Muscle loss

I am also interested to know this. I am certain that my body fat is still quite high.

I wouldn't be able to quantify this, but if you are taking in roughly 1g/lb lean mass in protein, and you're lifting HEAVY at least 3/week on a reasonable split or a full body program, you're doing everything right and you shouldn't expect significant muscle loss.


OP: Looks great from what I can tell although I don't know your stats so I can't comment on whether protein intake is sufficient. It's got to be at least close. You're doing it right and should look great as you progress.

Well I'm 154 lb @ 24-25% BF (although I'm getting this assessed again next month), so that's about 117 lb lean mass.

Thanks Sidesteal -- It's good to know I'm on the right track. I use the New Rules of Lifting for women as guide. I do alot of cardio in addition to heavy lifting, but I make sure I eat enough so my deficit isn't too large.

Given your stats I would just keep doing what you are doing. You could reduce protein slightly if you wanted to but I don't see a reason to if you enjoy your current method.

There will almost always be some muscle loss on a deficit, how much depends on your nutrition and training.

Get 0.5-0.75g of protein per pound of body weight, 1g won't hurt you but might be overkill.

Lift heavy (for your ability) 3-4 days per week.

If you do that and have a good nutrition plan you can minimized muscle loss to a point that it's unnoticeable.

^ Just to clarify, when I mentioned 1g I am referring to lean mass and not total BW. I think .75/BW is a reasonable amount and will probably end up close. And I know you weren't pointing the above post at me, I just wanted to mention to not confuse the OP.

Yes, I just said that because there will always be someone that suggests 1g per pound of BW which is overkill unless you are on gear.

Would we still have to eat that much protein on days when we're not strength training? I'm a protein kind of gal myself, but sometimes (like today for example) I can't reach that high (I think I took in 50 today). I'm 149 @ 27 BMI (from a chart so it may be off). I've recently gotten some muscle to show up and I don't want to lose it. =_=;;