Losing Equal Amount of Fat and Muscle How to preserve more Muscle?

usmcmp

alanjreed wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

alanjreed wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

Out of curiosity:

How long have you been lifting?
Is this a cut after a bulk or just an attempt at weight loss in general?

I used to be a triathlete and was eating 6000-8000 calories a day to keep up with the 20+ hours a week of training. Life happened and I stopped racing but I continued to eat more than I should and I went from 165 - 220.

At the end of January I started losing weight. I don't have the complete story with all the measurements back til then because I had the scale set up incorrectly and it was showing a much higher body fat percentage.

I started back lifting about 5 weeks ago. I want to hold ever pound of muscle I can because I plan to get to 10% body fat then a clean bulk but certainly want to try to avoid a skinny fat look.

Okay, so build your strength base, stop sweating the details on the lean mass loss for now, get blood work done (might as well do it annually anyway) and keep doing what you are doing. Once you hit a strength plateau consider switching to a more bodybuilding type program.

Fair enough, just want to hold on to everything I can.

I understand. As a competitive bodybuilder I have had a few years of experience watching calipers, scale and tape measure. A months worth of data to someone who is new to tracking all of this isn't going to show us the whole picture. You also didn't say who was taking the caliper measurements, which is an important factor in accuracy. You can track those still, but don't hold it as gospel for what's going on at this point. You're going to need more time and data.

alanjreed

usmcmp wrote: »

alanjreed wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

alanjreed wrote: »

usmcmp wrote: »

Out of curiosity:

How long have you been lifting?
Is this a cut after a bulk or just an attempt at weight loss in general?

I used to be a triathlete and was eating 6000-8000 calories a day to keep up with the 20+ hours a week of training. Life happened and I stopped racing but I continued to eat more than I should and I went from 165 - 220.

At the end of January I started losing weight. I don't have the complete story with all the measurements back til then because I had the scale set up incorrectly and it was showing a much higher body fat percentage.

I started back lifting about 5 weeks ago. I want to hold ever pound of muscle I can because I plan to get to 10% body fat then a clean bulk but certainly want to try to avoid a skinny fat look.

Okay, so build your strength base, stop sweating the details on the lean mass loss for now, get blood work done (might as well do it annually anyway) and keep doing what you are doing. Once you hit a strength plateau consider switching to a more bodybuilding type program.

Fair enough, just want to hold on to everything I can.

I understand. As a competitive bodybuilder I have had a few years of experience watching calipers, scale and tape measure. A months worth of data to someone who is new to tracking all of this isn't going to show us the whole picture. You also didn't say who was taking the caliper measurements, which is an important factor in accuracy. You can track those still, but don't hold it as gospel for what's going on at this point. You're going to need more time and data.

Calipers were done by a trainer at my gym. Taken in three locations. Chest between nipple and arm pit. To the side of belly button and upper quad. Each measurement repeated three times.

fatfudgery

First of all, you're using a BIA scale and skinfolds to measure body fat - two of the most inaccurate methods available. Second, you're comparing measurements taken within days of each other, so the measured change is not enough to get through the noise inherent to the measuring methods you're using. And third, you're losing weight at a relatively slow rate, so the changes will be smaller and therefore more easily hidden by the inaccuracies of your scale and calipers. You're trying to light a match in a hurricane. Measure your BF with calipers today, then measure it again in 6 months and see what's up. And make sure you eat and train right between measurements, of course. In the meantime, rest assured that you didn't lose 2.5lbs of muscle in less than a month if you're lifting heavy and eating enough protein. There was a study recently that took a bunch of guys on a 40% calorie reduction for like 6 weeks or something and found no noticeable reduction in LBM at the end.

There's an old series of articles on weightology.com that actually looks at the research on BF% measurement and pretty much destroys all the two-compartment models out there (including some of the ones people consider gold standards of accuracy...) I think the series is called "pitfalls of body fat measurement" or something like that. Google.

And good job on the weight loss!

alanjreed

fatfudgery wrote: »

First of all, you're using a BIA scale and skinfolds to measure body fat - two of the most inaccurate methods available. Second, you're comparing measurements taken within days of each other, so the measured change is not enough to get through the noise inherent to the measuring methods you're using. And third, you're losing weight at a relatively slow rate, so the changes will be smaller and therefore more easily hidden by the inaccuracies of your scale and calipers. You're trying to light a match in a hurricane. Measure your BF with calipers today, then measure it again in 6 months and see what's up. And make sure you eat and train right between measurements, of course. In the meantime, rest assured that you didn't lose 2.5lbs of muscle in less than a month if you're lifting heavy and eating enough protein. There was a study recently that took a bunch of guys on a 40% calorie reduction for like 6 weeks or something and found no noticeable reduction in LBM at the end.

There's an old series of articles on weightology.com that actually looks at the research on BF% measurement and pretty much destroys all the two-compartment models out there (including some of the ones people consider gold standards of accuracy...) I think the series is called "pitfalls of body fat measurement" or something like that. Google.

And good job on the weight loss!

Over the past 10 weeks I have lost an average of 2.3 lbs per week. I know there is the whole 1-2 pounds per week but with your statement that my weight loss is relatively slow do you think I can or should increase that? Or stay on the path I'm on?

fatfudgery

alanjreed wrote: »

fatfudgery wrote: »

First of all, you're using a BIA scale and skinfolds to measure body fat - two of the most inaccurate methods available. Second, you're comparing measurements taken within days of each other, so the measured change is not enough to get through the noise inherent to the measuring methods you're using. And third, you're losing weight at a relatively slow rate, so the changes will be smaller and therefore more easily hidden by the inaccuracies of your scale and calipers. You're trying to light a match in a hurricane. Measure your BF with calipers today, then measure it again in 6 months and see what's up. And make sure you eat and train right between measurements, of course. In the meantime, rest assured that you didn't lose 2.5lbs of muscle in less than a month if you're lifting heavy and eating enough protein. There was a study recently that took a bunch of guys on a 40% calorie reduction for like 6 weeks or something and found no noticeable reduction in LBM at the end.

