Lean Body Mass Loss...help please
tannibal_lecter
Posts: 83 Member
Last month I weighed in at 213.5 pounds and 38.8% body fat leaving me with 130.66 pounds of lean body mass.
This month at weigh in I was 205 pounds with 38.1% body fat leaving me with 126.89 pounds of lean body mass.
I went down 8.5 pounds total but 3.77 pounds was lean body mass. Is this sustainable if I want to get to 25% body fat?
I eat between 50-130g of protein everyday. I'm an ovo-pescatarian but I would eat meat more often if I could afford it(I make minimum wage). I eat between 1490- 1900 calories everyday. The higher numbers are on workout days, the lower are rest days. I do HIIT three times a week and heavy weights once a week. I was thinking about taking boxing classes as well. I sleep very well and drink tonnes of water.
What else can I do to save my lean body mass?
This month at weigh in I was 205 pounds with 38.1% body fat leaving me with 126.89 pounds of lean body mass.
I went down 8.5 pounds total but 3.77 pounds was lean body mass. Is this sustainable if I want to get to 25% body fat?
I eat between 50-130g of protein everyday. I'm an ovo-pescatarian but I would eat meat more often if I could afford it(I make minimum wage). I eat between 1490- 1900 calories everyday. The higher numbers are on workout days, the lower are rest days. I do HIIT three times a week and heavy weights once a week. I was thinking about taking boxing classes as well. I sleep very well and drink tonnes of water.
What else can I do to save my lean body mass?
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Replies
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From what I know, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but if you eat more protein it will help you sustain your current lean body mass. Usually they suggest 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass. So in your case that would be 130g of protein a day minimum.0
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Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine0 -
how are you tracking the body fat %? It may very well be innacurate.
Other than heavy lifting and eating enough protein, there's not really anything you can do. Losing lean body mass is going to happen as you lose weight.0 -
Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
Second the bolded. I would personally try to lift heavy at least 3 times a week.
Side note: try to hit 130grams of protein a day (1gram per pound of lean body mass).
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Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
I get my body fat stats checked electronically at the gym I go to.
As for the don't lose too quickly thing, I have my settings in mfp set to 1 pound a week I believe but I'm coming close to two pounds average a week lost.
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Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
Second the bolded. I would personally try to lift heavy at least 3 times a week.
Side note: try to hit 130grams of protein a day (1gram per pound of lean body mass).
Any suggestions on how to do that when you have no money for shakes, powders or beef? I feel like I'm coming short do to monetary issues.0 -
tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
I get my body fat stats checked electronically at the gym I go to.
As for the don't lose too quickly thing, I have my settings in mfp set to 1 pound a week I believe but I'm coming close to two pounds average a week lost.
are you talking about an omron meter?
Because they are wildly innacurate.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »how are you tracking the body fat %? It may very well be innacurate.
Other than heavy lifting and eating enough protein, there's not really anything you can do. Losing lean body mass is going to happen as you lose weight.
What makes it seem inaccurate? I get checked at the same time of day after drinking the same amount of water on the same day of the week just one month later.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
I get my body fat stats checked electronically at the gym I go to.
As for the don't lose too quickly thing, I have my settings in mfp set to 1 pound a week I believe but I'm coming close to two pounds average a week lost.
are you talking about an omron meter?
Because they are wildly innacurate.
Yes, what do I do instead?0 -
Some good sources of protein (and relatively low calorie) are chicken breasts (8-9 calories/gram of protein), non-fat Greek yogurt (6-7 calories/gram of protein), and egg whites (5 calories/gram of protein). It's a little more difficult to hit your protein numbers without powders but it can be done. Also important is to spread your protein intake throughout the day.0
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tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
Second the bolded. I would personally try to lift heavy at least 3 times a week.
Side note: try to hit 130grams of protein a day (1gram per pound of lean body mass).
Any suggestions on how to do that when you have no money for shakes, powders or beef? I feel like I'm coming short do to monetary issues.
Most body fat estimators are way off. Someone smarter than I can probably explain it-but basically just don't worry about the number. Focus on lifting and eating well and it will work out. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders about it.
