Could losing weight mean losing muscle?

LesIsMoreXX
LesIsMoreXX Posts: 169
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Maybe this is a dumb question....

I'm not sure if it's a myth that muscle weights more than fat or if they weigh the same? And if not, could I possibly be gaining fat but losing muscle? Because I've lost a bit of weight recently but I've been doing pretty light exercise. How would I know if I'm actually losing weight and my muscles aren't just in a state of atrophy?

Thank you!

Replies

  • cgrout78
    cgrout78 Posts: 1,628 Member
    there's a very good chance that you'll lose muscle along with fat as you lose weight. Doing strength training helps to curb this a little though. Someone else will come along to cite studies and all that :)
  • MrDude_1
    MrDude_1 Posts: 2,510 Member
    Maybe this is a dumb question....

    I'm not sure if it's a myth that muscle weights more than fat or if they weigh the same? And if not, could I possibly be gaining fat but losing muscle? Because I've lost a bit of weight recently but I've been doing pretty light exercise. How would I know if I'm actually losing weight and my muscles aren't just in a state of atrophy?

    Thank you!

    yes its possible for that to happen, but unlikly for someone that hasnt been lifting for awhile.

    to go to extremes for example... a huge bodybuilder guy that stops lifting and starts eating will lose alot of muscle, and get fat.
    but a small overweight woman that never lifted is unlikely to lose much muscle (they will still lose some) since they are using what they have in day to day movement... in otherwords they have what they have because of day to day movement... while the bodybuilder only has it from lifting.

    in anycase..... lift weights. lol
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    It can absoluteyl mean that. That's why you need to work out too.
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
    ANYONE who loses weight is going to lose muscle as well. If you keep your protein up and strength train, however you see fit really, you stand a better chance of losing proportionally more fat than muscle. Also if you ever decide to eat in caloric excess you will gain some fat along with muscle no matter how diligent you are.
  • PaulKruse
    PaulKruse Posts: 12
    The opposite is also true, that if you are training to gain muscle mass, then you are also putting on some fat. Body builders will put on some fat in order to enable new muscle growth, and then try to lose the fat before a competition without also losing too much muscle mass.

    If you have much fat, then your body will likely naturally dump more fat than muscle. But if you have little fat, then you will lose more muscle than fat. Body builders learn all sorts of ways to minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss to look the way they do. Some actually do it without pharmaceutical help.

    A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh exactly the same, but the muscle is denser. Another big difference is that a pound of fat stores a whole lot more calories than a pound of muscle. It is a 9:4 ratio. So the same calorie deficit that would burn four pounds of fat would burn off nine pounds of muscle. The muscles also store glycogen for fuel. Every pound of glycogen is attached to two pounds of water. So if someone tells you that they lost 12 pounds in a week, you can bet it was mostly water and muscle. That is one reason for dieting to lose weight more slowly, it tends to conserve on the muscle loss.
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