Is it likely I've lost muscle mass?

jennaiii
jennaiii Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Since I started dieting and exercising 30 days ago, I've lost about 2 stone (it's TOM so with bloating it's hard to fell exactly).
I've read in a couple of places that losing more than 3lb a week means you could be losing muscle mass.
I was wondering if this seems likely? I walk three miles 6 days a week, do water aerobics once a week and swim for 40mins once a week. I eat about 1200-1500 calories a day, I'm rarely hungry (except in the morning!), get plenty of protein, I eat some carbs (just white bread which is my one indulgence), plenty of fruit and veg, I try and drink plenty... My starting weight was 266lbs and now it's ~238lbs. I can't really see a visible difference, though my mother thinks my face and chest is slimmer.
I'm worried that I'm losing weight "too quickly" or not eating enough calories for someone my size.
Thoughts/advice?

Replies

  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    Likely for sure. Most people lose some, but minimising the damage is what you want to aim for.

    A few things.

    First of all, 28lbs in a month is a great way to make sure you ARE losing muscle.
    For your age and weight, 1200-1500 is a very small amount of calories.
    Your exercise is all aerobic, so there's that too. Resistance training is much more effective for retaining muscle mass.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    No matter what you will lose some muscle mass it's just what happens when you lose weight. The idea is to minimize that. Have a look at this link it will help. It does sound like to May need to eat more


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants?hl=guide+to+sexypants&page=1#posts-18361594
  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
    I guessing you're not losing much lean mass. If you're getting close to 1 gram of protein / lb of lean mass you're okay. Swimming does have resistance. All I did growing up was swim and I was lean with some muscle.

    In the first week you lose a significant amount of water weight. Along with moderate to low carb you lose even more water weight. I'm guessing 7-10 of those pounds were water. So the per week average isn't that ridiculous. If month 2 has the same amount of weight loss, 28 lbs, then I'd change the approach.

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