How much protein are you currently consuming? Adequate protein is important, but you probably need less than you think.0 -
Hadabetter wrote: »Some good sources of protein (and relatively low calorie) are chicken breasts (8-9 calories/gram of protein), non-fat Greek yogurt (6-7 calories/gram of protein), and egg whites (5 calories/gram of protein). It's a little more difficult to hit your protein numbers without powders but it can be done. Also important is to spread your protein intake throughout the day.
Chicken is way too expensive for me everyday:( I would love to be able to do it. For the same price as one chicken breast I can get an entire container of cottage cheese. I hate that I am under-employed and it puts me in this position.
I could probably eat more protein at breakfast though.0 -
tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
Second the bolded. I would personally try to lift heavy at least 3 times a week.
Side note: try to hit 130grams of protein a day (1gram per pound of lean body mass).
Any suggestions on how to do that when you have no money for shakes, powders or beef? I feel like I'm coming short do to monetary issues.
Most body fat estimators are way off. Someone smarter than I can probably explain it-but basically just don't worry about the number. Focus on lifting and eating well and it will work out. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders about it.
How much protein are you currently consuming? Adequate protein is important, but you probably need less than you think.
I was just reading and the caliper test is probably not going to work for me because I have over 35 pounds left to lose. The electronic monitors are my only other option.
About 90-100 grams on rest day and up to 130 g of protein on workout days. I don't have access to a lot of high density protein options due to being low income unfortunately.
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Sorry, just noticed you already answered.
Keep protein consistent. It's usually advised to do .8g per pound of lean body mass. Assuming you really do have around 126 pounds of lean mass, that would be around 100g/day.
Even on a budget that's not too difficult. Buy Greek yogurt when it is on sale, same for meat/fish. Do you have an Aldi where you live? They have fantastic fish and dairy prices, and their eggs are usually pretty cheap.
2-4oz servings of lean meat/fish brings you to 40-50g. Add in a cup of Greek yogurt and you're at least at 60. Grains, beans, even vegetables have protein. Egg or two for breakfast and you're golden.0 -
I live in Canada. Food is not cheap, at least not healthy food. The kind of chicken and fish you can find here cheap is not the kind you want to consume.0
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tannibal_lecter wrote: »rainbowbow wrote: »tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
I get my body fat stats checked electronically at the gym I go to.
As for the don't lose too quickly thing, I have my settings in mfp set to 1 pound a week I believe but I'm coming close to two pounds average a week lost.
are you talking about an omron meter?
Because they are wildly innacurate.
Yes, what do I do instead?
in order of most accurate to least:
Dexa Scan
Bod Pod
Hydrostatic weighing
calipers
Anthropometric
Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (like that device and some scales that measure body fat)
It's not even worth it, IMO to focus on your body fat % until you get much closer to your goal. I'd say once you're in the low 20%s you could switch over to focusing on this number.
Why is BIA (like omron) innacurate?
Here's a link in more detail because the reasons are numerous:
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=218
I'd suggest you just focus on your lifting, eating protein, consistency, etc. until you get lower in the BF% range. Then i'd switch to handheld calipers and maybe a bodypod/dexa every year. These can be performed at most sport science/physiology centers. In my city you can have all of this checked with a dexa scan/VO2 Max/BMR testing for $125.00.0 -
Had an Omron tell me I'm 26% body fat on a Saturday, but a DEXA scan the following Tuesday tell me I'm 33% body fat. Omron's either pretty inaccurate or I eat a way too much in between.tannibal_lecter wrote: »rainbowbow wrote: »how are you tracking the body fat %? It may very well be innacurate.
Other than heavy lifting and eating enough protein, there's not really anything you can do. Losing lean body mass is going to happen as you lose weight.
What makes it seem inaccurate? I get checked at the same time of day after drinking the same amount of water on the same day of the week just one month later.0 -
tannibal_lecter wrote: »I live in Canada. Food is not cheap, at least not healthy food. The kind of chicken and fish you can find here cheap is not the kind you want to consume.
