A little help needed! Dropping weight without losing much muscle

sareakay
sareakay Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys im a female at 168cm tall and at around 63-64kg my intenions are to be around 55-57kg. I have about 25% body fat with around 34.5% mass. Now how do we go about dropping the numbers on scale, is it really all about cal in out. What would happen if i lived on protein shakes throughout the day? Do you feel weight loss would happen like that without losing much muscle aswell having slight workouts involved?

Replies

  • sareakay
    sareakay Posts: 7 Member
    edited November 2016
    Comin from a ultra low carb diet.. Fruits have high carbs but say if i got my protein from shakes and ate fruits(i love fruits) all day while being in about 1000cal defct would i lose weight despite consumin alot of fruits which will have my carb intak high? Sorry guys im new i just want to lose weight and slim down? Anythint wrong being 1000cal defc while protein from shakes and the high carbs from fruits, i dont wana look bulky just slim down and lose weight ? Comin from a low carb diet im just literally afraid of carbs. :/
  • sareakay
    sareakay Posts: 7 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    why on earth would you want to just eat fruit and protein shakes for the rest of your life?

    why not learn moderation and eat a healthy balanced diet in a calorie deficit?


    Because mate comin from a strict keto diet i did not eat fruits so im left with a huge fruit craving. And livin on mostly fruits would be only a short term thing not for the rest of my life
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,224 Member
    Why the extreme? Eat some fruit, eat some protein, eat some carbs... hell, eat food. Within your calorie goal.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    you will always lose some muscle when eating in a deficit. to minimise this you should ensure you're eating enough protein and doing some strength/resistance training.

    'living on protein shakes' is just ridiculous
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    edited November 2016
    What TavistockToad said.

    Hey, I like protein shakes well enough, I usually have one daily because I enjoy them, but there are plenty of other sources of protein out there. If it's just that you want something easy, how about Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or eggs? Add some bagged salad, cut up veggies, a source of whole grains like oatmeal, and fruit to that rotation and you have a half way decent diet.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    The 1000 calorie deficit is going to do the weight loss, no fear there. But keep in mind that beyond weight loss there needs to be a balance. The problem with protein shakes is that while they are convenient and super quick they don't teach how to eat real food. Carbs have never been the enemy...they are essential in moderate amounts.
  • Vegplotter
    Vegplotter Posts: 265 Member
    55kg seems quite low for 168cm. I'm 172cm and my ideal weight is 65kg. Perhaps you should consider exercise rather than diet? This will tone your muscles, bring your percentage fat down a bit and reduce your waistline measurement.
    Muscle loss is an issue for you as you are pretty skinny already. To grow muscle you need protein, carbohydrate AND fat. Simply going for one food group won't do it. Sorry, you probably don't want to hear this, but I'd suggest eating a balanced diet of healthy fresh foods. Major on organic fruit and veg, proteins from meat, fish and veg, full- fat dairy, whole grains and pulses.
    Enjoy!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited November 2016
    sareakay wrote: »
    Comin from a ultra low carb diet.. Fruits have high carbs but say if i got my protein from shakes and ate fruits(i love fruits) all day while being in about 1000cal defct would i lose weight despite consumin alot of fruits which will have my carb intak high? Sorry guys im new i just want to lose weight and slim down? Anythint wrong being 1000cal defc while protein from shakes and the high carbs from fruits, i dont wana look bulky just slim down and lose weight ? Comin from a low carb diet im just literally afraid of carbs. :/


    If are are not morbidly obese, that a 1000 calorie deficit is probably going to be aggressive, going to increase the chances of muscle loss, which will slow down body fat reductions, especially if you are not following a progressive overload lifting routine or some kind of progressive resistance routine, which will make it harder to get lean. Also, you won't get bulk. Only two things make a women look bulky: fat and tons of steroids. So as long as you don't do that, you will be fine. Why.. but muscle is lean. Men take years of bulk/cut cycles to get anywhere kind of bulky. Heck, if you want to know what happens with a women, below is a good example of a women who is a powerlifting, who ate 5000 calories and bulked several times. Her results are extreme, so don't think you could get anyone close without doing something similar.

    https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/


    What are your stats? This way we can give you some help on a good calorie goal, maybe adjust your macros and look at your training program to address your goals.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Also, I combined your two post as you will get a better pictured when people can see the whole picture.

    If you actually do have 25% body fat, you are way too lean to have a 1k deficit. It should be more like 250-500 calories, especially if you want to maintain your muscle mass. You will want to eat around 90-120g of protein per day, follow a progressive overload program, like one of these, and and a moderate deficit.


    Also, you can still be low carb, even keto and still have fruit. Just look at low sugar fruits like berries
  • sareakay
    sareakay Posts: 7 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    sareakay wrote: »
    Comin from a ultra low carb diet.. Fruits have high carbs but say if i got my protein from shakes and ate fruits(i love fruits) all day while being in about 1000cal defct would i lose weight despite consumin alot of fruits which will have my carb intak high? Sorry guys im new i just want to lose weight and slim down? Anythint wrong being 1000cal defc while protein from shakes and the high carbs from fruits, i dont wana look bulky just slim down and lose weight ? Comin from a low carb diet im just literally afraid of carbs. :/


    If are are not morbidly obese, that a 1000 calorie deficit is probably going to be aggressive, going to increase the chances of muscle loss, which will slow down body fat reductions, especially if you are not following a progressive overload lifting routine or some kind of progressive resistance routine, which will make it harder to get lean. Also, you won't get bulk. Only two things make a women look bulky: fat and tons of steroids. So as long as you don't do that, you will be fine. Why.. but muscle is lean. Men take years of bulk/cut cycles to get anywhere kind of bulky. Heck, if you want to know what happens with a women, below is a good example of a women who is a powerlifting, who ate 5000 calories and bulked several times. Her results are extreme, so don't think you could get anyone close without doing something similar.

    https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/


    What are your stats? This way we can give you some help on a good calorie goal, maybe adjust your macros and look at your training program to address your goals.

    Thanks for the help as i said im new but definitely will be taking your advice much appreciated:))

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