How to Increase the Muscle to Fat Gain Ratio

Diet and exercise are the biggest factors in increasing your muscle to fat ratio gain. Fat accumulates when people eat the wrong types of food and do not exercise correctly. Lifestyle, diet and exercise changes will help you increase muscle while losing fat.

Things You'll Need

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grain
• Protein
• Weight lifting
• Aerobics

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Instructions

• 1

  Change what you eat. Stop eating junk food, high fat and empty carbohydrates that are high in calories and low in nutrients. These types of food are stored as fat on your body more easily than protein, vegetables and fruits. Junk food includes candy, cookies, chips, sugary cereal, white bread, donuts, ice cream, french fries, frozen waffles, cake, butter, mayonnaise, salad dressing, high calorie lattes and drinks and most fast foods. Eat enough fruits and vegetables every day that are low in calories and have fiber that will help you feel full. To lose fat and keep muscle, eat only the minimum amount of bread products necessary, and when you do eat them, make sure they are whole grain.

• 2

  Eat more protein; protein is the building block of muscles. After each exercise session you should have a serving of low fat protein, such as fish, chicken or a low calorie protein drink.

• 3

  Build muscle by lifting weights at least three days a week. Muscle on your body burns more calories than fat. Do at least three weight lifting sessions a week, focusing on all the muscle groups including your legs, arms, back and core. According to the American Council on Exercise, weight lifting can turn your body into a fat burning machine where your muscles can continue to burn fat calories even while your body is at rest.

• 4

  Engage in aerobic exercise between four and six days of a week. Each hour of exercise you do burns 400 to 600 calories; this can equal a 1 lb. loss of fat per week. Do low intensity half-hour workouts at first such as walking, aerobics, cycling, hiking or swimming and increase your intensity and duration to keep burning fat.

• 5

  If you are overweight, lose 1 or 2 lbs. a week. If you lose more than that, you might be losing muscle instead of fat. To lose 2 lbs. per week you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume to lose a single pound of fat. Use a calorie counting book and start counting and cutting out high calorie and high fat foods.

• 6

  Change your lifestyle. Low body fat is permanently achieved by changing bad habits forever. For example, stop eating out at restaurants or fast food stands. Lift weights or do aerobics everyday. Stop drinking soda and alcohol. Eat smaller portions of food and limit your junk food.