What's wrong with losing lean muscle?

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  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    That's ok. I wasn't trying to offend when I said I thought she was too muscly, I am sure in many people's eyes she has an ideal body, it was just my personal opinion. I'm not trying to promote the model look, everybody is different and find different things attractive, it's just that I have always felt my body was different so I can relate to their skinny bodies and don't feel so abnormal.

    Ok, please just understand that the responses you will see over and over in this thread come from a place of concern. Please just strive to be healthy. Eat well and eat plenty, you don't need to lose any weight. You can even set your goals to gain a few pounds. You can certainly do that in a healthy way and you won't look bad at all. You never need to feel abnormal, losing muscle won't make anything better.

    Just take care of your health. Eat and know that you don't need to lose any weight. :flowerforyou:

    Well said
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    What is your diet like OP? Do you keep track of calories or exclude certain food groups? If you're in your mid 20s and that tall, you would have quite a high BMR. Honestly this thread is starting to stink of pro anorexia and the "thinspo" cult developing across the internet. I hate to see young women going malnourished for some media-created ideal so I'm genuinely concerned.
  • aradalj1
    aradalj1 Posts: 23
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    I can eat like a pig. I'm only 21 so can still get away with it. I'm sorry if you think this thread is pro-ana or thinspo. I hate that culture and really feel sorry for the young girls who get caught up in it.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I know there are real women who are naturally very thin. But the OP isn't posting about women who are that way naturally, she's idealizing people who starve themselves into the runway look. And you're off by about 6% for what I'd think would be horrible to encourage in women, and again for the same reason I discourage INTENTIONALLY going anorexic/bulemic, and that's the health concerns. Going above 30% body fat for a woman starts bringing on the same health issues in men above 24%, what I "idealize" if anything, is actually a pretty damn wide range in terms of body fat %.

    You're completely missing the point.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    see ^^ that 'musclyness' is exactly what I want to avoid. I think Snejana looks amazing, so ethereal.

    She is too skinny, very low muscle mass. Her body looks loke a 10 yr olds not a woman. How old is she?

    Considering she is, in fact, a woman, it seems she does look like a woman.

    I'm all for educating someone on the benefits of maintaining a healthy amount of muscle, but can we please stop insulting any woman who isn't YOUR ideal? Thanks.

    Her body looks like a child's. I think from later pics she's put on some weight and looks better. I like the thin look but that is too thin. Intentionally done by under-eating.

    And some women (yes, ADULT WOMEN) look like that without trying. I know several. I don't get why so many people here have to be insulting because another woman looks different than their particular goal.

    How about some respect that we're not clones?

    The runway is nothing but clones , why are you defending it? Seriously, you talk about respect and not bowing to other people's ideal images, yet the professional modeling world is nothing if not the epitome of bowing to an ideal image. Instead, you're getting snippy on people who support women being at a comfortable body fat % with a healthy muscle tone to promote a healthier way of living that reaps benefits even into old age.
    I'm not defending the runway. I'm defending all the "real women" out there who don't fit the ideal of the people in this thread who have called them "ugly" and "disgusting."

    Believe it or not, there are women -- REAL WOMEN -- who are very thin and not because they starve themselves or don't work out or whatever. Some women really are just very thin. And, you know what? Some people -- men and women -- actually find that look attractive.

    Just imagine if I came on here and said any women with a body fat percentage below 25 were "disgusting" and "ugly." Would you be upset about that? I think so.

    25% body fat on a woman is already a borderline between ideal & overfatness. I'm close to 20% body fat but I don't look anywhere near skinny
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I can eat like a pig. I'm only 21 so can still get away with it. I'm sorry if you think this thread is pro-ana or thinspo. I hate that culture and really feel sorry for the young girls who get caught up in it.

    Good to hear it. Honestly, you really don't need to lose any more at your current weight. If you think you're too muscular, if anything, you should be looking to raise your BF% as you won't have much muscle mass as you are.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I can eat like a pig. I'm only 21 so can still get away with it. I'm sorry if you think this thread is pro-ana or thinspo. I hate that culture and really feel sorry for the young girls who get caught up in it.

    OK, my suggestion is that you should start exercising and working on eating the healthiest foods you can MOST OF THE TIME. Not because you need to lose weight and I'm with the others that I doubt your legs are very large (muscle or no) at your height and weight. I don't know how that's possible. But I will say that at your age, I was able to eat what I wanted and not exercise and be quite thin. And then a few years later, that was no longer the case and I had to totally relearn how to eat and start exercising more regularly.

