Why am I burning muscle and not fat?

RCKT82

Strength train and cardio both need to be done. 1 without the other is counterproductive. Also, exercising without eating enough is too.

On a side note...
RCKT82, everytime I see your before and after picture I just want to go run 40 miles and lift 600 lbs several times!

Thanks Momma!! Everytime someone comments on my transformation I want to go run some more and lift more! Thanks for the motivation!!!

jtintx

Ok, the consensus is that I need to eat more and especially more protein. But I still don't understand why I didn't lose a single pound of fat when I've been doing so much long, slow running. How can that NOT burn fat? I'm in the "fat burning zone". I admit that I rarely reach my protein goal for the day...but I'm almost always over on the carb goal. I know I need the carbs to fuel my workouts. Why isn't my body using excess fat for fuel instead of muscle? Geez, I'm really bummed about losing so much muscle (for me).

BTW, RCKT82 your progress is phenomenal!!!

Edited to add a another question.

jtintx

If your calorie deficit is too high your body will go into muscle atrophy to try to preserve the fat because it thinks you're headed for a famine, so it's trying to protect itself. Also if your heart rate is too high during your workout outs, you'll burn too many calories in such a short time and your body cannot burn enough fat to sustain that lost, so you'll start burning muscle also. I would try to lower your workout intensity, do more strength training, and keep a careful eye on your calorie deficit. This is all in my opinion... and is only based on what I found to work for me.

Oops...guess I missed this or didn't absorb it at first. I think this answers my question about why muscle instead of fat. But I still can't see why I lost absolutely NO fat at all.

RCKT82

You are probably burning fat too... but the rate at which you're losing muscle compared to fat is much higher. So if you take %BF reading, it's going to be based on how much fat your body has stored compared to your overall weight. It won't be based on how much fat you have stored compared to your muscle mass. You're %BF won't change much in this case even if you are burning a massive amount of calories and losing weight because of the way %BF is measured against overall weight.

RCKT82

In addition... Your volume of fat will be lower than what it was before, but like I mentioned in my last comment. your reading is based on your current overall weight.

RCKT82

sorry... double post

jtintx

You are probably burning fat too... but the rate at which you're losing muscle compared to fat is much higher. So if you take %BF reading, it's going to be based on how much fat your body has stored compared to your overall weight. It won't be based on how much fat you have stored compared to your muscle mass. You're %BF won't change much in this case even if you are burning a massive amount of calories and losing weight because of the way %BF is measured against overall weight.

I wish this were true but it doens't appear to be. Might as well give the numbers.

Previous test: Weight: 148.3 lbs. Lean weight: 105.3 lbs (71%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (29%)
Current test: Weight: 141.7 lbs. Lean weight: 98.7 lbs (69.6%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (30.4%)
My actual body fat % has increased just a bit. But after all this cardio I still have 43 lbs of fat that just won't seem to go away. My body is burning muscle instead and I have plenty of body fat for it to use. I'd like to get to 20% body fat. That would put me in the "Lean" catagory. (That would be about the equiv. of 10% for men).

Mateo1985

RCKT82

Awesome job man!!!! Unbelievable progress!!!

RCKT82

I wish this were true but it doens't appear to be. Might as well give the numbers.

Previous test: Weight: 148.3 lbs. Lean weight: 105.3 lbs (71%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (29%)
Current test: Weight: 141.7 lbs. Lean weight: 98.7 lbs (69.6%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (30.4%)
My actual body fat % has increased just a bit. But after all this cardio I still have 43 lbs of fat that just won't seem to go away. My body is burning muscle instead and I have plenty of body fat for it to use. I'd like to get to 20% body fat. That would put me in the "Lean" catagory. (That would be about the equiv. of 10% for men).

With the little amount of weight loss and with all the cardio you've been doing, I would lean towards questioning the accuracy of the bodpod. I do know that it's harder to get a %BF reading off of weight lifters and athletes. Granted most bodpod readings are pretty accurate; there's always room for discrepancies and precision depending on each test. But your dilemna is way beyond my knowledge for determining what could possibly the actual cause. It could be the bod pod or could be completely something else. Sorry, wish I could have helped answer your question. But unfortunately I don't have any credentials or expertise on this, just the run of the mill info that I've read up online and on basic health books. Good luck, keep us informed if you find out what's going on.

MrsWibbly

I wish this were true but it doens't appear to be. Might as well give the numbers.

Previous test: Weight: 148.3 lbs. Lean weight: 105.3 lbs (71%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (29%)
Current test: Weight: 141.7 lbs. Lean weight: 98.7 lbs (69.6%) Fat: 43.0 lbs (30.4%)
My actual body fat % has increased just a bit. But after all this cardio I still have 43 lbs of fat that just won't seem to go away. My body is burning muscle instead and I have plenty of body fat for it to use. I'd like to get to 20% body fat. That would put me in the "Lean" catagory. (That would be about the equiv. of 10% for men).

I saw something in another topic that might explain this... (I will try and summarise what I understood)

Starvation mode: when you starve your body it triggers something that means that next time you eat instead of using this as current fuel your body will store a higher proportion as fat. So basically if you don't keep your net calories consistent from one day to the next then you will actually increase your body fat %.

Also I remember reading a theory on long term and short term fat stores. Short term fat stores are inside the muscle tissue and are easy for your body to access and burn. Long term fat stores (the wobbly bits and the internal stuff) need to be moved to the muscles to be able to use them. In order to redistribute fat from long term stores to the muscles (this is where my memory gets fuzzy) I think you need to do strength training to work the muscles hard and rest in between. I will try and look this up.