How do u know if you're burning muscle or fat ?

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  • Debbiedebbiey
    Debbiedebbiey Posts: 824 Member
    Good to know ! Thanks to all who helped me out. I guess from not losing, I'm grabbing for pretty much any reason as to why. So it's probably not that any muscle I'm building - I'm then walking, dancing or hiking off. I'll just "remain calm" & maybe stay off the scales for a couple weeks....peace ;-)
  • acm130
    acm130 Posts: 100 Member
    You can have ketones in your urine for a variety of reasons: hyperglycemia, prolonged vomiting, dehydration, starvation, hyperthyroid, or even certain meds (like prednisone), folks on low carb/high protein diets will also have ketotic urine, women who are breast feeding.... Thus is not a reliable indicator for whether or not you're burning fat. In fact ketotic urine could indicate you're not adequately hydrated.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Additionally, I'm not sure it's even important to know whether or not you're burning fat in a given snapshot of time. As long as fat oxidation exceeds fat storage you will eventually have a net loss of fat.

    big picture >> acute.
  • acm130
    acm130 Posts: 100 Member
    Additionally, I'm not sure it's even important to know whether or not you're burning fat in a given snapshot of time. As long as fat oxidation exceeds fat storage you will eventually have a net loss of fat.

    big picture >> acute.

    I agree
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    You can have ketones in your urine for a variety of reasons: hyperglycemia, prolonged vomiting, dehydration, starvation, hyperthyroid, or even certain meds (like prednisone), folks on low carb/high protein diets will also have ketotic urine, women who are breast feeding.... Thus is not a reliable indicator for whether or not you're burning fat. In fact ketotic urine could indicate you're not adequately hydrated.

    One would assume they should know the things they can rule out. You should know if you are hyperglycemic, if you throw up a lot, if you starve yourself, if you are breastfeeding, or what meds they are on etc.
  • jenniejengin
    jenniejengin Posts: 784 Member
    bump
  • cloveraz
    cloveraz Posts: 332 Member
    bump...very interesting post...and the answers are pretty interesting, also...
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    you tend to overshoot on carbs intake compared to your target in the diary. Food for thought. Bit more fat perhaps ?

    You won't see significant ketone levels in urine with that level of carb intake.
  • acm130
    acm130 Posts: 100 Member
    You can have ketones in your urine for a variety of reasons: hyperglycemia, prolonged vomiting, dehydration, starvation, hyperthyroid, or even certain meds (like prednisone), folks on low carb/high protein diets will also have ketotic urine, women who are breast feeding.... Thus is not a reliable indicator for whether or not you're burning fat. In fact ketotic urine could indicate you're not adequately hydrated.

    One would assume they should know the things they can rule out. You should know if you are hyperglycemic, if you throw up a lot, if you starve yourself, if you are breastfeeding, or what meds they are on etc.
    Agreed,presumably everyone knows what meds they are on and usually knows what medical problems they have (unless they're undiagnosed) and they certainly know if they're puking their guts out or if you're breastfeeding:smile: but maybe they don't know that the aforementioned will cause ketones to show up in your pee . my saying ketones in urine are not a reliable indicator is kinda misleading as well because ketones ARE the end product of fat metabolism... but that being said I would warn against buying urine dip strips and checking for ketones because while a healthy person who's burning fat and receiving adequate nutrition may have ketotic urine so will someone who's undereating and underhydrated.... Hope the FYI didn't come off as pretentious or preachy:smile:
  • hothodgie
    hothodgie Posts: 258 Member
    Bump! I found this thread very interesting. I recently had someone who lifts all the time, though NOT a trainer, that I was burning muscle by doing 25 minutes of cardio. He said I should be doing weight lifting and interval instead. I was already doing strength training in addition to my cardio. And I added interval training this past weekend because of what he said. However, in the back of my mind I was thinking, ok, but if Im burning muscle, how come I lost 2 inches and gained 2 pounds in three weeks. To me that meant I was gaining muscle, not losing it. I do like the interval training and will keep it in my rotation of working out. However, Im glad to see that I shouldn't be really concerned about burning muscle. Thanks everyone!
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  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    Sounds like you've gotten good advice. I was going to suggest yoga and keep up the walking. And if your activity level or types have changed much recently, that can make the scale a lousy indicator of progress. It'll 'catch up' later on, if you stick to it.

    Just for the record, we never just burn fat or just burn muscle. It's always a mix, when we reduce.

    Be patient and don't start switching plans and goals if you don't see results in 10 minutes, too! ; )
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