Nutritionist’s Tips: How to Burn Fat and Build Muscle by Eating More Food

• A 60-year-old man submitted an average day of eating to be reviewed for Insider’s Nutrition Clinic.
• A nutritionist said to eat more carbs, fats, and food overall.
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Victor, 60, submitted his eating routine to Insider’s Nutrition Clinic, where qualified dietitians and registered nutritionists offer advice on readers’ eating habits.

He told Insider his goals are to build muscle and lose fat around his waist. Victor has a sedentary desk job but lifts weights and does cardio twice a week each.

He said that while he previously lost some weight on the keto diet, he found it too restrictive. Victor is now counting his calories and trying to eat low-fat to keep them down, he said.

Registered nutritionist Jamie Wright told Insider that Victor might benefit from changing his focus from aesthetics to athletics.

“If you chase a ‘look,’ you’re much more likely to hamper your exercise performance and possibly get into a situation whereby you’re risking inadequate nutrient, micronutrient, and mineral intake,” Wright said. “If you want to look and feel like an athlete then you have to perform and fuel like one.”

As Insider previously reported, it’s also not possible to “spot train” and purposefully lose fat in one area of the body, such as the belly.

Wright advised Victor to increase his calorie intake to maintenance level, which may require some trial and error to find and often leads to a small initial weight gain due to the water weight that comes with eating more.

Slightly higher calories will reduce Victor’s risk of malnutrition, give him energy to be more active, and help him retain his hard-earned muscle mass, which dwindles with age.

“While physical activity is a critical factor in combating this, under-fueling can accelerate loss of lean mass,” Wright said. “The more lean muscle mass we have the leaner we will typically look anyway.”

If possible, Victor should try to fit in one or two more strength sessions each week, Wright said.

“The difference this will make to your health (never mind your physique) in the short and long term will be drastic, and do a lot more for achieving your leaner body composition and developing more muscle mass than underfuelling ever will,” Wright said.

Eat less processed meat

For breakfast, Victor aims to eat no more than 400 calories, and typically has Special K cereal or oatmeal with two turkey sausages or two slices of bacon.

Wright said it’s great that Victor is getting protein in at breakfast but, to ensure he isn’t consuming too much processed meat, he could consider swapping them for egg whites or whole eggs some of the time.

Regularly eating processed meat, such as sausages, ham, bacon, and jerky, has been linked with increased risk of developing major cardiovascular illness, as well as conditions such as bowel and stomach cancer, and high blood pressure.

Eat fruit and vegetables at lunch

For lunch, Victor eats a turkey burger or frozen low fat meal, plus a protein bar, he said.

Given that preparing a nutritious lunch can be hard on a busy work day, Victor’s lunch isn’t bad by any means and it’s great to be getting another protein hit, Wright said. However, adding some fruit or vegetables at lunch would provide more micronutrients and fiber.

Add carbs to dinner for more energy

For dinner, Victor eats chicken, lean beef, or pork with vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower rice, or carrots.

Wright said this is a great, nutritious dinner and it’s good to have a variety of foods, but if Victor bumped up his calories, he could add some carbs to his meal, which would give him more energy and benefit his workouts.

Protein is important

Twice a day, Victor snacks on a piece of fruit (such as a banana, an apple, or some cantaloupe melon) and some nuts (such as cashews or walnuts).

Fruit and nuts are both nutritious foods and nuts do contain some protein, but not as much as most people think, and Victor may benefit from having more protein in his snacks, Wright said. He suggested a protein shake, jerky, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, or Greek yogurt with berries.

Regularly consuming protein throughout the day helps build and maintain muscle and also helps keep you feeling full. Overall, Victor spaces out his protein well, so it’s not a huge cause for concern, but adding some more in snacks might help, Wright said.