I need to lose muscle weight...how can I achieve this?

msf74 · January 2014

Don't worry about it.

Seriously.

Obese people tend to carry a fair amount muscle (as well as fat of course) simply because there bodies are exposed to so much resistance during the day (given their weight) to conduct their activities of daily living. You results are not surprising.

Follow a sensible plan which includes a suitable calorie deficit and regular exercise and you will be fine. I promise

Greytfish · January 2014

This. Seriously.

SezxyStef · January 2014

If your goal is weight loss......don't exercise just eat at a deficet...

I personally would never join a contest about weight loss because there is no way I would win because I personally don't give a crap about the number on the scale.....it is a piss poor way to measure success (excuse the language).

Lowering BF% with fat loss is more important for health.

I think it would be great to have an above average muscle mass. Win for me.

Most definately ask those questions about "getting those numbers down" and if they tell you to lower your muscle mass run away as fast and as far as you can...because they are idiots.

cecebrite · January 2014

Thanks for all your replies. Thats why I came back to MFP. I don't plan to quit in April, this is just when the program ends. My liftime goal is to lose about 50 lbs so I'll work at it for however long it takes. Thanks.

TavistockToad · January 2014

your heart is a muscle... still think you want to lose some!?

BeachGingerOnTheRocks · January 2014

This is something that comes up way too often on this site. It is not something you want to do.

Just strength train, do cardio, eat at a reasonable calorie deficit and concentrate on losing the fat pounds. Strength train to keep as much muscle as you can. Did I mention you should strength train?

When you're significantly overweight, you have more fat mass, obviously, but many people have additional muscle mass as well. When you lose weight the HEALTHY way, you're going to lose a little muscle mass along with the fat mass. The trick is to not lose on a 50/50 basis because the end result will be your goal weight with a high body fat percent.

Strength train, do cardio, and eat less.

3laine75 · January 2014

Big deficit and loads of cardio should do it. Bear in mind though that your calorie intake to maintain, one you've lost the weight, will be lower.

Yanicka1 · January 2014

If they want you to lose muscle mass, ditch them. It is normal to have more muscles when you are overweight because you have to haul your mass around all day. Muscle mass is good and should be maintained as much as possible.

Homemaker57 · January 2014

Don't worry, there is no such thing as an unhealthy amount of muscle. Seriously! Muscle is never bad for your health, that I know of. Yes it's dense so it might put you over some arbitrary weight limit, but your weight does not matter AT ALL if you are LEAN. Excess fat is unhealthy! Extra muscle increases your metabolism, helps prevent injuries, and is just the most healthy and natural thing in the world.

Definitely ask them what they mean, but even if they say you need to lose muscle... just giggle and walk away.

Weight is neither healthy nor unhealthy. Too much fat is unhealthy. Reduce your amount of body fat, and don't worry about your weight!

susannamarie · January 2014

Don't worry about the muscle. Just work on losing fat. You will probably drop a bit of muscle anyway while losing fat, but if you don't, and you lose 50 lbs and think you have too much, worry about it then.

3laine75 · January 2014

I wouldn't worry about your muscle mass being slightly over....even in a small deficit you will lose muscle mass if you aren't actively trying to retain it.

You've been on the site a while, surely you can see retaining as much muscle as possible is a good thing - don't buy into all that 80/90s crap about weight loss.

livingleanlivingclean · January 2014

This is where weight isn't always a great indicator - your body composition is much more important.

Work on reducing your body fat. This is what matters! So what if you're "overweight". If you're in the healthy bf% range, you'll be all good, and look hot! According to BMI, I'm overweight. I'm not!! I'm well under 20% bf, but have a high muscle mass

Lose the weight slowly, make it a sustainable lifestyle - something you can do forever is the biggest reward you can give yourself

cecebrite · January 2014

Thanks guys for the advice. I think I will just focus on lowering my body fat. I have so much to learn about all this. Thanks again!

mumblemagic · January 2014

Ok, just a suggestion but....

When you are overweight, you have more body to lug around, so your muscles must need to be bigger than a healthy weight person with the same activity level as you. This means that some of the excess weight will be fat and some will be muscle. As you lose weight, you need less and less muscle strength to support yourself and move, so your muscles will decrease to the size they need to be for your level of activity.

Anyone who disagrees with this, please feel free to pick holes in my logic!

Based on this assumption, I would suggest you focus on fat loss and allow the muscle loss to come naturally. Don't give up exercise, in fact if you don't do any at the moment, take some up.

joolywooly33 · January 2014

why, why, why :noway:

KyleB65 · January 2014

You may be misinterpreting what you have been told.

As many have mentioned above. Very rare and normally not a good idea to try and lose muscle mass.

If you need to improve BMI scores? Start with a cardio intense exercise regime with a smallish calorie deficit. Try running. If you are not a runner? Look for programs like the Couch to 5K program or join a local running group that has a learn to run program. BUT! And it is a BIG BUT, once you get going with running you will need to do some amount of resistance (weights) style exercise. Running alone is hard on the body. It does burn a lot of calories. But it also causes a lot of injuries if you are not careful and have a balanced exercise program.

Might be a good idea to speak with the person who told you that you have too much muscle and ask them to explain why and what your options are.

Best of luck!

tattygun · January 2014

Sounds like you need to run away from this Geauxlite Louisiana and fast. Stick around here, use mfp and learn. You'll soon realise why I've told you to run, it's plain bad advice on their part.

My_Own_Worst_Enemy · January 2014

So whats the goal? To look like this?

Ummmm... Usually to create a massive deficit, exercise or moving or burning calories (whatever you wanna call it) is needed, as starving yourself alone to create a massive deficit isnt exactly the healthy way to go about it.

Ahhhhhh. So now I see whats going on here. Ummm, you dont want to lose muscle, you kinda need that for burning calories (fat). A lot of people on here are wanting to build lean mass in order to burn more fat and here you are wanting to get rid of it? Blasphemous! Okay, well maybe you feel like you are too muscular, but do you only think that because of some computer printout? A suggestion is to concentrate on getting rid of your fat first (youll probably lose some muscle as well), and then re-evaluate yourself when you are done with this "contest".

mumblemagic · January 2014

Unhelpful and combative. *sigh*

jeffpettis · January 2014

What kind of "body analysis" did they do? Was it a fitness, medical professional, that did this "analysis"? I wasn't even aware there was a "guideline" for too much muscle...:huh:

I think I would run far far away from this. Whoever told you this BS should be high fived in the face! This probably takes the cake for the WORST body analysis EVER!!!

Good Luck! :drinker:

I need to lose muscle weight...how can I achieve this?

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