How To Lose Belly Fat & Gain Muscle In Female In 2025? – 5 Easy-To-Follow Steps For Women

Body recomposition is the double goal of losing fat while gaining muscle, and this requires a calculated approach, including both diet and exercise modifications. If you’re wondering how to lose belly fat and gain muscle, female bodies differ slightly from men’s. Often, men focus more on building muscle. In reality, women should be focusing on muscle gains just as much. 

Lower belly fat may seem like one of those stubborn things that don’t seem to budge regardless of what you do. Abdominal fat also happens to be one of the more dangerous forms of fat in the body that is associated with comorbidities. It’s impossible to spot reduce when it comes to fat loss. You can do exercises to tone the core muscles to show once belly fat subsides, but whole-body fat loss is the overall goal, even when targeting belly fat loss. 

How To Lose Belly Fat And Gain Muscle: Female Resistance Training And Diet 

The two main pieces to the body recomposition puzzle are intentional strength training and ensuring you get the proper amount of dietary protein. Below is how to lose belly fat and gain muscle in five steps.  

Make A Structured Strength Training Plan

Gaining muscle is associated with losing fat because more muscle benefits metabolism. While any form of physical activity has its benefits, if you’re serious about gaining muscle, it’s best to have a training plan to stick to rather than doing random workouts here and there. This format will differ based on if you’re a beginner or someone who has been weight training for years. 

If you’re a complete newbie, strength training twice weekly for 45 minutes each can lead to results. For someone trained, three to four times per week is more reasonable. 

When growing muscle mass, progressive overload is your friend. All this means is starting at a reasonable baseline, lifting weight, and progressively increasing that weight each week while lowering the repetitions you do. 

A combination of cardio and resistance training^[1] has been shown to improve body composition in postmenopausal women. While cardiovascular workouts are great for heart health, you need strength training to build muscle mass. Many strength workouts contain a cardio component too. 

If you prefer more cardio or fast-paced workouts, high-intensity interval training or HIIT is also a great combination of strength and endurance training. Some research indicates^[2] that HIIT is favorable to moderate-intensity cardiovascular training, but other research^[3] says there isn’t much difference in body composition when both are done consistently. 

It’s all about finding and sticking to a routine that works best for you. The perfect formula may be strength training twice weekly and interval training for three. For another person, it may be four days of a combination of cardio and strength training. 

Figure Out Your Dietary Needs 

There is no need to go on an extreme detox diet or drastically limit your daily caloric intake to lose belly fat. Dietary protein is your best friend for building muscle. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition,^[4] an adequate amount of daily protein for gaining muscle is 1.4-2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight. For example, considering that a pound is 2.2 kg, a female who weighs 140 pounds (140lbs/2.2 kg=63.6 kg) would require somewhere between 89-127 grams of protein per day to build muscle. 

Even though getting the right amount of daily protein is more important, timing makes a slight difference. Try to consume that amount throughout the day rather than all at once. For example, if eating three meals a day, and your aim for total protein is 120 grams, have 40 grams of protein per meal, or 30 grams per meal and two snacks with 15 grams each. 

Muscle growth requires a stimulus. This stimulus is resistance training. Training causes tiny tears in the muscle tissue, which is why we sometimes feel sore after working out. This small amount of muscle damage is actually a good thing because it signals for amino acids to come in and repair the muscle making it larger (muscle hypertrophy). This process is referred to as muscle protein synthesis. 

Where do the amino acids come from? Your body makes some, but the nine essential amino acids must be consumed through diet. Ensure it is from lean protein sources like fish, poultry, beans, eggs, quinoa, and tempeh. Yes, these protein sources can also be plant-based, but eat a variety of plant-based proteins that form complete proteins to ensure you’re getting all the amino acids required for muscle growth.  

Calorie Cycling 

Losing body fat does require a calorie deficit (burning more calories than you consume), so you can aim for a slight calorie deficit as long as you ensure you’re eating enough to sustain your energy during workouts and provide fuel for muscle repair post-exercise. 

If you prefer not to get hung up on calories, skip this step. Though weight loss and body recomposition are not the same goals, both do require some dietary shifts. Unfortunately, a mistake many women make is not eating enough while training to gain muscle. As mentioned in the previous section, muscles need protein to repair, and we need complex carbohydrates and healthy fats to fuel us for energy during tough workouts. 

