Tracking lean body mass?

annalisbeth74

I just got a body fat scale last week, and it appears to be much more accurate than my old one. I've started jeing track of my leam body mass, to make sure I don't lose too much muscle, which has happened before on other diets. (Master cleanse? Don't even get me started!) So far since I started tracking I've lost 3lbs, and my LBM went down .5

My question is, is losing lean body mass something that's just inevitable while I'm losing weight, and I should wait until I'm at goal to try and put back on what I've lost? I've always heard you can't add muscle and lose weight at the same time, but I was hoping by keeping my protein up that I could at least hold on to what I have. Half a pound out of three seems like a lot, although I realize it could have been worse.

Also, is it too soon to worry about a trend? Should I watch it a while longer before I start to worry?

wabmester

The myth about LBM loss during weight loss is due to calorie restriction without adequate protein. Ketosis evolved specifically to spare protein during periods of fasting. As long as you're eating adequate protein, you shouldn't lose LBM. If your carb intake is below 40g or so, you may need a little extra protein since some of it will be converted to glucose at that level.

Also, those impedance devices that the scales use are not accurate, so don't believe it, but the trend it shows you may be useful if you always measure at the same time each day, same level of hydration, etc.

Edit: as you lose weight, you need less muscle simply because you're carrying around less weight, but you can still preserve LBM in that case with exercise.

SideSteel

If your goal is to Minimize the loss of lean mass, then your best bet would be to:

Do some form of resistance training
Consume an adequate amount of protein
Keep your rate of weekly weight loss moderate


I would not be too concerned about what your home scale says regarding body fat percentage.

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=218

FIT_Goat

The home scale bf% does a great job of telling me when I am retaining water (my bf% drops) or dehydrated (my bf% rises). I don't give it much more credit than that.

Like SideSteel said, if you want to minimize it keep things reasonable (protein and weight loss rate) while exercising.

annalisbeth74

So, I used to keto calculator to determine my protein intake, and I typically stay around the middle of the range. Maybe I should go higher, then, since my carbs are almost always below 20? (Actual, not net).

And, I have been trying to follow the calorie goal for 1 lb/ week. I know some of you ignore calories, but I've been a binge eater for so long, that it gives me comfort having a limit. However, I feel comfortable enough now in this woe that I know I'm not going to overeat. But even at the 1lb/ week limit, I still lose 1-3 lbs a week. Maybe I should try upping my calories a little?

Good article, BTW. I know I shouldn't place so much faith in that thing, but it is still nice to see the little numbers go down, even if it apparently doesn't mean anything.

wabmester

Going by memory (which isn't my best feature), I think 1.6g of protein converts to 1g of glucose. At 20g carbs, you need at least 20g of extra glucose, or 32g of extra protein in addition to whatever the calculators tell you is "adequate."

Edit: keep in mind that these are rough estimates and that you also make some glucose from the glycerides left over from burning fat, but probably not bad as a rule of thumb.

professionalHobbyist

I weigh the same time daily. And I see 5 pounds of LBM fluctuations

I average it on the week and write it down on Saturdays

I lift hard twice a week and eat break even calories this days. I do cardio 4 days and nothing 1.

It has been slow and steady losing fat and adding a little muscle.

The main thing is not losing any muscle for me.

For an idea of how slow it is in my plan, it has been almost 18 months. My net weight loss is 124 lbs. my LBM is up between 15-20 pounds per the wackadoodle scale.

I like the heavy lift days to eat break even.

It keeps me from getting burnt on deficit diet and lifting is more fun than cardio to me.

annalisbeth74

Hobbyist- That makes so much more sense now, that the days I've tried to lift I was barely able to complete the workout. I probably just needed to eat more. And your progress is amazing!

Wab- do you remember where you read that? I'd like to read up on it more. I know I may be over thinking it, but I still enjoy learning all I can about this woe.

wabmester

annalisbeth74 wrote: »

Wab- do you remember where you read that? I'd like to read up on it more. I know I may be over thinking it, but I still enjoy learning all I can about this woe.

I synthesize this stuff from multiple sources (which is why the famous authors haven't figured it out yet).

The 40g glucose requirement comes from studies of long-term fasting. The protein conversion factor comes from studies of gluconeogenesis. The caveats come from the fact that nobody seems to really know how much LBM they have or how much protein intake is required to maintain it.