There's an old series of articles on weightology.com that actually looks at the research on BF% measurement and pretty much destroys all the two-compartment models out there (including some of the ones people consider gold standards of accuracy...) I think the series is called "pitfalls of body fat measurement" or something like that. Google.

And good job on the weight loss!

Over the past 10 weeks I have lost an average of 2.3 lbs per week. I know there is the whole 1-2 pounds per week but with your statement that my weight loss is relatively slow do you think I can or should increase that? Or stay on the path I'm on?

I don't know... How tall are you? How old? Where are you in your SL5x5 progress? Do you know your 1RM's? How long have you been lifting? Has your weight loss rate been pretty steady, or have you had to cut more and more calories over time to keep losing? The more muscle you have relative to your body weight and height, the slower your rate of weight loss should be, I think. If you have a ton of fat to lose and very little muscle and you're training at relatively high intensity, the faster you can lose... I personally like to use gym performance as a gauge of whether I'm cutting too fast. So if you start failing lifts that you should be getting, you can probably eat a little more and slow down your weight loss rate. This stuff is all very much an individual thing and a little trial and error is a good thing.

usmcmp

fatfudgery wrote: »

alanjreed wrote: »

fatfudgery wrote: »

First of all, you're using a BIA scale and skinfolds to measure body fat - two of the most inaccurate methods available. Second, you're comparing measurements taken within days of each other, so the measured change is not enough to get through the noise inherent to the measuring methods you're using. And third, you're losing weight at a relatively slow rate, so the changes will be smaller and therefore more easily hidden by the inaccuracies of your scale and calipers. You're trying to light a match in a hurricane. Measure your BF with calipers today, then measure it again in 6 months and see what's up. And make sure you eat and train right between measurements, of course. In the meantime, rest assured that you didn't lose 2.5lbs of muscle in less than a month if you're lifting heavy and eating enough protein. There was a study recently that took a bunch of guys on a 40% calorie reduction for like 6 weeks or something and found no noticeable reduction in LBM at the end.

There's an old series of articles on weightology.com that actually looks at the research on BF% measurement and pretty much destroys all the two-compartment models out there (including some of the ones people consider gold standards of accuracy...) I think the series is called "pitfalls of body fat measurement" or something like that. Google.

And good job on the weight loss!

Over the past 10 weeks I have lost an average of 2.3 lbs per week. I know there is the whole 1-2 pounds per week but with your statement that my weight loss is relatively slow do you think I can or should increase that? Or stay on the path I'm on?

I don't know... How tall are you? How old? Where are you in your SL5x5 progress? Do you know your 1RM's? How long have you been lifting? Has your weight loss rate been pretty steady, or have you had to cut more and more calories over time to keep losing? The more muscle you have relative to your body weight and height, the slower your rate of weight loss should be, I think. If you have a ton of fat to lose and very little muscle and you're training at relatively high intensity, the faster you can lose... I personally like to use gym performance as a gauge of whether I'm cutting too fast. So if you start failing lifts that you should be getting, you can probably eat a little more and slow down your weight loss rate. This stuff is all very much an individual thing and a little trial and error is a good thing.

Most of your questions have been answered previously in the thread.

fatfudgery

So

usmcmp wrote: »

fatfudgery wrote: »

alanjreed wrote: »

fatfudgery wrote: »

First of all, you're using a BIA scale and skinfolds to measure body fat - two of the most inaccurate methods available. Second, you're comparing measurements taken within days of each other, so the measured change is not enough to get through the noise inherent to the measuring methods you're using. And third, you're losing weight at a relatively slow rate, so the changes will be smaller and therefore more easily hidden by the inaccuracies of your scale and calipers. You're trying to light a match in a hurricane. Measure your BF with calipers today, then measure it again in 6 months and see what's up. And make sure you eat and train right between measurements, of course. In the meantime, rest assured that you didn't lose 2.5lbs of muscle in less than a month if you're lifting heavy and eating enough protein. There was a study recently that took a bunch of guys on a 40% calorie reduction for like 6 weeks or something and found no noticeable reduction in LBM at the end.

There's an old series of articles on weightology.com that actually looks at the research on BF% measurement and pretty much destroys all the two-compartment models out there (including some of the ones people consider gold standards of accuracy...) I think the series is called "pitfalls of body fat measurement" or something like that. Google.

And good job on the weight loss!

Over the past 10 weeks I have lost an average of 2.3 lbs per week. I know there is the whole 1-2 pounds per week but with your statement that my weight loss is relatively slow do you think I can or should increase that? Or stay on the path I'm on?

I don't know... How tall are you? How old? Where are you in your SL5x5 progress? Do you know your 1RM's? How long have you been lifting? Has your weight loss rate been pretty steady, or have you had to cut more and more calories over time to keep losing? The more muscle you have relative to your body weight and height, the slower your rate of weight loss should be, I think. If you have a ton of fat to lose and very little muscle and you're training at relatively high intensity, the faster you can lose... I personally like to use gym performance as a gauge of whether I'm cutting too fast. So if you start failing lifts that you should be getting, you can probably eat a little more and slow down your weight loss rate. This stuff is all very much an individual thing and a little trial and error is a good thing.

Most of your questions have been answered previously in the thread.

Sorry, MFP sucks on mobile...