How to prevent loss of muscle?

JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
edited January 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I have decided to try and follow a new method of losing weight which involves basically eating 3500 less calories per week than my TDEE so I will work this out by subtracting that figure from my TDEE over a week and then dividing it up over the week in order to lose 1 lb per week.

I have worked out that I can either do this by eating the same every day (1600-1700 cals) or by eating less during the week (1450) and more at weekends because naturally that's what normally happens most weeks. All this is regardless of exercise (ie. I won't eat back any of my exercise calories) as my TDEE with exercise is approximately 2100-2200 calories per day.

Is this a bad thing to do if I am creating the same deficit over the week or will my body react badly to getting less calories during the weekdays and more at weekends? Maybe the opposite will be true, ie. is it a good thing to vary the amounts you're eating so that they are not the same every day? The amounts I have at the weekends by following this method will be around 2100 on both Saturday and Sunday but I will try and stick within my macros (currently set to 25% carbs, 35% protein and 40% fat).

I don't want to risk losing muscle by eating too little but at weekends I will be eating more anyway, will this method work? I've been skinny fat before and the minute I drop calories like I have done over the last couple of days I immediately see the scale start moving but I don't want to end up losing muscle but am thinking that the weekend calories will balance it out and I'll still lose my 1lb per week due to the deficit I will have created over 7 days.

I am doing this while using a weights/cardio DVD workout programme for 6 days per week plus some extra cardio workouts approx 3 days per week.

Replies

  • Gunsentry
    Gunsentry Posts: 121 Member
    To keep your muscles lift weights to keep them stimulated and eat required amount protein.
    Your muscles will not grow as you are on a calorie deficit but you will not loose the mass you have due to the stimulus and protein.

    You will need to adjust your calories to accommodation the required protein.
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    The biggest effect on muscle loss is likely to be how you exercise.
    If you do a decent amount of resistance training (lifting weights), you will maintain the most amount of muscle possible on a deficit.


    One thing I don't get, you say you want to eat 3500 less than your TDEE over a week, but then say you won't eat back exercise calories which are part of your TDEE, which means you'll be way more than 3500 under TDEE over the week.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    The biggest effect on muscle loss is likely to be how you exercise.
    If you do a decent amount of resistance training (lifting weights), you will maintain the most amount of muscle possible on a deficit.


    One thing I don't get, you say you want to eat 3500 less than your TDEE over a week, but then say you won't eat back exercise calories which are part of your TDEE, which means you'll be way more than 3500 under TDEE over the week.

    Agreed. Also with a goal of a one pound loss a week you're going to be losing more muscle than say if you ate at a smaller deficit like a half pound per week.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Agree.
    Eat lean protein with every meal or snack. Lift weights.
  • MGSR
    MGSR Posts: 35 Member
    The biggest effect on muscle loss is likely to be how you exercise.
    If you do a decent amount of resistance training (lifting weights), you will maintain the most amount of muscle possible on a deficit.


    One thing I don't get, you say you want to eat 3500 less than your TDEE over a week, but then say you won't eat back exercise calories which are part of your TDEE, which means you'll be way more than 3500 under TDEE over the week.

    TDEE takes into account exercise, so if she ate her exercise calories as well so would be counting them twice and overeating. Or am I missing something?

    Lifting is the best way to maintain muscle, and it's fun! I did a variable calorie diet last year, (when I was loosing weight, now on here to check my nutrition) eating more 3 days a week and less the others and it worked really well for me :)
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Firstly I am already lifting weights. I am following a DVD based program (Jillian Michaels Body Revolution) for 90 days and am currently coming to the end of week 6. This incorporates weights for 4 days per week and I'm trying to add heavier weights as the weeks go by. The other cardio workouts in her program are HIIT. If I add in extra workouts (because hers are quite short) I usually do some cardio for 35 minutes in the gym, or a walk for example or maybe some Yoga.

    I say that I am not eating back exercise calories because my TDEE already includes the fact I am exercising at least 5 days per week so therefore this is including my exercise calories already (ie. the figures of 2100-2200). My TDEE based on being sedentary is around 1700 calories so the TDEE figures I'm using definitely account for the exercise I am doing as I normally burn off 400-500 calories per day through workouts and have 1 day off or 1 day when I burn off less every week.

    As I said in my original post, my macros are set to 35% protein and only 25% carbs so it's lower carb/higher protein already. Most days I eat between 100g and 140g of protein and obviously if I'm eating more at weekends calorie wise I will be able to eat more protein on those days.

    Am I doing enough? I suppose I can always adjust my low/high calorie days a little if necessary. I am just conscious of my body netting too little on the low calorie days and don't want to find that it's holiding onto the weight/fat as on those days I'll be netting less than 1000 cals but the high days will mean I'm netting at least 1600-1700.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    For a non obese person:

    Adequate protein (say 1g per 1lb of LBM)
    Suitable calorie deficit (a good starting point is around 20 - 25% under TDEE)
    Resistance training

    Personally, I wouldn't get too paranoid about it. Yes, it is something to consider but for the majority of people obsessing about it is not necessary.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    Am I doing enough?

    Yes
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    I say that I am not eating back exercise calories because my TDEE already includes the fact I am exercising at least 5 days per week so therefore this is including my exercise calories already (ie. the figures of 2100-2200). My TDEE based on being sedentary is around 1700 calories so the TDEE figures I'm using definitely account for the exercise I am doing as I normally burn off 400-500 calories per day through workouts and have 1 day off or 1 day when I burn off less every week.

    Ok, that makes sense.

    The way I read your original post was that you had calculated your TDEE without exercise (which wouldn't strictly be TDEE!) and then decided to create a deficit and then not add in exercise calories.
    However you've actually built exercise calories in and then created the deficit, so makes perfect sense, it was just my poor reading comprehension skills!
  • MGSR
    MGSR Posts: 35 Member
    As I said in my original post, my macros are set to 35% protein and only 25% carbs so it's lower carb/higher protein already. Most days I eat between 100g and 140g of protein and obviously if I'm eating more at weekends calorie wise I will be able to eat more protein on those days.

    Am I doing enough? I suppose I can always adjust my low/high calorie days a little if necessary. I am just conscious of my body netting too little on the low calorie days and don't want to find that it's holiding onto the weight/fat as on those days I'll be netting less than 1000 cals but the high days will mean I'm netting at least 1600-1700.

    I wouldn't worry about what MFP says you net, if your logging your exercise then your counting it twice as it's already been counted in your TDEE (its still a good idea to log so you can track your exercise). I think what you've decided to do looks great, try it for a month or so and if your not getting the results you want you can change it, but I don't see any reason why you wouldn't get great results from that :)
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    I am more hopeful this time than I was before! After 7 weeks on MFP and only 3lb weight loss (which I lost in the first 3 weeks) at first I got slated for starving my body (as I originally set my cals to under 1000 and increased them a little to 1100 after that for a few weeks).

    I tried to do the right thing after that due to what I'd read on here and decided to work from a sedentary TDEE -20% PLUS my exercise cals on top and I found I was not losing any more weight at all and was in fact maintaining as I was probably eating too much.

    I now put this down to the fact that I was eating just above my BMR at 1450 cals net, but when I ate back my exercise calories most days I was eating 1900-2100 calories in total and was therefore eating closer to maintenance and not creating enough of a deficit for noticable weight loss!

    Now I am hoping I've got the formula right but that remains to be seen!
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