Body Recomposition Diet Plan: What the Research Supports

A body recomposition diet plan has three parts: eat close to your maintenance calories or in a small deficit, eat plenty of protein spread across the day, and pair it with resistance training that gets progressively harder. For protein, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) puts most people who exercise at 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight a day. The rest of the plate is more flexible than most guides suggest, because research finds a wide range of diet styles work similarly well for body composition. The plan that works is the one you can keep eating while you train hard.

Last updated: October 2026

The little-known part: recomp isn't only for beginners

Body recomposition means losing fat and building muscle over the same stretch of time. A common belief is that it only happens to people who are new to training or carrying more body fat.

That's not what the research shows. A 2020 review in the Strength and Conditioning Journal (Barakat and colleagues, "Body Recomposition: Can Trained Individuals Build Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?") found a substantial body of studies showing recomposition in people who already lift. It named two key factors: progressive resistance training, and nutrition strategies grounded in evidence. It also flagged sleep and hormones as factors outside training and diet, and pointed out that body composition measurements have their own limits.

So if you've suspected recomp was still possible after years of lifting, you were right. It just asks more of the details.

Step 1: Pick a calorie level you can actually hold

The ISSN's 2017 position stand on diets and body composition (Aragon and colleagues) lays out the two ends of the spectrum. Fat loss is driven by a sustained calorie deficit. Muscle gain is driven by a sustained calorie surplus. Recomposition sits between them, which is why most recomp plans land at maintenance or a modest deficit.

How modest depends on you. The same position stand notes that people with more body fat can run a larger deficit, while slower weight loss better preserves lean mass in leaner people. If you're already fairly lean and your goal is to keep the muscle you're building, a smaller deficit (or maintenance) is the safer bet.

Maintenance isn't a number you can know exactly on day one. Start from an estimate, then watch what your weight and measurements do over a few weeks and adjust.

Step 2: Set protein, then spread it out

• Daily total. The ISSN protein position stand (Jäger and colleagues, 2017) says 1.4 to 2.0 g/kg a day is sufficient for most exercising people.
• Where extra stops helping. A 2018 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Morton and colleagues) found that gains in fat-free mass (everything in your body that isn't fat) from resistance training leveled off at about 1.6 g/kg a day. Its 95% confidence interval, the range the true value likely sits in, ran up to about 2.2 g/kg.
• In a deficit. The same ISSN stand says resistance-trained people eating below maintenance may need more, 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg of body weight, to hold onto as much lean mass as possible.
• Per meal. About 0.25 g/kg per meal, or 20 to 40 grams, spread roughly every 3 to 4 hours.

Here's what 1.6 to 2.0 g/kg looks like at a few body weights:

If you have kidney disease or another medical condition, check with your doctor before raising your protein. A blog post isn't medical advice.

Step 3: Fill the rest of the plate your way

Low-fat, low-carb, somewhere in the middle: the ISSN diets position stand says a wide range of approaches can be similarly effective for improving body composition, and that long-term success depends on sticking with it.

My opinion: the best recomp macro split is the one you'll still be eating when life gets busy. It's common to spend a lot of energy on carbs versus fats while protein quietly falls short. Fix protein first. Then choose carbs and fats by what fuels your training and what you actually like eating.

A sample structure for a 70 kg person aiming at about 112 grams of protein (approximate values; check your labels):

• Breakfast: two eggs and a 6-ounce nonfat Greek yogurt, about 29 g
• Lunch: a can of tuna in water over rice and vegetables, about 20 to 25 g
• Afternoon: a cup of cooked lentils in a soup or bowl, about 18 g
• Dinner: 4 ounces of cooked chicken breast with potatoes and greens, about 35 g

That lands around 102 to 107 grams. A glass of milk or a second yogurt closes the gap.

Diet alone won't do it

Protein without a training stimulus doesn't build much muscle. Barakat's review is clear that progressive resistance training is one of the two main factors. If you're choosing how to structure your week, our guide to full body vs split routine walks through the trade-offs, and the workout plan for beginners gym program is a starting point if you're newer to lifting.

Measure the right thing

The scale can mislead you during a recomp. If you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, your weight may barely move. If the scale has had you convinced nothing was working, that's why: it can't see the swap.

Body composition measurements help, with a caveat Barakat's review raises too: every method has limits. Use the same device under the same conditions, and read the trend rather than any single result. Our body composition scan app guide explains what each scan method actually measures. And remember a scan is a data point about one morning, not a grade on your effort.

Tracking a recomp in AllStrong

AllStrong won't write your plan for you. There's no recomp setting, and the coach can't set your targets. What it does is make the plan visible as you eat.

• Log by chatting. Type or say a meal ("two eggs and a Greek yogurt") and the app estimates calories, macros and micronutrients, drawing on its food database and USDA FoodData Central when it finds a match. That's on the free plan.
• Set your own target. The TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) screen uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation with activity levels from 1.2 to 1.9, and shows maintenance next to -250, -500 and +250 suggestions. You choose your daily calories under Profile > Nutrition Targets.
• Know about workout days. Your base target stays where you set it, but when you log a workout, the app adds 60% of its estimated calories to that day's target. If you're aiming for maintenance on training days too, factor that in.
• Expect a refined estimate. After about two weeks of weigh-ins and food logs, the TDEE screen refines its estimate from your intake and weight trend. It doesn't rewrite your target.
• Check micronutrients. The Micronutrients screen tracks 23 vitamins and minerals for the current day.

Body composition scans, which read the numbers off a photo of your InBody, DEXA or BIA printout, are a Premium feature. Premium isn't sold on its own yet; it comes with a membership at a gym that runs AllStrong. If you run a gym, our gym management software page covers that side. On the free plan, you get 5 chat messages a day, and every message counts, including the ones that log a meal.

Frequently asked questions

Can you lose fat and build muscle at the same time?

Yes, and not only as a beginner. A 2020 review in the Strength and Conditioning Journal by Barakat and colleagues found many studies showing body recomposition in people who already resistance train. It named progressive resistance training and evidence-based nutrition as the two key factors, and also pointed to sleep. How fast it happens varies a lot from person to person.

How much protein do I need for body recomposition?

The ISSN's 2017 protein position stand puts most exercising people at 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight a day, and a 2018 BJSM meta-analysis found muscle gains leveled off around 1.6 g/kg. Resistance-trained people eating in a deficit may need more, 2.3 to 3.1 g/kg. Spread it across meals of about 20 to 40 grams.

Should I eat at maintenance or in a deficit for a recomp?

Most recomp plans sit at maintenance or a small deficit. The ISSN's 2017 position stand on diets and body composition says slower weight loss better preserves lean mass in leaner people, while people with more body fat can run a larger deficit. If you're already fairly lean, start near maintenance and adjust based on your weight and measurements.

Can AllStrong build a recomp meal plan for me?

Not as a set plan. AllStrong has no recomp setting, and its coach can't set your targets; you choose your daily calories under Profile > Nutrition Targets, with the TDEE screen's suggestions as a guide. You can log meals by chatting on the free plan, and the coach can suggest foods to close the nutrition gaps in your recent logs when you ask.