How do I know if my weight loss is fat, not muscle

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zuniguy
zuniguy Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Since i started my diet in April ive went from weighing 215 lbs down to weighing 193 lbs as of today. ive always been fat pretty much my whole life and my worst fear is that all this effort im putting into my diet is just causing me to lose muscle, not that terrible fat that i loathe. Please help me with my question, thanks.

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  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    you would need some means of calculating your body fat percentage.

    here is a link to a simple formula, also has methods of determining BF%

    http://www.builtlean.com/2011/08/24/lean-body-mass-definition-formula/

    Eat around .75 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight and do some sort of full body resistance routine to minimize muscle loss while dieting.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    You would need to measure your body fat along the way so that you would know what your LBM is at any given point...as your LBM decreases you know you're losing some muscle mass.

    Loss of muscle is inevitable during dieting, particularly prolonged dieting necessary to lose a lot of weight...but it can be mitigated by getting enough protein and doing resistance training.

    When you lose weight you lose fat, muscle, water, etc...nobody loses just fat.

    ETA: the faster your rate of loss and the more aggressive your calorie deficit is, the more likely it is that you muscle to fat ratio of loss is going to be higher...particularly as you lean out. I don't know what your stats are exactly but you might want to think about slowing things down a bit.
  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    You are likely losing both muscle and fat. If you haven't already, I suggest incorporating weight lifting into your exercise regimen. It will help you preserve what muscle you have. Good luck!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    It would be hard to say without accurate before and after body fat percentage measurements, and how to determine bf% accurately is a continual debate here. To minimize the chance of muscle loss, make sure that your deficit is not too large, you are eating enough protein, and do a progressive resistance training program.

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