Losing fat without burning muscle

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dmiivanov
dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! Does anyone know a good way of dieting without burning muscle?
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  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    edited May 2015
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    My vote is for impossible.

    You can limit it by eating enough protein and lifting heavy objects but I think you will always lose some muscle.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    It is impossible. If you are in a caloric deficit, your going to burn some muscle. However - there are ways to try to minimize the impact on your muscles. Basically, lift weights often and eat your protein!
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    I heard some people claim to even have built some while dieting.. But last year I've lost 30lbs in 3 months and a ton of muscle! I was lifting really heavy too
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Eating high fat, medium protein and next to no carbs is the only natural muscle sparing eating lifestyle that ever worked for me. It is not very popular because carb addiction can be hard to break for some of us. I only got off carbs when if I did I was going to have to start on Enbrel injections for pain management and Enbrel can lead to developing cancer.
  • Nickers5405
    Nickers5405 Posts: 32 Member
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    Most people have way less muscle mass then they think. So you could think you lost a lot of muscle but maybe you didn't have that much to begin with.

    Sprints are a good way of burning fat but not breaking down muscles as much as running or longer cardio activities.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    Eating high fat, medium protein and next to no carbs is the only natural muscle sparing eating lifestyle that ever worked for me. It is not very popular because carb addiction can be hard to break for some of us. I only got off carbs when if I did I was going to have to start on Enbrel injections for pain management and Enbrel can lead to developing cancer.
    Carbs are also muscle sparing though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    dmiivanov wrote: »
    I heard some people claim to even have built some while dieting.. But last year I've lost 30lbs in 3 months and a ton of muscle! I was lifting really heavy too

    How much is a ton of muscle? 5 pounds? 10 pounds?

    I think when people claim they gained muscles while in a deficit it's when they start off with barely any muscles to begin with. Noob gains I think is the term.

    The hints and tips I hear are to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. Lift heavy things and to not lose to much. Smaller the weight lose per week the less comes from muscle it seems.
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
    edited May 2015
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    About 5lb
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,730 Member
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    **LOW deficits**
    HIGH protein.
    HEAVY weights.
    = "MAXIMUM SPARING"

    If your profile picture is you now, you're looking at 250Cal a day deficits AT MOST.
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    250 deficit sounds like I good idea but I doubt food scales and calorie count on labels are that accurate. That's what I've been doing for the past month with no results
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    6'2'' and about 210lb
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    It's either that, or how you determine your "maintenance" . Which is now experimentally found to be 3k in my case. The problem is that some weeks you're gonna work out more, and some less (to.repair, recover and get stronger ) so this maintenance fluctuates a lot too
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited May 2015
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    dmiivanov wrote: »
    Hi! Does anyone know a good way of dieting without burning muscle?

    Work hard. Small deficit. Make sure you get enough protein.

    That won't guarantee no loss, but it will make the loss as small as possible.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,730 Member
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    dmiivanov wrote: »
    250 deficit sounds like I good idea but I doubt food scales and calorie count on labels are that accurate. That's what I've been doing for the past month with no results

    The labels are not that accurate, variance exists in product, weight of product is not always as advertised, logging is not always that accurate, etc.

    It doesn't change the facts. You are essentially doing a body recomp "set" to a very small deficit. It will be slow but maximum lean mass sparing. Or you will set a larger deficit and risk more lean mass.

    There are multiple reasons why I personally think that "dieting" for "vanity" lbs is not a very good idea when viewed from a long term perspective.

    But people do what people want to do!
  • dmiivanov
    dmiivanov Posts: 49 Member
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    Well that's true, slow gains are he sustainable gains they say. Even in the weight loss. On the other hand, you don't want to be in a deficit for too long no matter how small it is. Because if you're a natty, you generally want to spend as much time as possible on building muscle and getting stronger.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,730 Member
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    Ah. But you are going to have to calculate for yourself where you will get the most bang for your buck.

    A long bulk and correspondingly steeper cut with more lean mass lost during the cut; or less time bulking because you spent more time cutting but lost less lean mass as a result.

    Or get all scientific and explore eating during a tight post workout period hoping to generate an anabolic period among a mostly catabolic day.

    Seems that the exercise forum or a bodybuilding site may have more people with experience in what you want to do.

    You may also want to consider how you will go about measuring your body fat and muscle mass as even dxa has considerable error...

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