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

WalkingAlong

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I honestly am confused with this. I started a statewide weightloss program/contest called Geauxlite Louisiana and they did a full body analysis on me. My print out showed that my muscle mass and fat mass was over the normal range. My muscle was just over so I don't think I need to lose much. I was told that I should bring these numbers down. We have our first meeting tomorrow and I plan to ask them to fully explain it to me because I dont understand it. I am considered obese so I do have a lot of fat mass too lose which I understand that. I am just clueless when it comes to muscles. Thanks.

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.

This is true. You do generally lose muscle while losing fat, but this is NOT a good thing. If you try to maintain as much of your "extra" muscle you'll be happier with your overall physique and healthier as well.

MoreBean13

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

It's really not a good thing to lose muscle "in many cases".......

???

AlsDonkBoxSquat

When you lose weight some will be from muscle and some from fat, that's how weight loss works. Just lose weight in a healthy way by eating at a caloric balance, doing some cardio, doing some lifting. Even with a solid lifting program there still some muscle mass decrease with weight loss.

1princesswarrior

Is this contest just going for a healthy BMI number?? That's the only reason I can think of to even consider losing muscle. BMI is flawed. And how did they do the body analysis? How do you know it is accurate?

Being female, losing muscle can set you up for osteoporosis in the future along with other health problems we need to consider. Personally I would never consider that for a contest. Focus on the 50 lbs of fat you want to lose and work on a healthy plan, especially is that little one in your profile pic is yours.

My_Own_Worst_Enemy

Thanks! I am beginning to see I may have misunderstood. Hopefully tomorrow things will be clearer. Here is what my stats are:
Its shows my body composition is 80.5lbs water, 30lbs dry lean mass, 87.5lbs fat.
Body compostion analysis shows weight 198lbs, skeletal muscle mass 61.1lbs, body fat mass 87.5lbs.
Obesity analysis shows my bmi is 32, body fat percentage is 44.3
BMR is 1451

That's not an abnormally high muscle mass. In fact, I would suggest preserving what you have. Given only this information, I would suggest around 1500 calories, 100 g protein, strength train 3x/wk 30-45 minutes, and cardio 3x/wk 30 minutes.

ETA: I have high muscle mass for my body size and I'm very healthy- it's a good thing to have extra muscle!

Agree with t his poster!!

Also, your pic is blurry but dont you see (if im reading it correctly). That your body fat is wayyyyyyy past the scale of normal versus muscle weight? It looks like the muscle weight is just slightly out of the "norm" range. Which seriously, is pretty subjective as to what the normal amount of muscle should be for any given individual.

Focus on the fat....everything else will be fine.

mccindy72

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

Those 'giant' calves are that big because they have fat on them.

cecebrite

Thanks guys!

firstsip

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

Those "giant muscles" are just apparent muscles with lots of fat. Sure, calves are mostly genetic, but in general, people think they HAVE more muscle than they do just because they can see it/flex it.

And, no, in "many cases," it is not good to lose LBM. It's hard as hell for people to gain LBM back; people not valuing preserving their muscle are why 90% of people regain weight after dieting from low calorie diets without strength training incorporated.

OP, it looks like you've listened to some good advice on here. Incorporate exercise (including strength training) while on a moderate deficit. You'll lose a minor amount of muscle but more fat. As a result, your body will be firmer and tighter at a higher weight, and your metabolism will be higher as a result.

wheird

OP, you will naturally lose some muscle mass while dieting unless you are strength training and consuming enough protein to preserve it. You do not need to intentionally try to lose it.

Escloflowne

So you want to lose weight but look flabby once you're done...makes sense to me!

cecebrite

Its beginning to make sense now. Thanks for everyone's input. Appricate it!

WalkingAlong

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

It's really not a good thing to lose muscle "in many cases".......

???

A 300 lb. woman can be 50% body fat, or 150 lbs. of fat. If she loses weight down to 150 lbs. total, should she then be 0% fat? No. Even our organs shrink with major weight loss. Our blood volume is less, too. All values will go down, and should.

Try wearing a 150lb. weight vest 24/7 for years and tell me your leg muscles don't grow.

UsedToBeHusky

The more muscle you have the more energy you require, therefore, the more fat you burn. Muscle is depleted much faster than fat. Building muscle on a deficit is the fastest way to lose fat.


Why would you want to lose muscle?

DebbieLyn63

Yeah, I think the OP gets it now.

Out of curiosity I had to google the plan to see what it was.

Because of Lousiana's extreme obesity rate, the area hospitals have started this program to help people lose weight.
This is a good step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, because the prizes are awarded to the team and individual male and female that have lost the highest percentage of body WEIGHT, then they are paying more attention to the scale weight and ignoring the body composition, health, etc.

This is the problem with contests that look only at the scale weight for success.

BTW OP- it looks like the current leaders in the female category have already lost over 18% of their body weight. Since you are entering this in the middle of the 6 months, I doubt that you would be able to catch up with them without cutting off a limb or two.

Don't let that stop you from losing weight, but don't be so desperate to lose as fast as you can, that you end up sabotaging your efforts.

UsedToBeHusky

OP, you will naturally lose some muscle mass while dieting unless you are strength training and consuming enough protein to preserve it. You do not need to intentionally try to lose it.

And even then, you will lose a marginal percentage of muscle.

firstsip

If you are in any kind of calorie deficit over time you will lose muscle as well as fat.

The ratio is mostly determined by genetics but certain things (adequate protein, sensible calorie deficit and resistance training) can help reduce it.

Personally I wouldn't get too hung up about it. Just follow any kind of sensible plan and you will probably end up pleased with your results.

This.

It's fine and even good in many cases to lose muscle, to a point. Look at the calves of a person 200 lbs. overweight. They don't need those giant muscles on a much smaller size body.

It's really not a good thing to lose muscle "in many cases".......

???

A 300 lb. woman can be 50% body fat, or 150 lbs. of fat. If she loses weight down to 150 lbs. total, should she then be 0% fat? No. Even our organs shrink with major weight loss. Our blood volume is less, too. All values will go down, and should.

Try wearing a 150lb. weight vest 24/7 for years and tell me your leg muscles don't grow.

Yes, all values go down, but your wording specifically cites muscle as being the "good" thing to lost. Weight, in general is good to lose, but fat is the specific element to lose. Muscle, even high muscle mass, is very, very good. As long as OP doesn't get down to a BF% where she loses necessary fat to live*, she should focus on shedding fat first and foremost.

tkdgirlms

Ummm.....why do you want to lose muscle?

nomeejerome

Its beginning to make sense now. Thanks for everyone's input. Appricate it!

You have received some great information and I am glad that you are listening to it. Wish you the best.

ninerbuff

You DON'T want to lose muscle, but it does happen anyway when you lose weight. Resistance training helps to retain it, but doesn't stop it from happening.
Understand that if one loses muscle, they will end up being weaker. Not to mention that your joints will end up taking up more load because less muscle means less support.
Just lose weight. It will balance out in the end.

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