How to know whether you are loosing fat or muscles?
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I'm really enjoying "woo"ing all of thesenutmegoreo wrote: »Do not use the BIA scale mentioned above. Get a hydrotank, bod pod, or dexa scan every 6 months if you really want to monitor fat vs muscle. These are the only proven reliable methods.
Being certified means the trainer has studied and passed a test, but certification does not make a person infallible or sensible.
I had asked about this (BIA) when I began the program. At the time, through my pre-reading/etc., I had thought that only float tests (hydrostatic) were accurate. The gym some years ago was using arm calipers; they're fairly inaccurate as well. The device used now corrects previous flaws in the BIA technology. And is only a professional-level thing, not one of the oldstyle home monitors. Supposedly comparable to DEXA. I think access to the other tests (hydo, bod pod, dexa) is pretty limited; I'm in NJ.
So, being an older guy, I'm never sure if "woo" is a good thing or not. That is, is "woo" really "whoa!" or "woo-hoo!"
At first we were told it could be either positive (woo-hoo!) or negative (woo-woo, like an old wives tale or snake oil). Then when they realized that was useless, they said it's negative. But I don't believe most people know that. I've gotten woo's on posts that really didn't seem to merit either one. And if someone's on the phone, it's easy to accidentally hit woo or hug as you're scrolling.
So ummm yes. Or either.
MFP, where everything is made up, and the "woo"s don't matter.
I love you for this.
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https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1Aneeshn630 wrote: »But the thing now is the doubt how much protein should I be taking?
Thanks AnvilHead, that link was definitely useful.0 -
Okay, you're not the one being stupid here. The trainer is. Regaining the weight just so you can try to lose it again properly is an astonishingly bad idea. It's absolutely unnecessary, might not even work if you tried it, and has the potential to cause serious health problems.Aneeshn630 wrote: »A few days back a personal trainer in the gym told me that I am being stupid and I am just losing muscles not weight. He suggested that I increase my weight back to my old weight and then take up personal training to properly reduce my weight.
If you've been doing a reasonable amount of cardio (30 min 3x/week or more), you probably haven't lost much muscle, if any. Remember, your heart and other parts of the cardiovascular system are muscle, too.
The bad news is that your skin will tend to sag to some degree. The good news is that both cardio and weight training can help a lot with this - the more muscles under the skin, and the better toned those muscles are, the less it will sag. Other things that help are stretching activities like yoga, and a diet high in protein and rich in a variety of nutrients.Aneeshn630 wrote: »Otherwise the skin will start to sag and a bit of sagging is there only a bit. I don't know what to do.Aneeshn630 wrote: »I was an overweight person, close to 104kg, now with diet and exercise I have bought it down to 85Kg, my diet mainly consists of oats and 6 egg whites daily. In the gym I was not at all doing that much weight training but I was doing mostly cardio.
I also hope you're eating much more than that.nutmegoreo wrote: »Aneeshn630 wrote: »Start prioritizing...... eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
Actually, that would be 85kg (2.2 to convert to pounds) - 187lb = 112-150g of protein, which sounds about right. Personally, I'm aiming for 120g and I'm a middle aged short woman.
I do hope that you are eating more than oats and eggs. There's not enough nutritional balance in that and the weight loss is likely more muscle than would be ideal.
Six egg whites at 3.6 grams of protein each = 21.6 gm protein
Oatmeal has about six grams per cup of cooked oatmeal; so you'd need to eat 6.5 cups of oatmeal per day to get 39 more grams of protein. That would give you 60 grams, and 60 grams of protein daily is the minimum amount an adult woman needs to avoid starvation.*
(*That's if I recall correctly, as I can't find the reference right now. And that's certainly not applicable to any and every adult woman any where. It comes from the amount that the UN says must be provided to prisoners in concentration camps, or the camp diet will be declared inhumane.)
I'm a 5'9" (175 cm) middle-aged woman; and I've found that less than 100 grams of protein per day makes me ill, ravenous, and extremely unpleasant to be around.
To me, it sounds like you're mostly doing great so far. You've lost 19 kilograms through diet and cardio, which is entirely deserving of celebration and congratulation:Aneeshn630 wrote: »I got demotivated when you work so hard to reduce... ...what I have been doing is it wrong?
Woot!!! Good on ya'! Hurrah for Aneeshn!!!
And now you're ready to build your progress from here, by continuing with at least part of your cardio, reviewing your diet and nutrition plan, and taking up a sensibly designed weight training program.
