If you're losing 2-3lbs per week...

withchaco

Does that really mean you're creating a deficit of 7000+ calories per week?

On a calorie deficit, you may be burning some of your muscles too, but what if you can still lift just as much, and exercise just as hard?

poustotah

Not necessarily. My goals are set to lose 1 lb a week however, I typically lose 2-3 BUT I'm breastfeeding and I'm a lot more active than I've got listed now so those things play a factor. I don't always eat my breastfeeding calories.

MadBabysMama

No idea, I always thought the "simple math" approach was too simple. I find myself concerned about how you know you're losing fat and not also muscle. I look forward to hearing others' thoughts on this.

withchaco

Not necessarily. My goals are set to lose 1 lb a week however, I typically lose 2-3 BUT I'm breastfeeding and I'm a lot more active than I've got listed now so those things play a factor. I don't always eat my breastfeeding calories.

If you're breastfeeding and are more active, I'm pretty sure that counts towards building a greater calorie deficit.

sophjakesmom

some weeks I lose 2-3 lbs, but on average I am losing 1.5 lbs (for 8 months now.) So I think my body just go through adjustment periods where I don't lose, then I do. (typically not more than 2 weeks in a row, though.) I do have confidence that I am still creating the deficit to lose the 1 lb average, that I am shooting for.

kelseyt17

You only lose muscle after you have lost almost all your fat. Basically if you're starving. But as for being on healthy diet you are getting enough nutrition so your just burning off unhealthy fat.

erickirb

Does that really mean you're creating a deficit of 7000+ calories per week?

On a calorie deficit, you may be burning some of your muscles too, but what if you can still lift just as much, and exercise just as hard?

You can lose muscle and still lift just as much as muscle strength and size and quantity do not go hand in hand. So you may even get stronger as you lose muscle, just due to the remaining muscle getting stronger and able to exert more force.

Eventually if you lose a lot of muscle you will get weaker and your metabolism will slow down making it harder to lose and easier to gain weight.

liftingbro

No, you will not always burn muscle.

There are a lot of factors:

#1- the size of the deficit. If you are over a 1000 calorie deficit you could lose some muscle
#2- The % of BF you have. The higher the BF% the bigger deficit you can have without significant muscle loss
#3- If you lift heavy you will lose less and perhaps gain some muscle depending on if you are new at lifting and how large the deficit is and protein intake.
#4- Protein intake being good can stop or minimalize muscle loss if paired with lifting.

Not to mention 3500 calories per pound is just an estimate, some people may need to burn closer to 4500 to burn off a pound of fat.

Also, how much you can lift isn't always a good indicator of whether or not you've gained or lost muscle mass.

#1- As you train your body becomes more efficient and is able to recruit more fast twitch muscle so you can do more with less so to speak with training. You could have less muscle mass and lift more just because your body is able to activate more of the FT muscle.

#2- There are a lot of factors that affect lifting. Better nutrition can lead to better lifts, better technique...ect.

liftingbro

You only lose muscle after you have lost almost all your fat. Basically if you're starving. But as for being on healthy diet you are getting enough nutrition so your just burning off unhealthy fat.

Not true at all.

mcrayton09

Congratulations on losing those lbs and dropping sizes! Please tell me what your doing!

erickirb

You only lose muscle after you have lost almost all your fat. Basically if you're starving. But as for being on healthy diet you are getting enough nutrition so your just burning off unhealthy fat.

not quite so, if you are not doing a lot of strength training or getting enough protein, you may lose a large amount of lean muscle even when you have a lot of fat remaining. But the more fat stores you have the larger deficit you can sustain with minimal muscle loss, but if you didn't have the large fat stores you may end up losing more muscle than fat.

withchaco

Thank you for the responses. Always been very curious about this topic!