I can't get my head round; loosing weight and exercise, as well as muscle turning to fat

[sweetteamum]

Ok, this is not a joke question but I really can't get my head around this.

I've got almost 3 stone to loose, and have already lost just over a stone. While I know you need to exercise too, I don't want my muscle to turn into fat - surely I'll stay the same size then?

When exactly is a good time to exercise and what are the best exercises to do whilst loosing weight?

[Labracadabra]

Do you mean you're worried about your fat turning into muscle through exercise? This is not actually possible (they are two distinctly different types of tissue and one cannot convert into the other). If you reduce calorie intake through diet you will lose weight through the loss of both fat (good) and muscle (not so good). The aim is to lose as much fat as possible whilst maintaining (or even increasing) muscle tissue. This requires you to exercise (especially strength/weights/resistance). If you lose fat and build muscle you may not see such a dramatic loss on the scales (because muscle is heavier than fat) but you will notice improvements in your body size and shape as you will be smaller and more toned. Another good thing about building more muscle is that muscle tissue uses up calories so your daily calorie requirement increases, meaning you can eat more without gaining weight. So, to summarise, do exercise too because it only brings positives not negatives!

[BigChocFrenzy]

Weight loss from diet alone often includes some muscle loss. This reduces the amount you can eat in maintenance, because muscle burns more cals.
To retain muscle, you need to exercise, which is healthy in itself, so win-win

Try to do HIIT 2 days oer week and strength training on another 2 days.
You don't have to exercise for long, 20-60 mins only. Just exercise hard.

Losing fat and gaining muscle will reduce inches, improve shape and health. Muscle weighs more than the same volume of fat, you may notice your shape improves faster than the scales.

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[sweetteamum]

Thank you both so much. I was worried about fat turning into muscle and me not showing any weight loss.

I've literally not been able to get my head round it but this explanation has really helped me.

[BigChocFrenzy]

Go by your waist and your clothes fit. Throw away the scales

Clothes size and body shape are determined by inches more than weight

Example: this woman GAINED 9lb, but lost fat via exercise and diet.
So, she looks much better at the heavier weight.