A little help please

MarkaStone
MarkaStone Posts: 55 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm managing to lose weight so I'm happy with that BUT...
More of the loss seems to be coming from my lean mass rather than my fat mass. Is this normal or do I need to look at my diet again and adjust it to reduce my fat intake? I know I need to increase my exercise levels (and add more strength exercises).
Any suggestions & help would be greatly appreciated.

Replies

  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,371 Member
    How many calories are you eating and how many you should be eating?

    How was the lbm and bf % calculated?
  • MarkaStone
    MarkaStone Posts: 55 Member
    1580 calories before any exercise earned ones are added and I normally get to within a hundred or so of that and eat a portion of my exercise calories back as well. The lbm and bf% are from the scales and I do understand that they are not the most accurate way to get those readings. I just want to be sure that I'm not messing myself up by doing something wrong.
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,371 Member
    Assuming the calories before exercise has been allocated via MFP and takes into account your weight, height, age and incidental activity levels, and you are eating sufficient protein, the scales may be out of kilter for the percentages. Scale readings are not the most accurate anyway and would be even more inaccurate due to hydration levels or where fluid weight is being maintained.
  • MarkaStone
    MarkaStone Posts: 55 Member
    Yeah the calories are from MFP with all the details entered correctly. I have been having thoughts that the scales are a bit crap tbh so you also suggesting that its the scales reinforces that idea. I think I'll just keep an eye on it and not worry so much about what the scales are saying for that reading.
    Thanks for your help.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    The amount of fat you are consuming is immaterial to maintaining muscle, so long as it's not crowding out protein.

    To spare muscle as much as possible during weight loss, you need to do three things:

    1) Keep your overall calorie deficit small, so that you're not overtaxing your body's ability to fuel your deficit from fat stores. Assuming from your photo and name that you're male, 1580 calories could be too low for a muscle-sparing deficit.

    2) Get sufficient protein (you might hear anything from .8 g/kg body weight/day -- based on Nat'l Academy of Sciences recommendation for adequate intake -- to 1.5 g/lb body weight/day or more -- studies I see cited to support this seem to reflect marginal advantages for fit males trying to get every possible advantage in building muscle, but I could be missing something. You should do your own research to decide how much protein you consider sufficient)

    3) Challenge your muscles through resistance/strength training.
  • MarkaStone
    MarkaStone Posts: 55 Member
    edited June 2016
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    1) Keep your overall calorie deficit small, so that you're not overtaxing your body's ability to fuel your deficit from fat stores. Assuming from your photo and name that you're male, 1580 calories could be too low for a muscle-sparing deficit.

    2) Get sufficient protein (you might hear anything from .8 g/kg body weight/day -- based on Nat'l Academy of Sciences recommendation for adequate intake -- to 1.5 g/lb body weight/day or more

    3) Challenge your muscles through resistance/strength training.

    looking at what you say and a quick search online has me thinking I'll increase my intake a bit and make sure it's mainly protein as I might not be getting enough so thanks for that. As for the strength training I had already decided I need to increase that part of my exercise regime so it's nice to have someone else agree with me

    Thanks

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