Do we loose muscle when we starve oursleves?

Jamal_Guildford
Jamal_Guildford Posts: 214 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi,

I am just curious to know what happen when we dont eat when we are hungry: do we lose muscle or fat?

Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry and we should always keep a snack with us. But what do you think he exactly meant by "too late"?

Jamal

Replies

  • idontcarroll
    idontcarroll Posts: 216 Member
    Just eat and you won't have to worry about it. Problem solved.
  • Jamal_Guildford
    Jamal_Guildford Posts: 214 Member
    Just eat and you won't have to worry about it. Problem solved.

    Dont worry about that, this is what I am doing at the moment: eat big, lift big!
  • earthboundmisfit
    earthboundmisfit Posts: 192 Member
    Yes if you starve yourself you will looose muscle.:wink:
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Define "starve ourselves".

    Do you mean malnourished, underfed, etc? Then yes.

    Do you mean getting hungry? Then no.

    Feeling hungry just means your ghrelin levels are up. And that's a trained behaviour linked to your eating habits. It doesn't mean your muscles are evaporating or anything.
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
    Hi,

    I am just curious to know what happen when we don't eat when we are hungry: do we lose muscle or fat?

    Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry and we should always keep a snack with us. But what do you think he exactly meant by "too late"?

    Jamal

    There are many many forms of energy the body taps into to fuel itself. One of them being muscle yes. This is typically the result of a caloric deficit. One thing worth remembering is the body doesn't necessarily operate on a hour to hour basis. Meaning you don't constantly need to eat. If you miss a few hours you body isn't going to switch to "starvation mode" and begin eating its muscles etc.
  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
    Hi,

    I am just curious to know what happen when we dont eat when we are hungry: do we lose muscle or fat?

    Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry and we should always keep a snack with us. But what do you think he exactly meant by "too late"?

    Jamal

    It's not too late, it takes the body a couple of days to go into a catabolic (breaking down) state. If you eat too little while losing weight, you will lose both muscle and fat. The more you eat while losing, the less muscle and the more fat you lose.
  • jcranston13
    jcranston13 Posts: 35
    Hi,

    I am just curious to know what happen when we dont eat when we are hungry: do we lose muscle or fat?

    Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry and we should always keep a snack with us. But what do you think he exactly meant by "too late"?

    Jamal
    He meant it was too late for him to unlearn the bro-science he has been fed.
  • Jamal_Guildford
    Jamal_Guildford Posts: 214 Member
    Define "starve ourselves".

    Do you mean malnourished, underfed, etc? Then yes.

    Do you mean getting hungry? Then no.

    Feeling hungry just means your ghrelin levels are up. And that's a trained behaviour linked to your eating habits. It doesn't mean your muscles are evaporating or anything.

    I mean getting hungry and wait hours before eating.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    Going hours without eating? Not at that point, no. Extended periods of time, yes. Not eating after a few hours is not starving.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    Define "starve ourselves".

    Do you mean malnourished, underfed, etc? Then yes.

    Do you mean getting hungry? Then no.

    Feeling hungry just means your ghrelin levels are up. And that's a trained behaviour linked to your eating habits. It doesn't mean your muscles are evaporating or anything.

    I mean getting hungry and wait hours before eating.

    Then no, you won't lose muscle from that. We can't always have readily available foods every second of the day. I can't even imagine how anyone would have any muscle at all if that were true. I'm hungry right now but I'm not going to be able to eat until noon. My bulk is going swimmingly.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Define "starve ourselves".

    Do you mean malnourished, underfed, etc? Then yes.

    Do you mean getting hungry? Then no.

    Feeling hungry just means your ghrelin levels are up. And that's a trained behaviour linked to your eating habits. It doesn't mean your muscles are evaporating or anything.

    I mean getting hungry and wait hours before eating.

    No, that 6 meals a day bro-lore is yesterday's news.
  • BarbellApprentice
    BarbellApprentice Posts: 486 Member
    Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry...

    One of my favorite broscience mantras.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    you're not going to lose lean body mass (other than glycogen/water) from not eating for a day. Loss of lean mass does happen with inadequate calorie intake, but exactly when that kicks in depends on all kinds of variables, like how much fat you have and how big your calorie deficit is (if you have more fat to lose, then your risk of losing lean mass is lower .... the bigger the deficit the greater the risk of lean mass)

    Don't forget that exercise is a really important variable in this - if you are sedentary you can lose lean mass without being in a deficit at all, because your body doesn't want to spend calories maintaining lean mass that's not being used. Dieting while being sedentary gives a much greater risk of lean mass loss than dieting while doing strength training.

    So when exactly your body will start to burn muscle tissue along with the fat to preserve your fat stores depends on all those and probably some other variables as well........... but if you're active it's not going to happen as a result of missing one meal or fasting for a day.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    The body is very complicated but your body builder friend doesn't know what he's talking about. You're not going to lose lbs of muscle just because you skipped lunch one day, don't worry. Nutrient timing doesn't matter, just make sure you get in your calories for the day.

    In general, if you sustain a calorie deficit for an extended period of time, days/weeks you will lose fat and muscle. If you lift heavy weights and eat enough protein you can mitigate muscle loss.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Define "starve ourselves".

    Do you mean malnourished, underfed, etc? Then yes.

    Do you mean getting hungry? Then no.

    Feeling hungry just means your ghrelin levels are up. And that's a trained behaviour linked to your eating habits. It doesn't mean your muscles are evaporating or anything.

    I mean getting hungry and wait hours before eating.

    hunger is a hormonal response- ti's fine- you can retrain it as you want. I spend 90% of my mornings hungry_ I don't eat till 1 or 2. It's fine. I prefer being hungry in the morning to being hungry in the PM. I'm still pulling solid numbers.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,052 Member
    Hi,

    I am just curious to know what happen when we dont eat when we are hungry: do we lose muscle or fat?

    Talking with a bodybuilder, he was saying "it was too late" when you are hungry and we should always keep a snack with us. But what do you think he exactly meant by "too late"?

    Jamal
    All bodybuilders say this.:laugh: It's called "broscience". Don't fret, the truth is muscle is CONSTANTLY being torn down and rebuilt. It would take some EXTREME calorie deficit to truly affect lean muscle loss.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • sculli123
    sculli123 Posts: 1,221 Member
    Came to say bro-science. Seems ninerbuff already covered it.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    really?

    Well if that were the case we would constantly be losing muscle as we slept...think about it...I sleep 8-10 hours a night...imagine the muscle I would lose...
  • alk3v
    alk3v Posts: 1
    If you are talking from a pure biological standpoint, to provide energy there is a hierarchy of sorts that is in-built.

    Carbohydrates > Fats > Protein. This is based on how readily they can be used to produce ATP at the cellular level (energy unit from a biochemical standpoint). Proteins are generally hard to break down and aren't a great source of energy (hence high protein diets on 'cut' cycles etc) because of this. You eat protein for the amino acids it provides so you can build more muscle, as opposed to energy provision reasons.

    Unless you are starving severely (as in you have almost depleted stores of both carbohydrates and fat, only then does protein start getting 'digested' within your own body) you will not start eroding away at your muscle when starving yourself. This state however is one of the more advanced stages of starvation or an eating disorder, not something you get from simple fasting or a diet.
  • ChelseaWelseyKins
    ChelseaWelseyKins Posts: 272 Member
    Your body will basically "eat" all the muscle on your body if you starve yourself. So don't do that. Ever seen someone with an eating disorder? No muscle. Fitspiration, not Thinspiration :)

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