Cheapest source of protein I've seen that is fairly close to purely protein is vital wheat gluten, which you can turn into seitan at home with very little work. It isn't a complete protein so you need to complement it, but I'm not sure I've seen cheaper.0 -
The way electrical resistance devices work is they send a pulse through you and they cross reference a built in chart based on the resistance, your age, and height. My understanding is that the change from one reading to the next should be pretty accurate if you're approaching it in a consistent fashion like you describe above but that your real %fat may be read too low. Like maybe you really went from 40% to 39.3% in which case, what's your real lean figure? The chart itself is based on tons of averaged data collected by the US Army over several decades but they got them using a tank flotation test where they measure your buoyancy. That's supposed to be the definitive test for determining body fat as a percentage. Just keep doing what you're doing. It's likely you lost lean mass because you have less overall mass to support and based on your figures above you lost more fat than lean muscle anyway so it's a win, right?0
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tannibal_lecter wrote: »I live in Canada. Food is not cheap, at least not healthy food. The kind of chicken and fish you can find here cheap is not the kind you want to consume.
Well, that's true. But look, I bought a roasted chicken from Metro (I think it was around 9 bucks), which yielded 4.5 cups of meat at 36 grams protein per cup. That can go into a chicken salad sandwich, a burrito, wrap, whatever. Or add beans, salsa, rice, top with yogurt, and there you go
The cheap meat isn't amazing, granted. But I guess, you get what you can where you can. Do you know anyone with a Costco membership? Frozen tilapia in bulk, spice that stuff up, it's not too bad.
Or there's ground beef (medium ground is cheaper, just drain it), supplemented with black beans and rice.
OR, my fave tip, you can get nice pieces of meat that go on sale they day they meet their best by date, then freeze them. You do have to be good about defrosting it and cooking it in time, though (I just threw out a beautiful steak, very sad)
OR, get cheaper cuts of meat and slow-cook them.
Also, Wal-Mart.
Also, watch for sales on flyers.
It does take more work and time and attention to do it on the cheap, that's true
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The way electrical resistance devices work is they send a pulse through you and they cross reference a built in chart based on the resistance, your age, and height. My understanding is that the change from one reading to the next should be pretty accurate if you're approaching it in a consistent fashion like you describe above but that your real %fat may be read too low. Like maybe you really went from 40% to 39.3% in which case, what's your real lean figure? The chart itself is based on tons of averaged data collected by the US Army over several decades but they got them using a tank flotation test where they measure your buoyancy. That's supposed to be the definitive test for determining body fat as a percentage. Just keep doing what you're doing. It's likely you lost lean mass because you have less overall mass to support and based on your figures above you lost more fat than lean muscle anyway so it's a win, right?
It actually changes depending on your current level of water retention/hydration, and it doesn't measure internal fat too well because the current will always flow through the path of least resistance.
I have had my numbers go from 26% one day, and the next week 14%. Did i really lose 12% body fat in one week? No. And i used it under the same conditions.
For reference i own one of these, and they are definitely tricky.0 -
Maybe I should check again today and see what happened to my body fat % overnight? It might be eye opening.0
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My scale at home will tell me I am at one thing, I get off of it, I get back on it....BAM! I have gained or lost body fat! Sometimes 5% or more.0
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What about pulses? When determined to live vegetarian, which happens sometimes and which I also had to due when on a budget and refusing to eat cheap meat, I substitute grains for pulses entirely in order to hit my protein goals. They are a great source of protein and cheap. Sometimes I mix cooked lentils with egg, fry it and eat it like a pancake. I also eat lot's of bean salads, Dhal, or just substitute rice/pasta with beans/lentils. It is different, needs some adjustment, but is also quite satisfying.
Good luck
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mirlredmann wrote: »What about pulses? When determined to live vegetarian, which happens sometimes and which I also had to due when on a budget and refusing to eat cheap meat, I substitute grains for pulses entirely in order to hit my protein goals. They are a great source of protein and cheap. Sometimes I mix cooked lentils with egg, fry it and eat it like a pancake. I also eat lot's of bean salads, Dhal, or just substitute rice/pasta with beans/lentils. It is different, needs some adjustment, but is also quite satisfying.
