Muscle Loss?

aamberrr

Hey Guys,

So I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 3 pounds this week. My fiance is going to help me do my body fat percentage when he gets home tonight, but I'm thinking with 3lbs in one week, I would have had to have lost some muscle mass along with fat...? Granted - I haven't lost any weight during the previous 3+ weeks before this, so I don't know if that makes a difference. I lost an inch on my waist, and inch on my chest, and an inch under my chest.

I have been lifting 3 days a week, cardio 2-3 days a week. I have my MFP set at a slight deficit. It's set at 1,610 calories per day, and I usually net anywhere between 1,200 - 1,700 depending on how hungry I am. I make sure I eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass every day.

Obviously, I'll have a better answer when I do my body fat percentage tonight, but I'm feeling anxious over it now. Any thoughts? Is it possible to lose 3 pounds in that amount of time and have it be all (or at least mostly) fat? If I do my body fat percentage tonight and find that I HAVE lost any lean mass, do I up my calories? Up my protein?

Thanks!

wellbert

You will lose lean mass, but significantly less since you lift.

aamberrr

You will lose lean mass, but significantly less since you lift.

Yeah, I mean, I know that I will lose SOME lean mass, but my goal is to lose as little as possible. It just seems like 3 lbs in a week has to be more muscle than I'd like to lose...

teinepalagi

Could be a lot of things....water weight, fat, maybe a little muscle. You're doing the right thing by lifting while trying to lose weight. I have heard that you should get a gram of protein in for every lb of lean body mass (just the muscle). Maybe try to hit that protein goal? (I think you do great on your nutrition...btw)

And I would suggest, whatever measurement method you're using to calculate BF%, ignore the actual number and just use it as a measurement tool up or down.

I had been using my scale and a tape measure to estimate and when I went to actually get it tested by the bodpod method, my BF% was actually 4% points HIGHER than what I thought it was (seriously bummed me out). Now, I just look for a downward trend on my scale and measurements.

jshort152

Of those 3lbs its highly unlikely that it was muscle mass, you probably lost fat mass as well as water weight, unless your under 24%bf for a woman, don't worry too much about losing any muscle, hope this helps!

DavPul

You will lose lean mass, but significantly less since you lift.

Yeah, I mean, I know that I will lose SOME lean mass, but my goal is to lose as little as possible. It just seems like 3 lbs in a week has to be more muscle than I'd like to lose...

Sounds like you're doing fine. Your head is in the right place. Don't stress about it at all. You're going in the right direction, no matter what the reading is.

aamberrr

Thanks everybody, I definitely feel less stressed about it now! I am interested to see if my body fat % dropped when we check it tonight!