Building and gaining muscle while losing weight

Question

While I have started running, I have also been trying to loose weight. My issue being that I am 18st and running on the pavement for 3 miles isn't good for my knee!

I have been controlling my diet. I have cut out normal Coke completely along with beer, gone without chocolate and sweet things, and reduced the size of my meals. So far I have managed to loose 1st doing this while running.

Now I would also like to improve my upper body strength and to tone up (get bigger arms etc as mine are a bit skinny for my size). I have read on this site people recommend eating more on the day of a workout as this builds muscle. This concerns me, as I am prone to weight gain. It made me think that maybe the muscles in my legs aren't recovering well because of the calorie controlled diet, and doing weight training would be a waste of time as there could be no improvement while on this diet.

Am I being paranoid? For the record I try to eat fish and chicken everyday when possible.

Answer 1

If you're a beginner, you may be able to lose some weight and gain some muscle at the same time if you eat and exercise correctly. However, once past the novice stage you'll find that it becomes very difficult to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously and you end up having to choose one or the other. Bodybuilders call these cycles "cutting" and "bulking".

I would suggest first working on gaining muscle, which will help you to burn fat over the long run, and then switching to a cut/diet after you've made some progress with muscle gain. Starting Strength (read the book as your primary resource, then peruse the forums) is an excellent program.