Does lean body mass change with weight loss?

KillaLindzilla

Hello,

I recently did an inbody analysis and was told my lean body weight is 127lbs. I was wondering how accurate that is for someone who is very obese?

Also, will this number change as I lose weight? I know potetinally if I build muscle through strength training, it will go up, but does it go down?

It seems to me that lean body mass of 127lbs is high. My goal weight is 140lbs which wouldn't be attainable if my lean mass is 127lbs as my body fat % would as far as I know be way too low to be healthy.

I am a 5'8 female who currently weighs 252, but weighed 257 when I did the analysis.

Thank you.

cmriverside

Yes you lose lean mass as well as fat when you are in a calorie deficit.

PAV8888

You lose both.

The closer to normal weight the more the ratio of fat to lean mass shifts towards 1:1. While obese you might get 10:1. While normal weight 2:1 or lower. Even less fat than lean mass is possible!!!

Lean mass is not just muscle.

Depending on definition lean mass is everything not fat.

Some definitions /scans exclude the non water contents of your skeletal structure while other measurements can't/don't.

So lean mass can range from glycogen, to connecting tissue that is no longer needed to support excess weight to muscle, of course.

Contrary to popular opinion, it is my belief that for the majority of non trained individuals engaged in moderate (not large, i.e. exceeding 20% while mid overweight to normal / 25% while obese to high overweight) deficits it is entirely possible to build up muscle in a deficit.

And that *most* people coming to MFP for weight loss fall in this category, as opposed to being well trained individuals without ample fat reserves where muscle building would be less likely unless engaged in novel exercise. Muscle building at a large deficit is also progressively less likely.

jemhh

^^^Excellent post from PAV. Pretty much says it all.