Body fat and muscle mass advice please!

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dubble13
dubble13 Posts: 85 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I went in for my second body comp testing today and although I'm losing weight my body fat is up and my muscle mass is down :(
The lady who did the testing recommended getting more protein which I will be trying. Any other advice or confirmation on the protein? I typically do strength training 3x a week and cardio 2-3x. Haven't been working out as much now that I'm back in school and midterms are coming up.

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  • nebjennison
    nebjennison Posts: 27
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    i had the same problem, what i did was i cut bread out of my diet and replaced it with almonds, because thy take longer to digest so you eat less, and they are high in protein, also i recommend muscle milk, or myofusion, and then lifting heavier with less rep, then the next day go light with max rep
  • funforsports
    funforsports Posts: 2,656 Member
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    Eat 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight.
    Lift heavy weights
    Eat at a smaller calorie deficit to keep more lbm.
  • Bromard6
    Bromard6 Posts: 44 Member
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    Remember, there is a margin of error in the comp testing depending on the method. With your weight routine you shouldn't be losing muscle. Same thing happened to me using the bod-pod comp test. My second test showed a 6 lb weight loss with the same body fat % and 3 lb loss of muscle weight, which I thought strange. I just completed my third test and now my body fat is down 5% with a 2 lb. apparent muscle gain (total 5 lb swing in muscle mass), so I believe that margin of error played some part in that. Hydration will impact the test as well, so stay consistently hydrated, keep the blend of cardio and weight training and you should see results.
  • donjessop
    donjessop Posts: 186
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    Cortisol is produced when the body is under stress and has been linked to muscle wasting. The exercise you are doing may not be helping as much as you think.

    - As funforsports said, when doing weights go for fewer reps of heavier weights.
    - Reduce stress. If you can't reduce stress you need to up your protein. While I wouldn't go as high as 1g per pound of body weight (that seems to be what bodybuilders want/need to do), if you are trying to lose weight you need to ensure that your proteins are 25% - 35% of your intake.
    - In the short term you may want to reduce your cardio sessions to no more than 30 minutes at a time. For people who are trying hard to build body mass some reports suggest that anything over 30 minutes actually starts to burn muscle and not fat.
    - Finally, as Bromard6 said, there is indeed a margin of error to be associated with the testing.

    Good luck
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    How much are you losing per week? The faster you lose, the more LBM you will lose along with fat. A slower loss rate, higher protein, and a good strength training routine should prevent noticeable LBM loss.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    I went in for my second body comp testing today and although I'm losing weight my body fat is up and my muscle mass is down :(
    The lady who did the testing recommended getting more protein which I will be trying. Any other advice or confirmation on the protein? I typically do strength training 3x a week and cardio 2-3x. Haven't been working out as much now that I'm back in school and midterms are coming up.

    Your protein was a bit low before, so I agree that increasing your protein will help. Keep in mind that there is a margin of error in body composition testing depending on the method. I also agree with PP who pointed out that stress levels increase the loss of muscle mass, so try to manage those stress levels until midterms are over. And more strength training and less cardio until you've gotten things sorted out.

    Ignore the advice to replace your carbs with almonds. Don't give up your nutritious grains, as they are critical to provide the glucose your brain needs to function optimally.

    Best of luck!
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    If you continue to lift heavy, eat a generally healthy diet and up your protein intake, I think you should be fine.

    What was your protein intake before? Are you lifting heavy with low reps or lifting light with high reps?
  • dubble13
    dubble13 Posts: 85 Member
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    I don't know if you'd say I'm lifting heavy but I use a challenging weight at my body blast classes which is usually 10-12 lb dumbbells and low reps. This last week I'm down to only 5 lbs because I injured my wrist but I can't imagine one week would have much effect. My protein in take varies. Usually around 70-90 grams though.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    Looking at your diary over the past two weeks, your caloric and protein intake is very low on some days (44 grams of protein and 967 calories). Your ticker suggests that you only have a few lbs left to lose which means you should ideally be losing at no greater than a rate of 0.5 lb per week goal (which translates to eating about 250 calories below maintenance). Even though body composition analysis can be off a bit, I don't think you are consistently eating enough calories and protein to minimize loss of lean mass.

    Edit: I worked out your TDEE and if I put you at 22% body fat and moderately active, you maintain on just under 2300 calories and lose half a lb per week on about 2000. If lightly active, maintenance is just over 2000 with the same loss at an intake of under 1800 calories.
  • PeterCohenUK
    PeterCohenUK Posts: 13
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    I used to be a 220 pounder and I managed to reduce it to 180lb over 3 months. I know I still have room for improvement, that’s why I am still working hard to achieve my goal. Just to share what I learned, I believe diet, cardio and weight training are the 3in1 for fitness. Yes, it is not easy to do it alone and at time, I just felt like giving up. Well, we all need some guidance along our ways. I was recommended by my friend this website and I followed it, that’s how I got my result. Now I even become its affiliate, lol. here you go:
    http://insanebodyshape.com/

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