How do you loose a few pounds without loosing muscle?
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SavanaNicole
Posts: 31
I'm really new to building muscle, but I started working out my arms recently to tone them and replace the flab with muscle. I've been roughly the same weight for about 3 years, but I think my pants seem a tiny bit tighter than usual so I wonder how would I loose some weight to fit better in my jeans(only about 3-5 pounds) without touching my precious arm muscles. I'm so confused! Do I calorie count? Do I just eat healthier foods like fruits and vegetables and keep taking protein? I pretty much eat whatever I want and I take some whey protein powder every other day when I work out, but the only way I know how to loose weight is calorie counting, but that was before I started building muscle.
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Lose slowly, keep your protein intake up, and keep lifting while you're losing. Aim for around 0.5 pounds per week.0
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In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.0
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Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
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SavanaNicole wrote: »
Nope. Lifting while you lose will help retain the muscle you already have. As long as you aren't progressing way too fast with the weight, you'll be good.0 -
How is it terrifyingly dangerous? Plus tracking calories is pretty much the easiest way to cut/bulk and many people do this as a cycle all the time.SavanaNicole wrote: »0 -
Well, yeah, a little bit, although at 3-5 pounds it really wouldn't matter either way. If you were trying to lose 20+ pounds, for example, you'd be more likely to lose muscle if you tried to lose it very quickly.SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
What ana3067 said is correct -- people do bulk/cut cycles like this all the time. Don't drop your calories through the floor, and keep lifting so you "tell" your body that it needs to keep your muscles because you're using them. Don't overthink this
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SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.0 -
SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.
1-2 pounds a week is too much? Wow.
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What these women said, small deficit and lift heavy weights. And track your calories. although I am still kind of in a moderate deficit, I should probably switch to a small one even though I have 20lbs to lose. Dieting down when you have a fair bit left to lose, now that's terrifying!0
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Yeah, especially if you only have 3-5 pounds to lose. How many calories are you eating now? To lose 1-2 pounds per week, you would need to cut out 500-1000 calories PER DAY. Do you have that much wiggle room in your diet?SavanaNicole wrote: »SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.
1-2 pounds a week is too much? Wow.
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SavanaNicole wrote: »SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.
1-2 pounds a week is too much? Wow.
If you have less than 20 pounds to lose, absolutely. If you're overweight/obese, you can afford to eat at the higher deficit because of the amount of fat in your body. It's still recommended to do some strength training no matter what.0 -
Um, honestly, I don't count calories because I thought I was a magic metabolistic machine. I try to just eat until I am full but I think I have been overeating way too much which lead to the recent few pounds. It wasn't all at once, it was over the course of time. My main goal is to MAINTAIN my weight but I think I should loose just a couple pounds to fit in my jeans better. So how many calories should I consume a day to loose half a pound a week? I workout my arms every other day so I only take protein every other day, but I do regular (cardio?) exercise on the treadmill just whenever.
Yeah, especially if you only have 3-5 pounds to lose. How many calories are you eating now? To lose 1-2 pounds per week, you would need to cut out 500-1000 calories PER DAY. Do you have that much wiggle room in your diet?SavanaNicole wrote: »SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.
1-2 pounds a week is too much? Wow.
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The way to lose a couple of pounds is be in a caloric deficit. The way to retain the muscle is lift weights. She said slow, meaning not too aggressively.0
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Do I haaaaave to count calories? Gosh it's such a hassle.0
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SavanaNicole wrote: »
Um, honestly, I don't count calories because I thought I was a magic metabolistic machine. I try to just eat until I am full but I think I have been overeating way too much which lead to the recent few pounds. It wasn't all at once, it was over the course of time. My main goal is to MAINTAIN my weight but I think I should loose just a couple pounds to fit in my jeans better. So how many calories should I consume a day to loose half a pound a week? I workout my arms every other day so I only take protein every other day, but I do regular (cardio?) exercise on the treadmill just whenever.
Yeah, especially if you only have 3-5 pounds to lose. How many calories are you eating now? To lose 1-2 pounds per week, you would need to cut out 500-1000 calories PER DAY. Do you have that much wiggle room in your diet?SavanaNicole wrote: »SavanaNicole wrote: »
Because she said "slowly," which sounds to me if I loose it too fast my muscle will start to leave me.SpecialSundae wrote: »In what way does that sound dangerous? Lift heavy things, eat protein, lose weight slowly... all pretty straight-forward.
A lot of people make the mistake where they set their deficit too high (1-2 pounds per week) when they don't have much to lose. In that case, they would be losing muscle because they don't have as much fat to lose.
1-2 pounds a week is too much? Wow.
Count calories. I can eat until I am full by eating like 3000 calories if I wanted. I also went to bed last weekend on only 1300 calories, feeling mostly full (ate the missed cals the next day). I was on 1890, now on 2000, and might go up to 2150.
If you want to lose a few pounds you are not wanting to maintain your weight. You also need to consume protein every day. Consuming some protein every other day,e specially without being cognizant of how much protein in grams and how many calories overall you are eating, is pretty much moot. You also really need to start doing more than just arm work, and unless you are eating at a caloric surplus (more food than is needed to maintain your weight) you will not be building muscle.
Scooby's is a good, easy calculator. I prefer health-calc.com and exrx.net though. Then subtract 10% from the number and make that your goal, and if you lose a bit too fast then add another 50 calories and monitor.
As for counting being a hassle, I don't see the hassle. I do it daily, have for over 5 months, and it's a habit. I plan on doing it for life, especially since I plan on going the cut/bulk cycle and would rather do so more.. skillfully than simply stuffing my face as my one friend does (and then he complained of needing to lose 30lbs!).
Also IF (below) is still tracking calories. Won't help if your average winds up too low or too high. Hence tracking calories.0 -
No, there are a hundred other ways (at least). But you're on a site most people frequent for the calorie counting tool so take that into consideration.SavanaNicole wrote: »Do I haaaaave to count calories? Gosh it's such a hassle.
Look into intermittent fasting, if calorie counting is a pain.
I don't think your arms are in danger. Humans have walked the earth an awful long time. How long would we have lasted if every time we lost 3 lbs., we lost it all in a muscle group we used daily? That's what body fat is for-- energy storage in times of lessened food supply.
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I'm kinda confused at why FitnessPal is telling me to eat some 1800 calories a day. How do I know if that's completely accurate to loose .5 pounds a week like I filled in? I'm 5 feet tall and like 120 pounds, it seems like my caloric intake to loose .5 pounds a week would be way less even though I do some workouts. Do you guys have any idea what I should do?0
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