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Aneeshn630 wrote: »Agree with the other comments. You can lose fat without losing muscle, but its a much slower process. I've been following a fat loss program for the past year (won't mention as not to be accused of trying to sell something), its been a frustrating ride, but even though my weight has basically remained the same, I've lost inches and not haven't lost any strength, in fact have increased my lifts. I will say, carbs are your friend, especially around training and protein, make sure you get enough lean protein. Good luck
Yeah I know u have been trying hard for the last 2 years, which includes walking 18 kms removing process sugar from my diets, suppressing my craving to eat chocolates and junk food and that definitely reduced my tummy from a good 45 inches to 36 and the amazing thing is I didn't do any exercise for my tummy. But the thing now is the doubt how much protein should I be taking? Am I loosing fat or muscles? Anyways from what I read from the previous comments I need to switch to weight training.
Yes, that is the one thing I failed to mention. I've focused on lifting, not a lot of cardio (unless its walking the dog)
Yep, that was definitely my mistake. Earlier I couldn't even run in a treadmill however after continious walking one day I realized that I became faster then I started running. Which was really a motivating factor like running for 10 to 20 mins continously was a dream for me. But then I stuck to it because treadmill doesn't require much effort you just, you know run. Learn from the mistakes I guess.1 -
TrishSeren wrote: »Aneeshn630 wrote: »When you lose weight, you always lose some fat and some muscle. To lose as little muscle as possible, it helps to avoid losing weight too quickly, eat a good amount of protein, and do strength training as you lose.
You may have lost more muscle than you would want to, but that's no reason to gain all the weight back :noway:
Start prioritizing strength training and eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight. I would avoid that particular PT.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
I eat 70g - 90g of protein a day easily. 1 egg for breakfast, tuna for lunch and some meat for dinner and I only eat 1,300 - 1,500 calories a day (depending on my exercise that day). I don't like protein shakes (I'm fussy) so I get all of it through diet alone.
My dairy is open if you want to see.
Hi TrishSeren, could you share that diet with me? I am unable to view your diary or maybe I am doing something wrong within the app. Anything I get will be helpful.1 -
Aneeshn630 wrote: »Agree with the other comments. You can lose fat without losing muscle, but its a much slower process. I've been following a fat loss program for the past year (won't mention as not to be accused of trying to sell something), its been a frustrating ride, but even though my weight has basically remained the same, I've lost inches and not haven't lost any strength, in fact have increased my lifts. I will say, carbs are your friend, especially around training and protein, make sure you get enough lean protein. Good luck
Yeah I know u have been trying hard for the last 2 years, which includes walking 18 kms removing process sugar from my diets, suppressing my craving to eat chocolates and junk food and that definitely reduced my tummy from a good 45 inches to 36 and the amazing thing is I didn't do any exercise for my tummy. But the thing now is the doubt how much protein should I be taking? Am I loosing fat or muscles? Anyways from what I read from the previous comments I need to switch to weight training.
Don't get too caught up in what might have already happened. As you saw, I was corrected on the losing muscle part anyway
There's no way to know. So just start doing the right stuff now. Eat a more balanced diet. Start to work more protein into your day little by little. Start to focus on strength training. Keep learning and moving forward!
Yes ma'am ☺️0 -
Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »
Okay, you're not the one being stupid here. The trainer is. Regaining the weight just so you can try to lose it again properly is an astonishingly bad idea. It's absolutely unnecessary, might not even work if you tried it, and has the potential to cause serious health problems.Aneeshn630 wrote: »A few days back a personal trainer in the gym told me that I am being stupid and I am just losing muscles not weight. He suggested that I increase my weight back to my old weight and then take up personal training to properly reduce my weight.
If you've been doing a reasonable amount of cardio (30 min 3x/week or more), you probably haven't lost much muscle, if any. Remember, your heart and other parts of the cardiovascular system are muscle, too.
The bad news is that your skin will tend to sag to some degree. The good news is that both cardio and weight training can help a lot with this - the more muscles under the skin, and the better toned those muscles are, the less it will sag. Other things that help are stretching activities like yoga, and a diet high in protein and rich in a variety of nutrients.Aneeshn630 wrote: »Otherwise the skin will start to sag and a bit of sagging is there only a bit. I don't know what to do.Aneeshn630 wrote: »I was an overweight person, close to 104kg, now with diet and exercise I have bought it down to 85Kg, my diet mainly consists of oats and 6 egg whites daily. In the gym I was not at all doing that much weight training but I was doing mostly cardio.
I also hope you're eating much more than that.nutmegoreo wrote: »Aneeshn630 wrote: »Start prioritizing...... eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
Actually, that would be 85kg (2.2 to convert to pounds) - 187lb = 112-150g of protein, which sounds about right. Personally, I'm aiming for 120g and I'm a middle aged short woman.
I do hope that you are eating more than oats and eggs. There's not enough nutritional balance in that and the weight loss is likely more muscle than would be ideal.
