Most people lose muscle on a cut not because dieting is dangerous, but because they pull the wrong lever too hard. Here is how to lose fat while keeping, or even gaining, muscle.
1. Keep the deficit moderate
A 15–25% deficit below your TDEE loses roughly 0.5–1% of bodyweight a week. Faster than that and the body starts using muscle for fuel, especially once you are already fairly lean. The leaner you are, the smaller the deficit should be.
2. Protein: 2.0–2.2 g per kilogram
In a deficit, protein is the difference between losing fat and losing “weight”. Aim for 2.0–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight, spread across three to five meals with 30–50 g each. This is non-negotiable and the first thing Vitalume protects when it adjusts your targets.
3. Keep lifting heavy
Your muscles stay because you keep giving them a reason to. Maintain intensity (the weight on the bar) even if you reduce volume slightly. Dropping to light circuits “to burn fat” is the fastest way to lose size.
4. Sleep and recovery decide the rest
Under-sleeping doubles the share of weight lost as muscle in controlled studies. Track readiness: on a low day, take the lighter session the coach suggests and shift a few carbs toward recovery rather than pushing through.
What Vitalume does automatically
- Sets protein at 2.2 g/kg for a cut and never lets an adjustment touch it.
- Reads your weight trend every week and nudges calories by 100–150 kcal, not 500.
- Moves carbs toward heavy training days and lowers them on rest days.
- Explains every change in one sentence, so you never wonder why a number moved.