    That may or may not happen to you, but you can head it off now.

    I'll take your word that you're not anorexic, especially at your young age. I have a good friend since high school who was 5'9" and 99 pounds and she WANTED to weigh more. She overate and lifted weights just to try and put on weight and she couldn't. She was also healthy. (According to the people in this thread, she was "ugly" and "disgusting.") So if you say you're eating and not ana, I'm not going to question it.

    But I will say that muscle is a good thing to have. You need it for far more important reasons than how you look.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    nothing is wrong with it if that's what you intentionally want to do.

    it's your body.. i'm assuming you're an adult. what difference does it make to you whether or not others agree with your opinions and how you want your body to look?

    just BAD, BAD, BAD advice, seriously these passive answers are worse than the questions themselves
  • opus649
    opus649 Posts: 633 Member
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    I know this will fall on deaf ears, but what the hell...

    Current estimates of fat vs muscle in terms of energy expenditure are 2 calories per pound of fat and 6 per pound of muscle. So if you lost 20 pounds of fat and then gained 20 pounds of muscle (something I think a lot of us would *love* to do), you're looking at a net increase of 80 calories per day to your BMR.

    In other words, there are a ton of reasons why muscle is good and fat is bad. But the idea that muscle is some kind of magical fat burner is, well... simply not true.

    References:

    http://muscleevo.net/muscle-metabolism/

    http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=how_many_calories_does_muscle_really_burn_not_as_much_as_you_think

    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-many-calories-does-muscle-really-burn-and-why-its-not-about-calories-anyway/#axzz1uNVP9WzH
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I'm not defending the runway. I'm defending all the "real women" out there who don't fit the ideal of the people in this thread who have called them "ugly" and "disgusting."

    Believe it or not, there are women -- REAL WOMEN -- who are very thin and not because they starve themselves or don't work out or whatever. Some women really are just very thin. And, you know what? Some people -- men and women -- actually find that look attractive.

    Just imagine if I came on here and said any women with a body fat percentage below 25 were "disgusting" and "ugly." Would you be upset about that? I think so.

    25% body fat on a woman is already a borderline between ideal & overfatness. I'm close to 20% body fat but I don't look anywhere near skinny

    *sigh*

    Did you even read what I wrote?
  • opus649
    opus649 Posts: 633 Member
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    nothing is wrong with it if that's what you intentionally want to do.

    it's your body.. i'm assuming you're an adult. what difference does it make to you whether or not others agree with your opinions and how you want your body to look?

    just BAD, BAD, BAD advice, seriously these passive answers are worse than the questions themselves

    So it's not her choice?
  • capnwo85
    capnwo85 Posts: 1,103 Member
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  • aradalj1
    aradalj1 Posts: 23
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    I can eat like a pig. I'm only 21 so can still get away with it. I'm sorry if you think this thread is pro-ana or thinspo. I hate that culture and really feel sorry for the young girls who get caught up in it.

    OK, my suggestion is that you should start exercising and working on eating the healthiest foods you can MOST OF THE TIME. Not because you need to lose weight and I'm with the others that I doubt your legs are very large (muscle or no) at your height and weight. I don't know how that's possible. But I will say that at your age, I was able to eat what I wanted and not exercise and be quite thin. And then a few years later, that was no longer the case and I had to totally relearn how to eat and start exercising more regularly.

    That may or may not happen to you, but you can head it off now.

    I'll take your word that you're not anorexic, especially at your young age. I have a good friend since high school who was 5'9" and 99 pounds and she WANTED to weigh more. She overate and lifted weights just to try and put on weight and she couldn't. She was also healthy. (According to the people in this thread, she was "ugly" and "disgusting.") So if you say you're eating and not ana, I'm not going to question it.

    But I will say that muscle is a good thing to have. You need it for far more important reasons than how you look.

    Thanks, I'm taking all that on board. I joined MFP to learn how to eat healthy and recognise what crap I'm putting in my mouth not to lose weight, so that can have good eating habits when I'm older.

    Thanks everyone for your replies, even the concerned ones.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    I can eat like a pig. I'm only 21 so can still get away with it. I'm sorry if you think this thread is pro-ana or thinspo. I hate that culture and really feel sorry for the young girls who get caught up in it.

