Burning fat not muscle question??

johnandkymberley

Hi all,

So cutting a long story short. Lost 4st in 2014 eating healthily and doing Zumba once a week and yoga once a week, had a triplet miscarriage so gained 1.5st from just emotionally eating and being depressed.
From this Christmas I have lost 1.5st, slower I think as I am smaller than before, however still 2/3lb losses some weeks. My metro of exercise now though is walking, I walk everywhere and I mean everywhere!! On an average day I burn about 300 cals walking but that's average, some days it's 800. Brisk walking and I so sweat. I am eating under or on my target intake (1200cals). My worry is with this diet/exercise am I burning muscle and not fat? I'm a childminder so when I'm walking I mainly have a pushchair with at least one child in, other times me and hubby will just walk or I'll walk a couple of times round the block or we going shopping and carry the bags back etc. I've heard walking is a very good form of exercise but now (for some unknown reason!!) I'm worrying that I'm burning muscle??!!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated :):)
X

johnandkymberley

Method* not metro! X

plami_9209

Eat more protein to help you gain muscle. I personaly have the other problem I want to lose fat and muscle (I have always been to muscular for a woman in my opinion) and that is because 1- I eat a lot of protein and 2- my workouts are push-ups, squats, planks etc. If you do a combination of these daily for 10-15 minutes I think you won`t have problems with loosing muscle.

johnandkymberley

Thanks plami, yes I am always balanced with my micros and I am only ok with going over on my protein, if my fat or carbs are over I have a re haul on what I'm going to eat on that day. I'm not overly great at squats/push ups etc as after about a minute I'm stuck lol however I have a gym ball that might help? How will I know if I loose muscle? Is there any signs?? Xx

johnandkymberley

Btw I don't want to particularly gain muscle just not loose it

ChrissalmonPT

Like the first lady said eat more protein, make sure you fuel your body with the correct options before and after training, don't cut calories to much and don't do excessive cardio.

johnandkymberley

Ok I think I'm doing alright then, I do eat meat/fish every day and my exercise isn't excessive. Just need to loose more fat!! Getting there slowly but surely, better late than never though :):)

Yi5hedr3

Waking burns mostly fat, although not a whole lot. .7 to .8 grams protein per pound of Lean Body Mass is plenty to protect existing muscle. To burn more fat, keeping carbs low (under 100 grams/day) will help a bunch. Any time insulin spikes, fat burning grinds to a halt. Read "The Rosedale Diet" to better understand this. "Why we get Fat" - Gary Taubes is another great read!

RGv2

If you're in a deficit your not going to gain muscle (even if you up your protien) and may even still struggle to maintain it as you do very little to no resistance work.

On top of the protien, progressive overload resistance work is key to muscle retention.

SezxyStef

plami_9209 wrote: »

Eat more protein to help you gain muscle. I personaly have the other problem I want to lose fat and muscle (I have always been to muscular for a woman in my opinion) and that is because 1- I eat a lot of protein and 2- my workouts are push-ups, squats, planks etc. If you do a combination of these daily for 10-15 minutes I think you won`t have problems with loosing muscle.

eating protein does not build muscle.

OP if you are eating at 1200 or below and not eating back exercise calories netting appx 600-800 calories a day then yes you are losing muscle and damaging your hair and nails etc.

Fat loss without muscle loss comes from eating at a "reasonable" deficit and getting in enough protein and doing some form of resistance training....that is not walking.

WAlking is good for burning calories but with what you describe sorry you are losing muscle.

trigden1991

Keeping protein high and undertaking resistance training is the key to minimising muscle loss.

SezxyStef

trigden1991 wrote: »

Keeping protein high and undertaking resistance training is the key to minimising muscle loss.

not if OP is eating VLCD...she will lose muscle no matter what.

Azdak

Some good research lately (Stuart M Phillips) suggests that high protein intake can conserve lean mass even with large deficits (40% of TDEE) and high levels of exercise. His number was 2.4 g/kg body weight--which is kind of a ridiculous number if you are eating in the 1200-1500 calories/day range. But depending on your other activity, you might be able to slow or minimizing muscle loss. I am currently working with a someone who has lost 28 pounds since Jan 3. For medical reasons, he can't do any resistance training, just cardio. He is not eating super high protein, but he is getting 100g per day. So far, out of the 28 pounds, only 2lb loss is muscle. If you can't do resistance training, then keeping protein intake high is going to be the biggest help.

ninerbuff

OP you will lose muscle and fat. The less you use any muscle, the more it atrophies. Walking alone doesn't activate much, but the legs (where most of everyone's muscle is). And while consuming protein will hinder some muscle loss, you'd do much better with at least some resistance training that's challenging for the upper body.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

SezxyStef

Azdak wrote: »

Some good research lately (Stuart M Phillips) suggests that high protein intake can conserve lean mass even with large deficits (40% of TDEE) and high levels of exercise. His number was 2.4 g/kg body weight--which is kind of a ridiculous number if you are eating in the 1200-1500 calories/day range. But depending on your other activity, you might be able to slow or minimizing muscle loss. I am currently working with a someone who has lost 28 pounds since Jan 3. For medical reasons, he can't do any resistance training, just cardio. He is not eating super high protein, but he is getting 100g per day. So far, out of the 28 pounds, only 2lb loss is muscle. If you can't do resistance training, then keeping protein intake high is going to be the biggest help.

The OP is losing 2 or 3lbs a week because

On an average day I burn about 300 cals walking but that's average, some days it's 800. Brisk walking and I so sweat. I am eating under or on my target intake (1200cals).

