Burning Fat Whilst Building Muscle

Since joining these forums, and with the help and advice of some great members, I have decided to try and gain (at first) around 7lbs. After one week of uping my calories and consciously taking in more protein I have put on 5lbs!

One week ago I weight 98lbs. Seven days later I weight 103lbs. That's 5lbs gain in a week. I have upped my calories from 1300 a day (which was an attempt at losing fat) to 1500/1600 a day. I proactively increased the amount of protein I was eating, but had trouble occasionally keeping the carbs slightly lower. But I was managing at least 100g of protein a day.

Now, my measurements are the same as they were a week ago around my waist etc. which is a good sign, although I would say it physically looks like I have more fat on my stomach than I did when I was lighter on the scales. When I bend over I have a few rolls of fat that weren't there before and I'd say my love handles are bigger.

So I'm a little worried and confused that all I've done is put on fat and maybe a little muscle, rather than cut fat and put on muscle. I was expecting weight gain, as that was my goal with weight training and increasing protein, but I don't also want to put on equal amounts of fat.

So my question is how I can burn fat and put on muscle, rather than putting on equal measures of fat and muscle. I'm pre-guessing the answer is cutting out those sugary carbs like chocolate and cake that I like!

I know that weight training with increasing the amount of protein I take in builds muscle, and I've been told many times over I need to increase the number of calories I'm consuming in order to build muscle. But I feel like  by increasing calories I have put on fat as well. From experience, the only way I've been able to burn fat is by cutting calories and doing lots of cardio exercise.

I guess my question is two fold: how can I build muscle and not build fat, and how can I burn fat without burning muscle?

(I've posted this in 'Weight Gain' too, but felt it would be directly related to fitness as I think it's through combined diet and exercise that I'll acheive my goal. Also the weight gain forum seems to be for people who are mostly recovering ED and I would say that I am currently healthy and not needing to drastically increase my calories, and am very fit and active.)

Gaining muscle can take as much, if not more, time than losing fat. Gaining muscle is related to volume of the workout, and secondarily on intensity.

You want to lift at moderate intensities (8-10 RM), but higher volume--meaning more sets per body area (although not necessarily all the same exercise).

The first stage in strength training is increasing strength through neuromuscular facilitation. That means that your body learns to recruit existing muscle fibers in greater numbers and with greater efficiency in order to generate more force. It can take several weeks to start to see actual increases in muscle size.

Initial weight gains (and losses) are almost entirely due to fluid shifts and increased fuel storage.

Since you don't seem to be excessively overfat, I would focus on gaining muscle mass for now.

Also, muscle weighs more then fat so you might actually pick up a few pounds. 

I assume that you are lifting weights, right?  If so, the next question is whether you are doing so with enough intensity.  When your intensity is high enough, your body will actually burn 300-500 calories during the day after your workout.  Your body requires this energy to repair/build the muscles.  So, upping your calories with the right ratio of protein/carb/fat is a good idea.  You just need to make sure your weight training is intense enough.  I would choose 1 exercise for each target area (chest, back, arms, shoulders, and legs).  Do 3 sets of 10 with enough weight so that on your last set you struggle to complete the 10 repititions.  Typically, you will begin with only completing 6 repititions.  You keep working til you can complete 10 repititions of your last set.  Once you conquer that weight add a little more.

There is a e-Book called "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto.  I highly recommend you read this.

Thanks jdunkely and ser.

Ser - I do lift weights 3 times a week exactly as you've said. I do a class that does a good round mix of all the body parts, but as its the same instructor she'll concentrate more on arms one day and lower body the next. I take 4 ranges of weights and will always try at the highest then go down one if need be, and always end up at exhaustion point before the sets over. I've recently upped the weight on my squats etc. as these weren't high enough so I'm hoping to see an improvement in my legs and gluts.

When I input my weight lifting as "light to moderate" for 40 minutes it tells me, according to my height and weight it tells me I burn 61 calories. However, when I inpute 40 minutes for "bodybuilding or vigorous effort" it's 151 calories. Would this calorie calculator be taking into consideration the 400cals or so my body will burn throughout the rest of the day repairing? I make sure and eat a protein rich lunch straight after my workout and then another protein rich snack a few hours later but I only use the above calories in my food log and so keep to my target calories (1450) using those burnt above.

I've also just subscribed to Tony's free 12 big fat lies and if I really like it, I may buy the ebook.

"Would this calorie calculator be taking into consideration the 400cals or so my body will burn throughout the rest of the day repairing?"

No, the amount of calories you burn doing the workout is one amount.  The amount of calories your body burns building/reparing is in addition.  Example, on my lifting days my daily requirement is 2700 calories.  This includes the 2300 calories to cover my BMR/RMR (the calories my body burns if I stayed in bed all day) plus the 400 calories I burn lifting weights.  On top of that, I add 500 calories to provide the energy to repair/build muscles.  So, for me on these days I have to consume 3200 calories.  Hope this makes sense... 

Ser, it does make sense. But then, why wouldn't the calculator on here or other websites I've used factor in those extra 400 cals? I'm guessing my burn over the day would be much smaller than yours as my daily requirement is 1000 calories less than you! So I'm maybe only burning an extra 100 cals than I thought I was.

I do, over the course of the afternoon, eat lots of protein-rich snacks which I hope aids recovery. And I'm now eating 100 or 200 cals over my normal 1450 that I'd need to just maintain, so here's hoping it builds muscle and the cardio I'm doing will keep fat lower.

"Ser, it does make sense. But then, why wouldn't the calculator on here or other websites I've used factor in those extra 400 cals"

You have to keep in mind that these websites are concentrating helping you loose weight.  If you research any "muscle building" forums/websites, the first thing they will tell you is that you have to have a "surplus" in your calorie in take to build muscle.  

That's really interesting ser, thanks. In terms of a quick calculation, are there any calculators similar to the 'burn meter' that also factor in the extra calories needed for building muscle? Or any websites you could direct me toward that are friendly toward newbies or non-body builders?