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I've kept a log of the data I'm getting from my Tanita BIA scale since I got it in April. I'm trying to figure it out and make sure I'm evaluating it correctly but I'm not sure I like what I see. My figures show I've lost 11 lbs in that timeframe, 3lbs fat lost and 8lbs muscle lost. My body fat percentage is essentially unchanged.
If true, I'm losing almost 3x lean muscle mass compared to fat. Wow, not happy with that at all. I'd expect to lose some muscle but would expect the majority of my loss to come from fat - it's not like I'm a lean person yet, there's still fat to lose. Is there an average or expected ratio of fat/muscle loss when losing weight? I don't know but will look into it.
I feel I need to make some changes. Looking at IIFYM's macro recommendations my protein intake is good but I'm high in fat and low in carbs and fiber. I'll start focusing more on the macros, will lower the fat, bump up protein higher even though I'm already hitting their recommendation, and bump up my fiber as much as I can for carbs. I'm raising my RDI up to 1850 calories/day and will see how that goes. Also, for exercise I've been doing primarily aerobic/cardio, with HIIT type of stuff either on the bike or running stairs. I'm going to make sure I'm doing weights/resistance work 2 to 3 times a week - did it last night and am feeling it today but that's a good thing. Hopefully the changes will help me retain more muscle and lose a larger percentage of fat over time.
Diet Calendar Entries for 14 July 2015:
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1697 kcal
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Fat: 61.01g | Prot: 134.99g | Carb: 168.45g.
Breakfast: Shepherds of Cyprus Halloumi Cheese, Coffee. Lunch: Chobani Simply 100 Blueberry, Silk Pure Almond Milk - Original, Trader Joe's Organic Firm Tofu, Wyman's Fresh Frozen Wild Blueberries, Dannon Light & Fit Greek Blends - Toasted Coconut Vanilla, Open Nature Greek Nonfat Strained Yogurt - Plain, Toll House Cocoa, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey - Double Rich Chocolate. Dinner: Parmesan Cheese (Grated), Tomatoes, Kraft Natural Shredded 2% Milk Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese, Costco Rotisserie Chicken Breast Meat, Mustard, Mission Carb Balance Burrito, Bacon, Hidden Valley Light Ranch Salad Dressing, Fresh Express Garden Salad. Snacks/Other: Smartfood Delight White Cheddar Popcorn, Silk Pure Almond Milk - Original, Snickers Snickers Bar (Fun Size), Peach, Wyman's Fresh Frozen Wild Blueberries, Market Pantry Frozen Mango, Dole Frozen Strawberries, Bananas. more...
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 Comments
yeah. In my experience, eating too little calories results in both fat AND muscle protein metabolism. Also, going too long without eating in-between meals causes your metabolism to kick into 'survival mode' (e.g. eat muscle protein, conserve body fat for energy, etc). This COULD be amplified if you're working out/exercising in tandem. Bumping up your protein may indeed help.
I am not an expert. I am just sharing personal experience and "googled" knowledge that has proven effective in my own experience.
With all of that being said, you should check out http://totalsixpackabs.com/. It sounds cheesy, but the author explains the SCIENCE of fat/carb/protein metabolism and INTERVAL training vs. Cardio training; which was the KEY to manipulating your body composition virtually at will. (I'm not getting paid to say that. It just worked that good). It'll cost you about $40 for the info, but it was the best $$ i ever spent on fitness/diet. Based on your post, that information should help you tremendously.
14 Jul 15 by member: alowe82
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I have been absolutely ripped in the past and never had to go the route of megadoses of protein to look that way. Cardio for 45 minutes or uninterrupted walking/hiking for 1 hour daily, plus daily situps/crunches & pushups burns the fat steadily and defines the muscles, all on less than 65 grams of protein per day. This is what works for me, of course, but since you're looking for ways to change it up, I'm just putting it out there: focus on consistent & sustained cardio.
14 Jul 15 by member: soonsoonsoon
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I love how you are thoughtful and continue to tweak your plan. We all need to do that if we do not see the results we want at times.
