Making changes to your body composition often seems like a challenging, confusing, and even emotionally fraught topic. Take, for instance, the pretty common question of how to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. But it's also more than okay to have certain physical goals for yourself, a certain way to answer might not be as complicated as you think. That's not to say that it'll be easy or quick, but it's certainly not impossible, and it involves a few basic principles that you're probably already familiar with. Trying to lose fat also means trying to get rid of some body mass, but gaining muscle means trying to do the opposite and build up lean body mass. So it makes sense to wonder, is it really possible to add muscle mass at the same time as losing body fat? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. "It’s difficult but possible," Stephen Ball, Ph.D., associate professor PrimeBoosts.com of nutritional science and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, tells SELF.

In fact, working on both goals at the same time can maximize your results, because many of the same exercises that are good for natural male pills burning fat are also great for building up muscles. And it’s kind of a domino effect: When you have more muscle mass, your body burns more calories when you’re not even moving. But losing fat and natural male pills gaining muscle in one fell swoop requires a strategic approach. Click here's why: When you're making changes to your diet or exercise plan in an attempt to burn more calories than you take in, you can't exactly tell your body to only burn tissue from fat and not tissue from muscle. As a result, many times people trying to lose weight will end up losing both fat mass and muscle mass, especially if they're relying on a restrictive diet. " Bradley Schoenfeld, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., associate professor of exercise science at Lehman College, tells SELF. That said, it's possible to lose body fat while retaining-and even increasing-your muscle mass at the same time.

But you'll need to pay special attention to two things: resistance training and protein intake. Here's what you need to know before you embark on this goal. Keep in mind that your weight may not change much. When it comes to losing weight, you're primarily focused on one number: the number on the scale. But when it comes to a body composition goal like losing fat and gaining muscle, the number on the scale isn't all that important. In fact, your weight may not budge at all, or it may even go up. And that's okay-because you can lose fat and gain muscle without losine with just your bodyweight but typically involves adding external weight at some point) is crucial to build muscle, and it can also help burn fat. "Adding some muscle will help you burn more calories throughout the day, even when you are just sitting around doing absolutely nothing," says Dr. Ball. That's not to say that cardio is useless. In addition to the multitude of health benefits associated with aerobic exercise, it also tends to burn more calories than resistance training, which is why in research studies aerobic exercise often leads to greater weight loss than resistance training. "So if you’re looking to optimize results, adding cardio certainly can be a benefit," says Dr. Schoenfeld.