Six egg whites at 3.6 grams of protein each = 21.6 gm protein
Oatmeal has about six grams per cup of cooked oatmeal; so you'd need to eat 6.5 cups of oatmeal per day to get 39 more grams of protein. That would give you 60 grams, and 60 grams of protein daily is the minimum amount an adult woman needs to avoid starvation.*
(*That's if I recall correctly, as I can't find the reference right now. And that's certainly not applicable to any and every adult woman any where. It comes from the amount that the UN says must be provided to prisoners in concentration camps, or the camp diet will be declared inhumane.)
I'm a 5'9" (175 cm) middle-aged woman; and I've found that less than 100 grams of protein per day makes me ill, ravenous, and extremely unpleasant to be around.
To me, it sounds like you're mostly doing great so far. You've lost 19 kilograms through diet and cardio, which is entirely deserving of celebration and congratulation:Aneeshn630 wrote: »I got demotivated when you work so hard to reduce... ...what I have been doing is it wrong?
Woot!!! Good on ya'! Hurrah for Aneeshn!!!
And now you're ready to build your progress from here, by continuing with at least part of your cardio, reviewing your diet and nutrition plan, and taking up a sensibly designed weight training program.
Thanks for the motivation Evelyn_Gorfram, as for the food well that is the only thing I can think of that is healthy and doesn't require much time to prepare. I am not that much of a chef, just trying to be consistent with my diet. But Concentration Camp , prisioners diet?? 😭0 -
Aneeshn630 wrote: »When you lose weight, you always lose some fat and some muscle. To lose as little muscle as possible, it helps to avoid losing weight too quickly, eat a good amount of protein, and do strength training as you lose.
You may have lost more muscle than you would want to, but that's no reason to gain all the weight back :noway:
Start prioritizing strength training and eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight. I would avoid that particular PT.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
Do you eat meat? If you do, 60g really isn't a lot. Other sources would be fish, eggs, dairy, beans & lentils, soy products, etc. There are smaller amounts in nuts, whole grains, and some veggies.Aneeshn630 wrote: »You are doing great. You lost weight with diet and exercise. It takes a lot of muscle to move and support an overweight body. It is so easy to let one negative know it all get you off track....gain the weight back and then lose it? What are the qualifications for this person? Has any one else in the weight lifting group heard of this? It will not do your body any good to gain the weight back to lose. Your skin will get stretched out again. The great thing about muscle...you can rebuild it and strengthen it and you don't have to gain all your weight back to do this.
Thank you soo much for the motivation, I understood if I try to go back on my previous weight it will be stupid. The problem is weight training. I don't know what to do where to start, I need to do my homework.
This thread might help you get your homework started:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
This community is assum, you are assum....thank you soo much for this link. BTW I do eat meat. But I am not good in cooking stuffs. I believe the way you cook things matters when your goal is weight loss. I will try to see if i can prepare meat in a healthy way with my limited knowledge of just cooking eggs and oats 😅0 -
Aneeshn630 wrote: »Aneeshn630 wrote: »When you lose weight, you always lose some fat and some muscle. To lose as little muscle as possible, it helps to avoid losing weight too quickly, eat a good amount of protein, and do strength training as you lose.
You may have lost more muscle than you would want to, but that's no reason to gain all the weight back :noway:
Start prioritizing strength training and eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight. I would avoid that particular PT.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
Do you eat meat? If you do, 60g really isn't a lot. Other sources would be fish, eggs, dairy, beans & lentils, soy products, etc. There are smaller amounts in nuts, whole grains, and some veggies.Aneeshn630 wrote: »You are doing great. You lost weight with diet and exercise. It takes a lot of muscle to move and support an overweight body. It is so easy to let one negative know it all get you off track....gain the weight back and then lose it? What are the qualifications for this person? Has any one else in the weight lifting group heard of this? It will not do your body any good to gain the weight back to lose. Your skin will get stretched out again. The great thing about muscle...you can rebuild it and strengthen it and you don't have to gain all your weight back to do this.
Thank you soo much for the motivation, I understood if I try to go back on my previous weight it will be stupid. The problem is weight training. I don't know what to do where to start, I need to do my homework.
This thread might help you get your homework started:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
This community is assum, you are assum....thank you soo much for this link. BTW I do eat meat. But I am not good in cooking stuffs. I believe the way you cook things matters when your goal is weight loss. I will try to see if i can prepare meat in a healthy way with my limited knowledge of just cooking eggs and oats 😅
Meat can be easy and fun. Stuffed baked chicken breasts are amazing. I like things I can throw in the oven, set the timer and walk away until supper is ready. There are so many websites with recipes. I like Myfridgefood.com, because you can enter in what you already have in the house, and it will give you recipe ideas with those items. The recipe builder is fabulous. Weigh things out as you throw them into the pot/pan, and then while it's cooking, enter it into the builder. I like making extra, so that I've got left overs for a few days.