How To Cycle Calories 

You may have heard of serious bodybuilders doing a bulking season followed by a strict cutting season. The goal of the bulking stage is to be in a calorie surplus while following a strength training routine to maximize muscle growth. Then, the cutting stage is training in a calorie deficit to maintain the muscle gained while losing fat. Calorie cycling is basically a mini, less extreme version of bulking and cutting. 

First, you can determine your daily caloric needs by working with a nutritionist or using online calculators. This daily requirement is typically based on age, gender, activity level, height, and weight.  Females ages 19 through 30 require about 2,000 calories a day. Calorie needs for adults ages 31 through 50 are generally lower; most females require about 1,800 calories daily, and females aged 51+ require about 1,600 kcals according to the Dietary Guidelines^[5] 2020-2025. 

Calorie cycling means eating more on workout days and less on non-workout days rather than aiming to eat the same number of calories every day to sustain fat loss. A typical calorie cycling regimen for a female may be to eat 1800 calories on a rest day or active rest day and then consume an additional 200-300 calories on workout days. Essentially, if you burn more, you eat more. Without getting too hung up on the details, this should really resemble a normal eating pattern while training for muscle growth and fat loss.

Track Progress 

Regular assessment using a combination of these strategies will keep you motivated and help fine-tune your fitness regimen and nutritional intake to meet your goals better. It’s proven that self-regulation^[6] improves self-confidence and health outcomes. 

Again, this is not a weight loss plan, so the scale should not be your main progress-tracking tool. Muscle is heavier than fat, so your weight may have little to do with the changes happening. Instead, take photos and measurements to track progress. Notice how your clothes fit, or keep a training journal to monitor your subjective strength and energy. 

Let’s keep the focus on the whole picture, how fit and strong we’re feeling, not just the numbers. It’s about being in tune with our bodies, noticing how we respond to different workouts and foods, and finding what works best for us. This mindful, holistic approach will keep us on the right track to achieving our fitness dreams! Keep it balanced, keep it fun, and most importantly, keep it going!

Take Recovery Seriously 

While you may be focused on your gym routine and diet, allowing your body adequate recovery is equally as vital. A minimum of seven to nine hours of sleep per night^[7] is paramount to allow the body to heal, regenerate, and build muscle efficiently. Many people need more than seven. During sleep, our bodies undergo most of their repair and growth thanks to the release of growth hormones.

Rest days and active rest days are other critical aspects of muscle recovery. Active rest days can involve light activities such as walking or yoga. Also, ensure you drink enough fluids, especially if upping your training intensity. Proper hydration supports every cellular process in our body, including metabolism and muscle repair. 

What Is Body Recomposition & How Does It Work?

Body composition^[8] is the amount and distribution of body fat and fat-free mass (muscle, bone, and water). Lean body mass is not technically the same^[9] as fat-free mass, but the difference is at a cellular level and is very small. So, recomposition is re-distributing these components. This is how to gain muscle and lose belly fat simultaneously. 

Metabolism is the group of processes that turn our food and drink into energy. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which burns more energy (calories) at rest. When calories are burned rather than stored, we store less fat.

There are two main types of fat: white and brown fat. We often refer to white fat, which makes up most body fat and tends to collect around the thighs, stomach, and buttocks. Brown fat, on the other hand, is needed to keep us warm and burns more calories like muscle. Brown fat and white fat differ in location, structure, and function. There is emerging research^[10] regarding acquiring more brown fat to manage obesity.

As previously alluded to, when aiming for body recomposition, it’s incredibly important not to rely on the scale to track progress. Muscle weighs more than fat, but we need the muscle to increase resting metabolic rate, burn fat, have toned muscles, and increase strength.  

Extra Tips

• Listen to your body and train around your cycle. There is emerging research around this aspect of women’s fitness. If you need more rest during your period, take it. There’s no need to push through pain and fatigue when your body needs rest. Your body is more likely to reward you for achieving your fitness goals when you are kind to it. 
• Work with a personal trainer, ideally someone who also has training in nutrition. 
• Have patience and persistence. These things take time! It’s better to do a little but keep it consistent rather than do a lot sporadically. 

Final Words

Body recomposition is a sustainable approach to improving body composition by simultaneously losing fat and gaining muscle, which can be healthier and more beneficial in the long term than focusing solely on weight loss. It requires a holistic approach, incorporating balanced nutrition, regular resistance exercise, adequate rest, and hydration, and demands consistency, time, and patience.