I've been asked this same question phrased in many different ways many times over the years.
It's sort of like asking the old "which came first, the chicken or the egg" question.
The first fact that you need to accept as law is that you don't "turn fat into muscle.
" That is just simply not the body works.
It doesn't say, "Oh look, let me make some muscle out of these fat cells.
" Building muscle is WAY down the list of the body's priorities.
As a matter of fact, building muscle isn't even ON the body's list of priorities.
First the body provides the necessary energy for the body to continue to live.
Then the body replaces dead or dying cells with healthy new ones in the bones, the skin, the liver, the stomach, etc.
Then, if there is anything left over, the body very efficiently stores it as fat - FAT, not muscle.
You can lose fat AND gain muscle simultaneously.
But you cannot convert fat to muscle.
If you consume 500 fewer calories each day than your body would normally use and maintain the same level of activity, you'll lose about one pound in a week's time.
If you increase the activity, you'll lose more.
But none of that fat that you are losing is going to turn into muscle.
Muscle must be forced to grow.
Muscle must be stressed and damaged to the point that small tears develop in it and it fails.
Then the body goes go work repairing the damage by building more muscle.
If your objective is to lose weight AND build muscle, you must eat a calorie-restricted diet, engage in aerobic exercise (to burn fat) AND weight-training exercise (to build muscle).
It's sort of like asking the old "which came first, the chicken or the egg" question.
The first fact that you need to accept as law is that you don't "turn fat into muscle.
" That is just simply not the body works.
It doesn't say, "Oh look, let me make some muscle out of these fat cells.
" Building muscle is WAY down the list of the body's priorities.
As a matter of fact, building muscle isn't even ON the body's list of priorities.
First the body provides the necessary energy for the body to continue to live.
Then the body replaces dead or dying cells with healthy new ones in the bones, the skin, the liver, the stomach, etc.
Then, if there is anything left over, the body very efficiently stores it as fat - FAT, not muscle.
You can lose fat AND gain muscle simultaneously.
But you cannot convert fat to muscle.
If you consume 500 fewer calories each day than your body would normally use and maintain the same level of activity, you'll lose about one pound in a week's time.
If you increase the activity, you'll lose more.
But none of that fat that you are losing is going to turn into muscle.
Muscle must be forced to grow.
Muscle must be stressed and damaged to the point that small tears develop in it and it fails.
Then the body goes go work repairing the damage by building more muscle.
If your objective is to lose weight AND build muscle, you must eat a calorie-restricted diet, engage in aerobic exercise (to burn fat) AND weight-training exercise (to build muscle).