Lost muscle/lean mass....

BoxerLover96
BoxerLover96 Posts: 82 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Here are my numbers:
5'4" (30yo female)

June 17th:
-156.8lbs - 33.1%BF...51.90lbs of fat and 104.9 lbs of lean mass

July 31st:
-147.2lbs - 30.9%BF...45.49lbs of fat and 101.7 lbs of lean mass

So I lost 3.2lbs of lean mass then??? Am I figuring this out right? This is a bad thing isn't it?

Looking for your thoughts and advise...

Replies

  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
    Are you using a scale with a BF monitor?
  • BoxerLover96
    BoxerLover96 Posts: 82 Member
    Are you using a scale with a BF monitor?

    No. It's a handheld device that the nutritionist store I go to has. The numbers I've posted come from their scales and BF handheld device.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    You cannot expect all your loss to come from fat, it simply isn't going to happen.
    It is inevitable that with weight loss, some lean mass will be lost.
    The best you can do is to minimise that.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Those devices are not accurate to measure lean mass, so I would take it with a grain of salt.

    Are you doing any kind of strength training? I actually gained 2 lbs of lean mass in 3.5 months of dieting (which isn't much at all, but at least not a loss).
  • BoxerLover96
    BoxerLover96 Posts: 82 Member
    Those devices are not accurate to measure lean mass, so I would take it with a grain of salt.

    Are you doing any kind of strength training? I actually gained 2 lbs of lean mass in 3.5 months of dieting (which isn't much at all, but at least not a loss).

    Most of my workouts come from Fitnessblender.com...they use weights in most of their workouts - still need to build my strength.
  • jdm_taco
    jdm_taco Posts: 999 Member
    The hand held devices suck monkey nuts. Find someone with calipers
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
    Here are my numbers:
    5'4" (30yo female)

    June 17th:
    -156.8lbs - 33.1%BF...51.90lbs of fat and 104.9 lbs of lean mass

    July 31st:
    -147.2lbs - 30.9%BF...45.49lbs of fat and 101.7 lbs of lean mass

    So I lost 3.2lbs of lean mass then??? Am I figuring this out right? This is a bad thing isn't it?

    Looking for your thoughts and advise...
    I've been lifting heavy, and being very conscientious about protein intake. I've also throttled down my calorie deficit so as to not lose too quickly. All this was done in an effort to preserve as much muscle mass as possible. Year-to-date I've lost 3 lbs of fat for every 1 lb of non-fat. I am thankful of the 18 lbs of fat lost, but I miss my 6 lbs of muscle.

    I guess my whole point is that you can alter the ratios by working really hard at it, but you "will" lose non-fat weight when you lose weight.
  • Hadabetter
    Hadabetter Posts: 942 Member
    Those devices are not accurate to measure lean mass, so I would take it with a grain of salt.

    Are you doing any kind of strength training? I actually gained 2 lbs of lean mass in 3.5 months of dieting (which isn't much at all, but at least not a loss).
    That 2 lb gain was not an increase in muscle if you were on a calorie deficit...it aint gonna happen. More likely it was water weight and measurement error.

    having said that, I don't know how much total weight you lost, but it sounds like you did a good job of preserving lean mass as much as possible.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    My loss (currently 53 pounds) has been about 75% fat. In reading studies, it appears 80% is more normal for people losing that much. The part that isn't fat isn't all muscle either, but some is. Each pound of fat can metabolize 31.4 calories of energy per day, so as long as you have not had a deficit in excess of 1400 or so calories, you should have been losing primarily fat. Your ratio of roughly 6.5 : 3 indicates you have lost over 60% fat, but that does seem a little low. I wonder if the initial water weight (glycogen stores) counts as "not fat".
  • BoxerLover96
    BoxerLover96 Posts: 82 Member
    Thanks for everyone's input.
    So what can I do to increase the my fat percentage being lost??
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    Losing muscle mass while on a caloric deficit is pretty normal. The only real question is "how much are you going to lose". Generally speaking, getting plenty of protein and fats from various sources, lifting heavy, and keeping a small caloric deficit will help you keep more mass.

    If you really want to research it, look into Protein Sparing and it would be a good idea to read some of Lyle McDonald's books as a start.

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