Body Recomposition: A Guide to Losing Fat and Building Muscle

February 15, 2026

What is body recomposition

Body recomposition is the process of losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time. Most traditional advice tells you to pick one: bulk or cut. Recomposition says you can do both, and under the right conditions, it's correct.

The core challenge is a nutritional balancing act. You need to eat enough to support muscle growth while providing a strong enough training stimulus to drive that growth. At the same time, you have to keep energy intake low enough that your body turns to stored fat for fuel.

It sounds like a contradiction. It isn't, but it does require more precision than simply eating more or eating less.

Who is body recomposition for

How well recomposition works depends heavily on where you're starting from.

If you're untrained or moderately trained with a decent amount of body fat to lose, you're in the sweet spot. You can recomp while watching the scale trend downward at a fairly steady rate. Your body has fat reserves to draw on, and your muscles are primed to respond to a new training stimulus. This is the easiest scenario.

If you're already well-trained and relatively lean, don't expect much movement on the scale. You've got less fat to shed, and meaningful muscle gains are harder to come by at that stage. Recomposition is still possible, but it's slower, subtler, and demands more patience.

Macronutrients

Macronutrients break down into protein, fat, carbohydrate, and alcohol. Two diets containing 2,500 kilocalories per day could look entirely different in terms of the foods they include, how they affect body composition, and how they affect performance, if their macronutrient ratios differ.

This is worth understanding, because calories alone don't tell you much.

Protein

Protein facilitates recovery, supports hypertrophy, and helps with satiety to a degree. If you're lifting, I'd aim for 1.6 to 2.2g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day.

There's some evidence that spreading protein across the day and eating it close to your training session optimises intake, but the effects are small. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Fat

Your body needs fat for cell membrane construction, hormone production, and absorbing fat-soluble vitamins. Adequate dietary fat also tends to help with satiety, which is no small thing when you're managing intake.

The fatty acids in fish oil have been linked to a range of positive outcomes: cognition, mental health, inflammation, immunity, muscle protein balance, neuromuscular function. The evidence varies in strength across these, but the general direction is favourable.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are your primary fuel source for high-intensity exercise, whether that's cardio or resistance training.

Fruits and vegetables provide a broad range of vitamins, minerals, and biologically active phytonutrients. High-carb foods often come with plenty of fibre, which supports satiety, blood glucose regulation, and gastrointestinal health. One note of caution: don't ramp up fibre intake too quickly. Your gut will let you know if you do.

Alcohol

Alcohol can impair recovery from exercise. Habitually consuming large doses can lead to liver damage, cancer, and other pathologies. None of this is controversial.

Sugar alcohols are a separate category, often stemming from low-calorie sweeteners (erythritol, isomalt, maltitol, sorbitol, xylitol). They're effectively laxatives. Large doses can lead to bloating, flatulence, and diarrhoea. The small amounts you'd find in something like gum are negligible.