Good luck
How do you find that works out when eating to a deficit? I love lentils but they are quite calorie dense so I can't have them all the time.0 -
I'm curious why you put Bod Pod above hydrostatic.rainbowbow wrote: »tannibal_lecter wrote: »rainbowbow wrote: »tannibal_lecter wrote: »Where are you getting your body fat stats from?
Lift more often to preserve lean mass. Don't lose too quickly, lift heavy things, eat adequate protein. You're probably fine
I get my body fat stats checked electronically at the gym I go to.
As for the don't lose too quickly thing, I have my settings in mfp set to 1 pound a week I believe but I'm coming close to two pounds average a week lost.
are you talking about an omron meter?
Because they are wildly innacurate.
Yes, what do I do instead?
in order of most accurate to least:
Dexa Scan
Bod Pod
Hydrostatic weighing
calipers
Anthropometric
Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (like that device and some scales that measure body fat)
It's not even worth it, IMO to focus on your body fat % until you get much closer to your goal. I'd say once you're in the low 20%s you could switch over to focusing on this number.
Why is BIA (like omron) innacurate?
Here's a link in more detail because the reasons are numerous:
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=218
I'd suggest you just focus on your lifting, eating protein, consistency, etc. until you get lower in the BF% range. Then i'd switch to handheld calipers and maybe a bodypod/dexa every year. These can be performed at most sport science/physiology centers. In my city you can have all of this checked with a dexa scan/VO2 Max/BMR testing for $125.00.
@tannibal_lecter - if you have a college or university near you, you can check there for DEXA scans. One near me offered it for $40, less if for students.
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tannibal_lecter wrote: »I live in Canada. Food is not cheap, at least not healthy food. The kind of chicken and fish you can find here cheap is not the kind you want to consume.
Buy a whole chicken or look in the freezer section for frozen chicken pieces.
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You can fit in the calories of lentils and beans and nuts by dropping carbs. I limit rice, bread, fruit.tannibal_lecter wrote: »mirlredmann wrote: »What about pulses? When determined to live vegetarian, which happens sometimes and which I also had to due when on a budget and refusing to eat cheap meat, I substitute grains for pulses entirely in order to hit my protein goals. They are a great source of protein and cheap. Sometimes I mix cooked lentils with egg, fry it and eat it like a pancake. I also eat lot's of bean salads, Dhal, or just substitute rice/pasta with beans/lentils. It is different, needs some adjustment, but is also quite satisfying.
Good luck
How do you find that works out when eating to a deficit? I love lentils but they are quite calorie dense so I can't have them all the time.
Buy canned fish.
Buy frozen vegetables like broccoli, yellow squash, green beans, peas.
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tannibal_lecter wrote: »I live in Canada. Food is not cheap, at least not healthy food. The kind of chicken and fish you can find here cheap is not the kind you want to consume.
Buy a whole chicken or look in the freezer section for frozen chicken pieces.
If you can find a local butcher, try there. They usually have chicken and pork much cheaper than a standard grocery store/supermarket.
I buy from a local butcher, and it saves me a ton of money. I spend $30-$45 each trip, buying pork chops, chicken thighs and breasts, and have enough meat for 2 people for 7-10 days. On the low end of that, it comes out to about $1.50 per day per person. Once I started buying chicken and pork there, I stopped buying at the supermarket. It's just way cheaper. And we love knowing it's local meat.
As for the body fat measurement: I think as long as you're using the same device each time, same time of day, same food/water, that's what is important. Sure, some of the hand-held devices and scales are inaccurate - with regards to your absolute number. But they're going to make the same error every time. So if you use the same device under the same conditions each time, you should be able to track your progress, which is what is really important.
Oh, and one other thing: You can supplement with protein powder. They are not all expensive; it helps to break them down to the cost per serving. Scooby has a chart.
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