Rate of Lean Body Mass Loss during Deficit

This is something I have been thinking about today too. The worry is really the effect on our organs. When people starve to death, it is because of tissue loss from their organs, not their muscles. I'd like to believe that eating more protein helps, as people here say it does, but I haven't googled yet. Maybe someone could save me some time and point me to a study or two. Occasionally I see an article that talks about the body using glycogen, then body fat, then muscle/lbm when dieting/fasting, as though it is an orderly progression. But I know that not to be true. Saw a study today about the effects of fasting on obese patients. In the abstract they talked about how obese people have died from starvation, while still being technically obese. An extreme situation obviously but it does make me want to stick to a small calorie deficit.

ETA: Sorry, probably the wrong place for this post (not to mention it's rambly). You are obviously interested in the muscle component of lbm loss, and I, at 53, am more interested in potential organ damage, even if it's minimal.

madrose0715 wrote: »

@goldthistime; well I am 46 years old so not too far off from you but yes, loss of muscle is rather important to me as far as my goals around body recomposition. I like to think I am do everything that is generally recommended around here while in a deficit (progressive lifting and protien intake, manage your deficit), but perhaps it is simply normal for the rate of LBM loss to increase when you get closer to goal and there is not much more I can do?

I think I am going to stick to my 15% deficit for the next 5 pounds and really pay attention to what happens to my LBM...if those next 5 pounds are only half fat and half LBM, then I will dial down the deficit even further. Unless I can get advice that would support me switching to maintenance level calories now?

46, with that body? Nice.

I can relate to your concerns! I really want to get lean and fit. From July to October, I managed to drop my body fat % from 39 to 27 -- not bad. Based on how many pounds I lost, I clearly gained a little muscle as well as dropping fat. However, by December my body fat % hadn't changed, although I lost some weight. Bad. Now I seem to be in a plateau as far as the scale goes. I'd like to get my body fat % between 20-24, which means probably losing another 10 lbs. of fat and gaining 3 lbs. of muscle (approx.). But I'm feeling nervous about how to do it. Going by TDEE, I'm eating at almost a 20% deficit now. My trainer recommends cutting calories to begin losing weight again, but I'm frustrated because all the TDEE calculators and info I read says I should be losing weight already! So I don't know whether to cut calories further, or actually eat a little more and just concentrate on lifting regularly and getting more protein.

Congrats on the loss.

As you get leaner, you obviously have less available energy from fat stores; your body will turn to other sources if it can't efficiently get at the available fat as needed. You're doing lots of things right - lifting heavy, getting a good amount of protein -- these really help retention of lean mass. Perhaps you should consider reducing your deficit. I am not sure what 20% and 15% equate to in terms of amount of weight per week, but (warning, probable bro science ahead) I've oft heard of bodybuilders trying to avoid more than about 0.75% weekly deficit (based on body weight). So at 155, you might want to consider setting your goals at no greater than a little over 1 pound per week.

Like you, I do my darndest to avoid losing more LBM than I am genetically predisposed to doing -- once I am down to 15% BF or so, I lose no more than about 0.5 - 0.75 pounds per week. That may be overcautious, but adding lean mass in our mid-forties is hard enough that I'd prefer to err on the side of caution.

I hadn't heard of the heybales spreadsheet so I just checked that out. Handy little spreadsheet, but A LOT going on in there. How are you figuring your BF% since that is where the LBM calculation is coming from. Are you using the "average bf% of the two to four methods". All of the methods that the spreadsheet uses are approximations. The only real way to know would be to go do a hydrostatic weighing or DEXA scan and comapre it every 6 months or so.

Also, there is a difference between losing LBM and losing muscle. LBM is just everything that isn't fat in your body. As you get smaller, other things shrink including your ability to retain water and other bodily fluids, so your LBM is going to drop as you continue to lose weight.

And when all is said and done, BF% is still just a number. You look great now, and from your profile pic, it doesn't look like you have 15 lbs to lose, maybe 10 at most. I'd also echo what others have said about being on the deficit for so long. If you bulked for 3-6 months it would give your metabolism a chance to relax and you might find that it responds better to the deficit afterward.

just my 2 cents.

Spreadsheets are a great tool as are real bf% measurements but do you feel as though you have lost muscle required for your daily strength needs ? Or are you more concerned with the vanity muscle and looking good buff ? (Not that vanity muscle is bad, I am just asking ) do you look better now or when your bf% was higher ?
Are you lifting more weight in the gym now or are you actually weaker then before ?

49yo here.
i lost 70lbs in 8 months and while I may have lost some muscle mass I feel stronger then when I was obese. 10lbs to go and I should be at about 16% bf and I will I start my bulk phase to add a few vanity muscle pounds.