Body Recomposition: How a Nutritionist Can Help You Turn Fat Into Muscle

Do you want to burn fat, gain lean muscle, and transform your body? If so, you’ll need to learn more about something called body recomposition. Body recomposition is your ratio of body fat mass to lean mass, which includes your muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, organs, and other tissues that are not body fat. Rather than focusing on weight loss alone, or lowering the number on the scale, body recomposition focuses on both fat loss and muscle gain. 

Although it is a simple process, body recomposition is not easy to achieve on your own. Working with a skilled nutritionist is essential for developing a protocol that is tailored to your body and your own personal health goals. Let’s review the basic components of body recomposition, and how a nutritionist can help you turn fat into muscle, and build the body of your dreams!

Eat Adequate Amounts of Protein for Your Body Recomposition Goals

In addition to a resistance training routine, eating adequate amounts of protein is vital to achieving body recomposition. After a workout, your body needs protein to help repair your muscle tissue, balance your blood sugar, and keep you full and satisfied to avoid over-snacking throughout the day.

At Five Journeys, our nutritionists work with you one-on-one to calculate the exact amount of protein your body needs, and how much is appropriate for your lifestyle and health goals. We will help you find high-protein foods that you love, have easy access to, suit your budget, and adhere to your own personal values. 

If you have a special diet that limits the variety of protein-rich foods you can eat, you have limited time to prepare meals, or if protein is not easily accessible to you, you may want to consider incorporating a high-quality protein supplement into your diet, such as PaleoPure or BioClear.

Protein supplements are a fast, easy, and delicious way to increase your protein intake when you don’t have the time or ability to make a full meal. They can be added to smoothies, overnight oats, or homemade nutrition bars that you can take with you on the go. 

A nutritionist will help you determine whether or not a protein supplement is right for you depending on your goals and your lifestyle.

Eat Enough Food Every Day

Did you know that calories are really just energy? A calorie is a unit of measurement to determine how much energy the food we eat will provide. Each of us has our own unique energy requirements depending on our lifestyle, exercise routines, and health goals. 

For those who have a higher body fat percentage than they would like, a calorie deficit may be beneficial to help you build muscle as you lose body fat. Those with a very low body fat percentage might benefit from a slight caloric surplus. However, for those who are in the middle, it is best to create an equal input-to-output ratio. This means that you should consume the amount of food that matches your energy expenditure for the day. 

If you have an intense workout routine or active lifestyle, you’ll need to increase the amount of food you eat each day to replenish the energy you are burning throughout the day. If you live a relatively sedentary lifestyle and participate in more gentle exercises, your body will not require as many calories to restore your energy supply.

In the beginning, some people benefit from tracking their protein and caloric intake every day to make sure that they are meeting their body’s requirements. After working with a nutritionist for a while, most people are able to make the transition into eating more intuitively without having to track their calories. Since tracking your food consumption can be a slippery slope for some, a nutritionist will guide you through this process to ensure that you maintain a healthy relationship with food, while still working toward your goals.

Optimize Your Fat and Carb Intake

While professional athletes may benefit from a high intake of carbohydrates, most of us don’t require many carbs to meet our daily requirements.

It’s important to optimize your fat and carb intake to ensure that you are incorporating just the right macronutrient composition that best suits your lifestyle and energy requirements. Some people prefer more carbohydrates in their diet, while others prefer fat-based foods. In many cases, these preferences come from lifelong habits, cooking skills, and taste. 

Balancing your fat and carb intake will allow you to reach your goals while continuing to eat the foods you enjoy, which is crucial for long-term success. This is because if you are thoroughly enjoying your meals, you are more likely to stick to these new lifestyle changes, without compromising your results from leaning too heavily toward one macronutrient or another.

Although body recomposition is not a complicated process, it can be difficult to implement at first. At Five Journeys, our highly-skilled nutritionists will guide you through the process, help you discover your ideal macronutrient and calorie intakes, and design a meal plan that suits your budget, lifestyle, food preferences, and personal health goals. To begin your health journey today, call the team at Five Journeys to schedule a consultation!