Getting in shape without gaining weight is possible with the right approach. To achieve your desired body, you need to focus on both diet and exercise. A healthy diet with a calorie deficit is essential, and you should stick primarily to cardio workouts and stay away from strength training exercises. Jumping rope, cycling, swimming, boxing, and paddling are all great options for cardio.
Once you've started to lose weight, you can also focus on toning. Surprisingly, you should use weights even if you want to avoid gaining muscle weight. The key is to use free weights such as dumbbells and use light to medium weights with higher numbers of repetitions. This trains the body to burn fat for fuel, leading to a leaner and more toned body.
It's important not to overdo it when increasing your calorie intake. Your body can only gain muscle so quickly that you can't force your muscles to grow faster by consuming more calories. Instead, the extra calories are simply stored as body fat. A good rule of thumb is to keep around 3,000 calories a day: 200 g of protein, 90 g of fat, and 350 g of carbohydrates. To maximize your chances of gaining muscle without too much fat, try to maximize how long you are in excess calories rather than the size of your excess calories.
Eating 30% more energy than you spend every day isn't better for building muscle than eating just 10% more, but you'll gain a little more fat. It also causes insulin sensitivity to decrease, which affects your ability to burn fat and increases the likelihood of additional weight gain. People who are new to weightlifting or who have been lifting weights for less than a year can gain muscle much faster than people who have been lifting weights longer (a phenomenon known as “rookie gains”). To maintain your current weight, moderate your diet to keep up with or around maintenance calories. In conclusion, it's important to remember that a large excess of calories is no better for building muscle than a mild one. Eating more than necessary will simply result in extra fat being stored in the body.
To get in shape without gaining weight, focus on both diet and exercise and keep your calorie intake at a moderate level.