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Any fasting I've done isn't of a type that would cause problems, it's been 16:8 which is beneficial, but haven't been doing it with any consistency in a while. I have been mistrustful of what fatsecret tells me I burn calorie wise and now my fitbit tells me I'm burning even more, so it's possible I've had my RDI too low. As I'd indicated I'm going to try upping my RDI and adjusting macros and will give it at least a month before evaluating. I don't care if it takes me another year to get to goal, it's important to me to maintain lean mass as much as I can. Cardio work is important to me also as I have heart disease so I'll continue but instead of sometimes doing more than one cardio a day I'll do 2 or 3 weight/resistance workouts a week....hopefully the best of both worlds.
14 Jul 15 by member: jmb3450
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The one thing that really baffles me is that everyone seems to seperate weight training and cardio. Each and every Kettlebell or TRX session I do is definiately both. I know I 'only' use my bodyweight during TRX and the biggest bell I use in the moment is a 16kg but do 20 squats 20 swings and 20 snatches and your heartbeat will be up and your muscles will start to scream. Kudos to being so diligent with logging all your numbers. Makes me look like a right lazy a**e :)
15 Jul 15 by member: schmetterling34
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Thanks Alowe82, Soon, HCB, Bill, and Tina for the ideas. Maybe I'm just over-thinking it, if I didn't have a BIA scale I wouldn't be questioning anything. I am going ahead as planned with tweaking RDI and macros, if anything this has me more focused on being accurate with that stuff, and sometimes I haven't been as accurate in counting/logging/measuring. Bill - I'll check my stride length, had thought of that but hadn't done anything about it. Tina - I guess for me separating weight training and cardio, it's more about the purpose of what I'm doing. My cardio is either a combo of fast walking/running stairs or doing a programmed routine on my exercise bike. Either gets my heart rate up to peak in intervals and that's my focus, having peaks of heavy exertion and working my cardiovascular system. Stairs really give my legs/butt a workout too. Weight/resistance I do on a Total Gym and my focus is on stressing/building muscle and toning and it's primarily upper body. But that does also get my heart going into the cardio range for some of the positions. So it's not like they're totally separate in reality, just the way I think about it and what I'm trying to achieve. Hope that makes sense. :)
15 Jul 15 by member: jmb3450
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I agree Schmetterling34 - weight work IS cardio when done in sequence! I think people are separating out the walking and running stuff from weights. My heart rate stays up when I use heavy weight - that is for sure.
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The kettlebell stuff is interesting to me, heard people talk about it but honestly not even sure what one is....I will check it out though. Are those the weights with handles on them?
15 Jul 15 by member: jmb3450
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Try something crazy. 6 to 8 weeks of maintenance RDI with strength workouts (ie no calorie deficiet) and switch to 6 to 8 weeks of small calorie deficient. A week of rest every three weeks and a rest day every week.
15 Jul 15 by member: jparlett
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If you have arthritis in your shoulders or back my doctor says don't use it. Just thought I'd pass that along.
15 Jul 15 by member: Addie Aline
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Hi JMB. Your experience is very common with people who undertake calorie restrictive diets combined with cardiovascular exercise, particularly when the carbohydrate intake is low. My advice is to eat 1.35 g of protein per pound of lean body mass; eat 20% of your calories from fat; make the rest of your calories come from carbs. You should try and eat at or slightly above your resting metabolic rate, cut down or completely cut out the cardio, and do conventional heavy strength training. Do this and you'll see the numbers on your BIA scale move the way you'd like.
If you don't know your resting metabolic rate, use the Cunningham equation, which is RMR = 500 + (22 x Lean Body Mass [LBM] in kg)
15 Jul 15 by member: tmiller123
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I am seeing better results with a more balanced cardio/ weight training vs just running. As long as I keep my calories up and protein at 60ish I seem to do very well.
15 Jul 15 by member: nicholaix
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15 Jul 15 by member: John10251
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Yes Jim. Looks like a ball with a handle made out of metal. And yes it makes sense :) Addie: I have athritis in my lower back, Kettlebell has helped me with it. But form is key. Done incorrectly you can hurt yourself. But thats the way with every weighttraining.
16 Jul 15 by member: schmetterling34
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Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. It's great to get input from different perspectives and experiences, very helpful. Even if I don't implement everything it gives me much food for thought and incorporating a variety of things into what I'm doing as my journey progresses.
16 Jul 15 by member: jmb3450
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