Lost muscle while losing weight!!! help please

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ianwelch
ianwelch Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey I have been on a diet since March 5th 2012. I am 23 years old 5'11" and weighed 241lbs. Since March 5th I have lost over 50lbs and am down to 189. I was doing alot of cardio getting ready for my police exam. I have noticed that since then I have lost muscle as well. Before I started my diet I was able to bench press 145 easily, but I have noticed Now I am struggling benching 125lbs.
I was counting my calories and was eating around 1600 a day whether or not I was working out.
My working out usually consisted of an hour of cardio and weightlifting/ push ups, pull ups, dips.
My cardio has improved alot since but I just feel so weak. I always eat about 70g of protein a day
Can anyone help me out here?
Thanks

Replies

  • ianwelch
    ianwelch Posts: 4
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    ALso I forgot to mention i do push ups every day and I have also found those have become harder to do. Im confused on what to do
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    You may need to increase your intake... I'm a 5'7 girl and I'm eating 1800-1900! If you are losing muscle rather than fat you likely aren't eating enough to sustain your workouts and maintain your lean body mass.
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    I'm typing with my mobile so this will be a short reply. I noticed an increase in strength as soon as I upped my calories. Eat say 200 or 300 per day more for a few weeks and see how your lifting goes! It'll help you to lift heavier and get stronger. You'll also have heaps more energy for it! :). Well done on your loss. The closer you get to goal the more you need to eat as well. Be prepared though for a slower loss
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    I'm typing with my mobile so this will be a short reply. I noticed an increase in strength as soon as I upped my calories. Eat say 200 or 300 per day more for a few weeks and see how your lifting goes! It'll help you to lift heavier and get stronger. You'll also have heaps more energy for it! :). Well done on your loss. The closer you get to goal the more you need to eat as well. Be prepared though for a slower loss

    Ive lost 32 kg in 27 months with heavy weights, vigorous exercise. The last 5 kg have taken approx a year to lose and the latest kg took 6 months to lose even though I lost heaps of cm. For the last year I've been eating 1800-2300 per day and I'm 5'2
  • cckellympls
    cckellympls Posts: 39 Member
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    I think if you increase your protein intake every day (lean protein) you will notice a difference. I aim for 130 grams of protein per day. Try for around 100 g of protein to start and go from there. That could mean a chicken breast or a protein shake after each workout. Works for me! Good luck! You can do it!
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
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    At 5'11" and 189 you should be fairly close to an ideal weight. Congratulations! They won't check your bodyfat percentage at the door. I think you'd been seen better in the eyes of the evaluators in the mid 180s blowing the PT test out of the water, than to show up as a skinny-fat 170 pounder. My suggestion would be to check your physical fitness requirements for the job and train for those. There likely won't be bench presses. The ones I have seen involve a run time, push ups, sit ups, and some agility tests like scaling a fence and pushing a car "x" feet. For your athletic perfomance to improve your're likely going to have to eat more calories and more protein (I suggest upping to caloric maintenance and at least doubling protein). Check out the program "100 push ups" and "couch to 5K" online if you need help with those areas. Good Luck!
  • InSynergy
    InSynergy Posts: 3
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    ***This advice is based on the fact (I'm assuming) you are a male who is still trying to lose body fat while simultaneously building muscle***

    I recommend you increase your daily calorie consumption to 1800-2000 calories...GRADUALLY in 10% increases so as not to shock your system. (If you currently eat 1600/day, increase to 1760 and do that for a week, then increase another 10% the following week to about 1950).

    Now here is the important part!!!!

    Be sure you are consuming enough protein!! You should be eating at about .6 to 1g of protein for each pound you weigh. So if you weigh, say 200 lbs, you should be eating about 120 - 200g of protein per day. Then, you need to make sure that you are consuming that protein incrementally throughout the day (30-45g per meal) as your body can only process about 10-15g/protein per hour and it takes your body about 3hrs to digest protein.

    Every body responds differently and you may have to tweak this "formula" for what works best for your body, but this is a general rule of thumb to follow. If you don't consume an adequate amount of protein and decrease calories your body will drop weight, but at the cost of losing muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn per hour so it's vitally important for strength, stamina and overall health to make sure your protein intake is where it should be.

