens, just increase again by another 5% by multiplying your new macros by 1.05.

Keep pushing as much as you can to up weights and reps while maintaining proper form (do not go higher in weight if your form starts failing).

Doing this, you will keep building muscle, which will require more food to supply nutrients for energy and muscle building and maintaining, so you will continue to get hungry, though less and less often.

Each time you do, just raise your macros by another 5% multiplying your current macros by 1.05.

But this is important. One rule of the Lean Bulking is that you should never be hungry.

You’re through your cravings. So now, if you’re hungry, it’s because your body actually needs the food. Not feeding it will lead to muscle breakdown from your workouts and create new cravings that lead to gaining the body fat back.

Then, if at any point you start adding some excess fat, just decrease your macros by 5% for a few days and it will come right off again, because your hormones are set up to burn it much easier.

To do this, just multiply your current macros by .95.

This is basically an effort to balance the amount of energy and amino acids (food) consumed, with the amount of energy and amino acids needed and used.

It will be different for each person, so we do this a little bit to find the right balance for you.

If you have any questions, make sure to let us know in our VIP Group so we can help.

And if you haven't started, you can go here to start WEEK ONE of the 30-Day Fat Loss Challenge.

And here you can find Discounted Product Bundles for the 30 Day Challenge. Just use code FATLOSS at Checkout.


*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.