I have both a slow cooker and a 3-tier steamer, both are great for throwing things in and walking away until it's done.0 -
Aneeshn630 wrote: »TrishSeren wrote: »Aneeshn630 wrote: »When you lose weight, you always lose some fat and some muscle. To lose as little muscle as possible, it helps to avoid losing weight too quickly, eat a good amount of protein, and do strength training as you lose.
You may have lost more muscle than you would want to, but that's no reason to gain all the weight back :noway:
Start prioritizing strength training and eating a well-balanced diet with at least 0.6-0.8g of protein per pound of body weight. I would avoid that particular PT.
Wow thank you soo much for the reply I didn't know that I should take that much protein, so my weight is around 85kg so 0.8 per pound makes it close to 60 - 65 g of protein, wow that is a lot of protein I never knew I should have that much.
I eat 70g - 90g of protein a day easily. 1 egg for breakfast, tuna for lunch and some meat for dinner and I only eat 1,300 - 1,500 calories a day (depending on my exercise that day). I don't like protein shakes (I'm fussy) so I get all of it through diet alone.
My dairy is open if you want to see.
Hi TrishSeren, could you share that diet with me? I am unable to view your diary or maybe I am doing something wrong within the app. Anything I get will be helpful.
Try thishttps://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/TrishSeren 0 -
You're very welcome, AneeshnAneeshn630 wrote: »Thanks for the motivation Evelyn_Gorfram, as for the food well that is the only thing I can think of that is healthy and doesn't require much time to prepare. I am not that much of a chef, just trying to be consistent with my diet. But Concentration Camp , prisioners diet?? 😭
(And I didn't mean to upset you with the concentration camp remark. That's just the closest thing I've found to a formally accepted general threshold for what constitutes too little nutrition.)
As far as being a chef goes, a few healthy easy quick inexpensive things that I like are:
- Toast made with multigrain bread. Add peanut butter and raisins for breakfast, or butter two slices lightly and make an egg white sandwich. (I eat a lot of egg whites myself )
- Yogurt with fruit, nuts, and/or granola. I get plain yogurt and add a couple of teaspoons of sugar; then mix in dried or fresh fruit, a few almonds and a small handful of granola. It's a great breakfast, dessert, or snack.
- Fruit, nuts, and granola are also great additions to a nice bowl of oatmeal. I cook my oatmeal in milk instead fo water, and I also like to throw in a teaspoonful of wheat germ (or flaxseeds, brewer's yeast, etc.) as the oatmeal is cooking.
- For an easy nutritious snack, I like to use apple slices to scoop up peanut butter (kind of like using potato chips to scoop up sour cream dip, but way healthier).
- Those prewashed greens (spinach, chard, kale, etc.) are a godsend to me. I sautee them in a little bit of oil, and add a dash of vinegar just a few moments before I take them out of the pan. Or I leave them in the pan and pour my egg whites in on top of them to cook. That makes for a sort of a frittata-scramble-type thing, which is extra good as a fritatta-scramble sandwich on multigrain bread.
- Or I put a handful of prewashed greens in a colander that I'm going to use to drain noodles that I've just boiled. (I especially like Japanese-style buckwheat "Soba" noodles for this, but any noodles will do.) Then I add a dash of vinegar and any other condiments that strike my fancy, and I have a nice bowl of veggies and carbs. For protein, I often stir in a drained can of tuna, or I chop up a bit of lean sausage or a turkey hot dog.
- Yams are great - tasty, nutritious, reasonably cheap, and very forgiving to the cook. Wash them off if you like, wrap them in aluminum foil with a bit of oil or butter, and stick 'em in the oven at around 350 F/175 C or so, for around and hour or so. (If they're not properly soft and done the first time you check them, stick them back in for another 20 minutes or so.) I like to cook a few of them at a time, because they reheat well (and I don't mind them cold, but YMMV on that). Split 'em open and add chopped cooked meat for your main dish, or add nuts or honey or dried cranberries for a sweet snack. Or just sprinkle some salt to a long skinny one after it's cooled off a bit, and eat it like a funny-looking orange banana.
All the ingredients above are fairly inexpensive, except for nuts, granola, and the pre-washed greens. I watch for sales and coupons on the first two, and sometimes just bite the bullet and buy them at full price. The greens are often available as "marked down for quick sale" items, or you can alway buy plain old normal greens and wash them yourself.
That's all my wisdom (such as it is) for tonight. Hope this helps!0
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