So it's about 400-900 net calories a day...so even if the OP ate only protein they are going to lose muscle...and at this rate significant amounts.

RGv2

SezxyStef wrote: »

Azdak wrote: »

Some good research lately (Stuart M Phillips) suggests that high protein intake can conserve lean mass even with large deficits (40% of TDEE) and high levels of exercise. His number was 2.4 g/kg body weight--which is kind of a ridiculous number if you are eating in the 1200-1500 calories/day range. But depending on your other activity, you might be able to slow or minimizing muscle loss. I am currently working with a someone who has lost 28 pounds since Jan 3. For medical reasons, he can't do any resistance training, just cardio. He is not eating super high protein, but he is getting 100g per day. So far, out of the 28 pounds, only 2lb loss is muscle. If you can't do resistance training, then keeping protein intake high is going to be the biggest help.

The OP is losing 2 or 3lbs a week because

On an average day I burn about 300 cals walking but that's average, some days it's 800. Brisk walking and I so sweat. I am eating under or on my target intake (1200cals).

So it's about 400-900 net calories a day...so even if the OP ate only protein they are going to lose muscle...and at this rate significant amounts.

Agreed 100%, I read the OP on my phone and missed how little OP can tend to eat (if all logging is pretty accurate).

msf74

johnandkymberley wrote: »

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated :):)
X

How much do you currently weigh?

The biggest issue here, as others have stated, is the severity of your calorie deficit in relation to your current size rather than how much protein you are consuming or the amount of resistance training (or not) you are doing. Unless you are obese it should be your first consideration if you wish to retain as much "muscle" as possible.

When people talk about losing "muscle" what they generally are referring to is lose of muscle protein rather than the other stuff which gets packed into muscles (like glycogen or fluid). While your actual losses may not necessarily mean you have lost a large amount of muscle protein the likelihood is this will occur if you try to run too severe a deficit for any length of time.

blues4miles

Azdak wrote: »

Some good research lately (Stuart M Phillips) suggests that high protein intake can conserve lean mass even with large deficits (40% of TDEE) and high levels of exercise. His number was 2.4 g/kg body weight--which is kind of a ridiculous number if you are eating in the 1200-1500 calories/day range. But depending on your other activity, you might be able to slow or minimizing muscle loss. I am currently working with a someone who has lost 28 pounds since Jan 3. For medical reasons, he can't do any resistance training, just cardio. He is not eating super high protein, but he is getting 100g per day. So far, out of the 28 pounds, only 2lb loss is muscle. If you can't do resistance training, then keeping protein intake high is going to be the biggest help.

+1

I was thinking of this study while reading the OP.

Protein, full body resistance training if you can...

Eat more so that you are not losing more than 1 lb a week at this point. Maybe even .5 lb/week depending on how much you have left to lose.

johnandkymberley

Hi all,

Ok a few questions to answer!!

Firstly my food diary is correct, I weigh 183lbs and want to loose another 43lbs.

I personally don't understand how much someone can eat? To me I am full and that's that? I'm not purposely eating a very low calorie diet btw

We do have some 6kg kettle bells but have no idea what exercises would help me and how often/how long I need to do them for? Call me sexist but I thought weights etc were 'man things' - that's probably down to my experiences in a gym!!!

Thankyou everyone xx

shadow2soul

johnandkymberley wrote: »

Hi all,

Ok a few questions to answer!!

Firstly my food diary is correct, I weigh 183lbs and want to loose another 43lbs.

I personally don't understand how much someone can eat? To me I am full and that's that? I'm not purposely eating a very low calorie diet btw

We do have some 6kg kettle bells but have no idea what exercises would help me and how often/how long I need to do them for? Call me sexist but I thought weights etc were 'man things' - that's probably down to my experiences in a gym!!!

Thankyou everyone xx

You should look at these threads:
HALP! Heavy Lifting Made Me Supah Bulky
Lifting is the Most Horrible Thing to a Woman Since Twiggy
Females Only - Lifting/Weight Training Results

SezxyStef

johnandkymberley wrote: »

Hi all,

Ok a few questions to answer!!

Firstly my food diary is correct, I weigh 183lbs and want to loose another 43lbs.

I personally don't understand how much someone can eat? To me I am full and that's that? I'm not purposely eating a very low calorie diet btw

We do have some 6kg kettle bells but have no idea what exercises would help me and how often/how long I need to do them for? Call me sexist but I thought weights etc were 'man things' - that's probably down to my experiences in a gym!!!

Thankyou everyone xx

That's where I was when I got here (or there abouts)

I ate 1600 calories a day and lost 1lb a week for months...(that included eating back all my exercise calories)

MFP is setup for you to enter your stats and weekly weight loss goal to get the number of calories to eat to lose the weight you want. MFP is also setup so you eat back exercise calories...so if you burn 151 you get to eat more food.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

I did look at your diary and what I see is not a lot of calorie dense choices. You could easily eat more calories by eating a piece of pizza or a chocolate bar or a beer. If those don't thrill you put avocado on stuff, use butter and olive oil to cook in.

It's about eating all the food you can and still losing the weight you want...not eating so little you are losing muscle along with the fat.

Exercise is not required for weight loss. If you want to exercise for fitness and help retain some muscle look up I am my own gym or www.fitnessblender.com for some works outs.

AS for lifting weights I do...4x a week...big weights. They are not man things they are fitness equipment to be used to help retain muscle, build strength and keep us fit.