    That is really good to hear. Sorry for the accusations. It's just fairly common around here to see girls saying similar things to what you've said who do have ED.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    I think there is some misunderstanding on what the OP means here. From the looks of it, she's not aiming to lose weight & is just curious about the consequences of losing muscle which she now knows. She just confused of having muscles = unfeminine look & that she is aiming for a soft feminine look while still being healthy. As I mentioned earlier, you got to have very low body fat levels (teen digits) plus weight training to actually see a muscle definition or athletic look. But if your body fat percentage falls within 21-24% & you weight train, you won't be having that much visible muscle definition.

    EDIT: We need preview button here, there goes my grammar again :grumble:
  • Tators
    Tators Posts: 75
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    There are many health risk factors if you lose LBM, these are:

    1. slower metabolism - since muscles are metabolically active & needed more calories to sustain itself
    2. osteoperosis - lack of muscle will make our bones do less work & therefore lose bone density.
    3. it can lead to disease like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. (not to mention that our heart is a muscle too)
    4. it just won't look good on our body. Those Hollywood celebrities you mention does a lot of exercise to keep their muscles. I even read that Scarlett Johansson rocks a kettlebell. Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel & others also do strength training workouts. You would end up looking more like Nicole Richie or Lindsay Lohan if you lose muscle.
    5. you will feel weak since it is our muscles that keeps us strong

    Finally having muscle doesn't equate to having bodybuilder like body. Those gals who are like that do HOURS of training everyday & with some "help". It is impossible for a woman to grow big muscles like a man since we don't have enough testosterone levels for it. What we can only get from having more muscles is a toned, shapely body.

    Excellent post!
  • Aleara2012
    Aleara2012 Posts: 225 Member
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    This thread has gone astray IMO...

    To answer the OP question - losing muscle is bad for you. To put it in my doctor's words - if you had some more muscle you wouldn't live in constant pain. Muscle (among other things) supports your bone structure... no support for the bone-structure = many health problems and tons of pain. Wouldn't believe it in my '20s... I guess you also wouldn't get it until you are well into your '30s. *sigh* Such is the way of the world....
  • CatMauro
    CatMauro Posts: 225 Member
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    Besides all the health benefits, I personally think the athletic girl looks better. But that's just me.

    runway-model.jpg


    Crystal-682x1024.jpg

    They both have 12-15% BF but the girl on the right weighs about 35-40 lbs MORE (i.e. muscle).

    A picture is worth a thousand words here and then some. Besides the whole bone/joint thing, muscles need calories to sustain themselves, therefore the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn all the time and the faster you'll lose those inches :)
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
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    I'm not defending the runway. I'm defending all the "real women" out there who don't fit the ideal of the people in this thread who have called them "ugly" and "disgusting."

    Believe it or not, there are women -- REAL WOMEN -- who are very thin and not because they starve themselves or don't work out or whatever. Some women really are just very thin. And, you know what? Some people -- men and women -- actually find that look attractive.

    Just imagine if I came on here and said any women with a body fat percentage below 25 were "disgusting" and "ugly." Would you be upset about that? I think so.

    25% body fat on a woman is already a borderline between ideal & overfatness. I'm close to 20% body fat but I don't look anywhere near skinny

    *sigh*

    Did you even read what I wrote?

    Yeah I read it don't worry. I just pointed out that 25% body fat on a woman is already in the borderline between normal & overfat. ACE categorized it as "average" as in Average Americans who the majority are overfat. I'm sorry if you got confused with my response.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I'm not defending the runway. I'm defending all the "real women" out there who don't fit the ideal of the people in this thread who have called them "ugly" and "disgusting."

    Believe it or not, there are women -- REAL WOMEN -- who are very thin and not because they starve themselves or don't work out or whatever. Some women really are just very thin. And, you know what? Some people -- men and women -- actually find that look attractive.

    Just imagine if I came on here and said any women with a body fat percentage below 25 were "disgusting" and "ugly." Would you be upset about that? I think so.

    25% body fat on a woman is already a borderline between ideal & overfatness. I'm close to 20% body fat but I don't look anywhere near skinny

    *sigh*

    Did you even read what I wrote?

    Yeah I read it don't worry. I just pointed out that 25% body fat on a woman is already in the borderline between normal & overfat. ACE categorized it as "average" as in Average Americans who the majority are overfat. I'm sorry if you got confused with my response.

    I wasn't confused by your response. Your response had absolutely nothing to do with the point of my post. I chose 25% as an arbitrary number to make a point. I could have picked 22% or 19% or even 30% and made the same point, which is to quit criticizing people who don't look the way you think they should or the way YOU want to look. We all have our own goals and ideals.

    Personally, I wouldn't want to look like either of the women whose photos were posted in here as examples, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with someone who does and I would NEVER call either of them ugly or disgusting.

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