I exercise but losing muscles instead fat.

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Hello,

I'm a woman, 26 who try to lose fat. I'm 170cm tall, weight is now 85kg (sad I know..)

10 days ago I bought a weight BIA scale from Tanita (not a cheap one), I checked myself and got result - overfat (36%fat, 52kg lean body, 45%water). I set a target to get under 30%fat, water 50%, lean body 55kg.

I started to walk every day at least 10k(1/5 is jog), swim and eat around 1400kcal - 40%carbs, 30%protein, 30%fat (well, Im not big fan of meat so Im glad when 20-25% is protein.. the rest is from carbs). I massively increased my water income to 3l + and I don't have a sedentary occupation.

After 10 days I checked myself again - 37.5% fat, 49kg lean body and 43% water (Obviously I have lost kg but not in fat)

Question is how is possible I lost muscles, water and gain fat when I completely changed my lifestyle? :( is that a normal?

Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    BIA scales, even the expensive ones, are horribly inaccurate. Things like differences in hydration on different days affect their readings. At the very least, I would invest in a cheap pair of calipers to measure body fat, or even use the Navy method. All of the above are going to be inaccurate, but at least with the calipers and the tape measure you can be consistent enough to see the progression of the number.
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
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    Agreed with Lyadeia. Most BF Scales are inaccurate as hell.

    The best way to monitor fat loss is by taking pictures/measurements and comparing.
  • 60%carbs, 40%protein, 40%fat

    You might want to check your maths. You're currently eating 140%.

    Agreed that the scales are inaccurate, however, if you take regular readings and then use an average from the last, say, 5 readings, it will be fairly accurate. When I was losing weight I saw my BF% going down doing that.
  • Boogage
    Boogage Posts: 739 Member
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    Body fat % will change daily as will weight and hydration. Some days up, some days down. You need to track the results for a few months and see if there is a downward trend. If you really want to maintain and build muscle to burn fat you need to eat at a small deficit and lift weights.
  • shanster23
    shanster23 Posts: 144 Member
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    Another suggestion is possibly that you aren't eating enough for the amount of exercise you're doing. When you under eat the body breaks down muscle for energy as well as breaking down fat. If you want to build muscle you could try incorporating some strength training into your routine :)
  • zrzka
    zrzka Posts: 7 Member
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    I meant 30 and 30 :D
  • zrzka
    zrzka Posts: 7 Member
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    Could it be because I don't eat enough protein?
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
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    couple of things, you should be eating alot more then that with that much exercise IMO and if you don't have a sedentary job thats more you should be eating just to maintain your current body mass and activity, based on the stats you gave your base Metabolic rate for just a resting state is around 1654 calories, then you add activity onto that and work out a reduction from the level of activity you do of no more then 20-25%.

    you don't gain or lose muscle very quick either way. my biometric scale which is not a cheap one sais i haven't lost any fat % in months when clearly i have and i have gained muscle in arms and legs so i aint losing muscle either. it's also saying my Body Mass hasn't changed much in that time either yet my water has increased from 43% to around 54% over that time most weight fluctuations is water, the more you drink the more you can process and lose stored water, and how does it know what your lean body mass is if it's impossible for it to know exactly how much muscle and fat mass you actually have, no scales can do that, read this http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatscales.html

    do you lift weights or atleast do resistance training of some sort ? excess cardio can lead to muscle reduction if you don't supply enough protein to maintain and the old addage if you don't use it you lose it but IMO you'd have to have no excess fat to burn off b4 it even bothered going to muscle specifically i'm no expert tho obviously

    and btw i'm 175cm and 87kg so you aren't much different to me. I do alot of cardio and didn't lose much muscle mass "that i know of" i can lift more and for longer then i could b4 so i have increased strength and visibly know for sure my arms and legs have grown in muscle mass but i do atleast an hour a week of weights/core training out of 6+ hours of intentional exercise, you also want your water weight to be in the mid-high 50's, the body is meant to be 60% water according to health guidelines to run efficiently.. intake atleast 12x250ml glasses or something that has natural waters in it a day, muscles need water but excess water or drinking to often and too fast would just be flushed straight out by the kidneys and liver.

    i'd suggest getting a proper physical to tell exactly what your LBM, Fat % are and get some nutritional advice on how much to eat, could be hormonal too or could just be the scales are interpreting muscle as fat or also to consider food when digesting is still in your body and adds onto anything when you step on the scales. If you are losing muscle you'd notice it in a reduction in definition
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    You didn't lose some huge amount of muscle. The BIA scale is inaccurate. It's only been a week and a half, so unless you surgically removed muscle, it's still there.

    Just go by your measurements. Make sure your deficit isn't too high, and if you are really worried about it, incorporate weight training.
  • xmel123x
    xmel123x Posts: 63
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    If you are loosing weight you will loose muscle, the body will burn the muscle as well as the fat when you are burning calories. To stop this from happening you need to do strength training to keep the muscles built up, also increase your protein but lower your carbs. Protein doesn't need to come from meet it can come from things like bean, nuts and dairy products (yogurt, cheese etc). :)
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    Summary:

    BF scales are inaccurate

    When losing weight, both muscle and fat are lost.

    To reduce the amount of muscle loss you need to include some form of resistance training.

    Meet your daily protein goal.
  • zrzka
    zrzka Posts: 7 Member
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    Would a protein shake help then?
  • YaGigi
    YaGigi Posts: 817 Member
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    I have this bia scale too. My parents have one.

    And none of them match what my doctors machine says. Never matches. So I don't stress out about this :)

    Just do whatever you do and good luck to you!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    It's been said, but to avoid losing muscles, you have to do strength/weight training and eat a lot of protein.

    Also, those scales are not accurate at all.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
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    That Scale is useless. Even the temperature of your skin can change the result. Calipers are cheap.
  • fatfudgery
    fatfudgery Posts: 449 Member
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    1. You're not eating nearly enough protein. You should be getting about 1.5g-2g of protein per Kg of body weight.

    2. DYEL? If all you're doing is jogging and you're eating at a caloric deficit, you will lose muscle regardless of how much protein you eat.

    3. BIA is fine, as long as you take your measurements consistently under the same conditions (e.g., get on the scale first thing in the morning, before eating or drinking anything.) The more hydrated you are, the lower the BF% reading will be (and the higher the LBM reading) so measure while slightly dehydrated to ensure you're being given a conservative estimate of LBM. My BIA scale tends to overestimate my BF% / underestimate my LBM by about 1-2% compared to calipers — again, as long as I get on it first thing in the morning, while slightly dehydrated.