    Hope this helps!
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    For what you are doing in a workout, 1600 is not enough in my opinion. MFP figures in what you need to eat if you burn x amount of calories. I too thought I could get away with less calories and got weaker really quick, within 41 days(only on MFP for 20 some) Anyway, the winners here will tell you your body needs more fuel not less when you are hitting the workouts hard. You can start now;) Build back that muscle with real food, meats, chicken, fish, fruits, vegies, All the 5 foodgroups unless you have allergies to any foods and also check out some food diaries to see how people are eating. I haven't been here long enough but you can see what I eat if you like:) denise

    Hey I have been on a diet since March 5th 2012. I am 23 years old 5'11" and weighed 241lbs. Since March 5th I have lost over 50lbs and am down to 189. I was doing alot of cardio getting ready for my police exam. I have noticed that since then I have lost muscle as well. Before I started my diet I was able to bench press 145 easily, but I have noticed Now I am struggling benching 125lbs.
    I was counting my calories and was eating around 1600 a day whether or not I was working out.
    My working out usually consisted of an hour of cardio and weightlifting/ push ups, pull ups, dips.
    My cardio has improved alot since but I just feel so weak. I always eat about 70g of protein a day
    Can anyone help me out here?
    Thanks
  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Yes and you look great, no muscle loss there:) I can't wait to finish up my exercise calories today:)
    You may need to increase your intake... I'm a 5'7 girl and I'm eating 1800-1900! If you are losing muscle rather than fat you likely aren't eating enough to sustain your workouts and maintain your lean body mass.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    When I use the Scooby calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/) I get the following for you based on 3-5 hours/week of moderate exercise (and you may be doing more):

    BMR: 1876
    TDEE: 2907
    Cut 15%: 2472
    Cut 20%: 2327

    So you should be eating around 2300-2400 calories/day to lose a pound per week of fat. Eating 1600/day you're burning up your muscle. Eat WAY more.

    Edited to update numbers based on your current weight (original calculations at your start weight) and to add, you should eat 1g protein for every lb lean mass... or at the very least, aim for .7g for every pound of body weight... so you want to aim for at least 130g protein daily. 70 doesn't cut it for my 120 lbs lean mass.

    Click "Groups" up above and search "Eat More to Weigh Less"... then read through the stickies. I think you have effectively burned up some of your lean mass.

    As an example, I'm female, 5'7", 36 years old and 168 lbs... I eat about 2100 calories/day (net 1600) to lose 1-1.5 lbs/week.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    More protein - 70g is not enough, you need to aim for 1g/lb lean body mass, and err on the side of more protein. The two main ways to preserve muscle mass are resistance training and getting sufficient protein. You're weight lifting, so it's obviously the protein that's the problem.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    More protein - 70g is not enough, you need to aim for 1g/lb lean body mass, and err on the side of more protein. The two main ways to preserve muscle mass are resistance training and getting sufficient protein. You're weight lifting, so it's obviously the protein that's the problem.

    ^^this

    Plus 1600 calories is way too low for a guy. Up your calories and up your protein.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,704 Member
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    Eat more and lift some heavy *kitten* weights! That will get your strength back and help with some muscle rebuilding.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i'm way older, shorter and more female than you and i eat more than that .eat some food and lift some weights,
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Hey I have been on a diet since March 5th 2012. I am 23 years old 5'11" and weighed 241lbs. Since March 5th I have lost over 50lbs and am down to 189. I was doing alot of cardio getting ready for my police exam. I have noticed that since then I have lost muscle as well. Before I started my diet I was able to bench press 145 easily, but I have noticed Now I am struggling benching 125lbs.
    I was counting my calories and was eating around 1600 a day whether or not I was working out.
    My working out usually consisted of an hour of cardio and weightlifting/ push ups, pull ups, dips.
    My cardio has improved alot since but I just feel so weak. I always eat about 70g of protein a day
    Can anyone help me out here?
    Thanks



    You probably could benefit from more protein. I'd also up the calories. I'm a 5"2 115-120 pound female and who can't lift nearly as heavy as you and I eat more than 1600 a day.
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
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    Reaaaaad

    http://4chanfit.wikia.com/wiki/Harsh's_Worksheet_(WIP)
  • rohantyagi
    rohantyagi Posts: 3
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    hey bro, i suggest u to take around 1g of protein per pound of body weight and with cardio start concentrating on strength training.
    take carbs + protiens just after your weight traning. concentrate on compound movements i.e chest, back and legs and do max of 8 reps and min of 5 reps on each set . try to lift as heavy as possible. Also don't do long hours of cardio , concentrate on the intensity for eg. do some sprints it will shed the FAT and preserve your muscle.
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    1.5g/kg protein if doing resistance training at a deficit (1g is fine if at a surplus). Dropping lean body mass is one of the unfortunate side-effects of doing a lot of cardio, but you will definitely need the cardio endurance so it can't really be helped.

    You may want a smaller deficit depending on how much body fat you have left to drop as well.

    Once the fat is gone, eat at a mild surplus and lift weights like a mofo to get your strength back up!

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