Training for Weight Loss - Fat Loss vs Muscle Loss

dexradio

A bit of background to set the scene.

I've been cycling for about 6 months and have lost 2 stone as a result. I've got another 4 to lose. I'm eating proper amounts of proper food and doing about 500 miles a month on the bike. So I'm measuring calories in and calories out. I recognise its not an exact science of course, but it helps me keep track and to raise my personal awareness on what I eat and what exercise I do. My primary objective is to burn calories and lose weight at the moment, but I still alternate Easy/Hard days. I train with HR and use it as a guide for Easy/Hard training. Hard is typically a tempo ride of 60-90 minutes at about 85% max.

I've been trying to keep an eye on Body Composition, recognising I've got a lot of weight to lose, I'm looking for some guidance around what I should "expect" to see in terms of muscle loss compared to fat loss. Assuming, with such a lot of weight to lose, I can expect to lose some lean tissue? My objective is to lose as much fat as possible and to retain as much muscle as possible, but I'm noticing that each week there is a mix of both fat and muscle lost (obviously) to produce my loss for the week. How do I maximise fat loss? I'm using a Tanita Body Scan scales to measure body fat each week. I know these are not 100% accurate either but it gives me a comparable number each week to look at.

Any links/info/expertise appreciated. Do I just need to eat more protein and less carb. to ensure I don't lose muscle (or reduce the muscle lost)? Or are there any guidelines on how best to retain muscle and reduce fat? Is muscle loss to be expected given the amount I need to lose?

Thanks,

Dex.

ut_och_cykla

Using muscles tends to help retain them - which is why weight training is often recommended in conjunction with weight loss. And if you want to prioritise fat loss you need to make teh loss slow and steady with no really tough exercise. Its my understanding that generally when the body starts to consume its stores of things carbs go first, then proteins then fats, and that in exercise situations hard efforts burn mostly carbs and little fat and vice versa - but dont quote me! Good luck!

johncp

My first reaction to your question was that we only burn muscle as fuel in extreme starvation situations - had a quick google (muscle loss) which pretty much confirms it. So you needn't worry, especially as you have a fair bit of energy stored!
Good luck

Anonymous

Mate, you are a perfect candidate to speak to Barry at www.optimumnution4sport.com

He did me a plan that I started just over 5 weeks ago, it has transformed me and my cycling already!
Lost a shedload of weight but increased power faster than I was before. Feel fantastic too...

pbt150

Long cardio sessions will make you lose some muscle mass, or at the very least make it much harder to put muscle on. It's inevitable, just look at marathon runners vs sprinters, or Wiggo vs Chris Hoy. But you can minimise muscle loss by upping your protein intake a bit, and eating whilst on the bike. If you're losing weight, some of it will be muscle.

But if you're training well and looking after yourself off the bike, then your body will adapt to cycling, and put the muscle where it's needed. You don't need to be a bodybuilder to cycle well.

dexradio

Thanks all, nice to have some reassurance. I wasn't sure if I should be trying to keep the muscle weight as high as possible and just lose the fat, after all I have a lot to lose :-)

I think my diet is healthy now, weight is dropping at between 1-3lbs per week, its slowing down a lot now so likely to settle at 1-2lbs per week which I think is ok. I'm feeling full and am not tired at all at my current levels. So I'm trying to listen to my body.

NapoleanD - I've seen other posts from you regarding Barry, I might just take your advice and drop him a mail this morning.

Thanks,

Dex.

chill123

it sounds like you're doing the right things.

i used to count the calories (via and iphone app) but to be honest found i was obsessing about it a bit.

recently i've lost 5kg quite easily by just really trying to eat better. i did the followinbg:

- cut out the bacon sangers in favouir or porridge or muesli
- cut out mid afternoon twix in favour of fruit or 'healthy' snack bars
- aimed to eat less sandwiches in favour chop salads/sushi (low fat, low carb, decent protein lunches)
- cut out the mid week evening beers

basically we all know what is good/bad for us. i've just found a bit of restraint and cut out quite a lot of the cr$p. it's easy once you start to see the results.

i've not noticed any muscle loss, just feel a lot fitter and looking forward to kicking on my riding this season now i'm a few kg lighter.

KnightOfTheLongTights

chill123 wrote:

- cut out the bacon sangers in favouir or porridge or muesli
- cut out mid afternoon twix in favour of fruit or 'healthy' snack bars
- aimed to eat less sandwiches in favour chop salads/sushi (low fat, low carb, decent protein lunches)
- cut out the mid week evening beers

sound tips there.

Without wishing to sound like a smug git, I've never been too overweight, but I do know that if I take my eye off the ball my weight will start to rise rapidly. So whiel I do enough exercise to eat most of the things I like, I do stay by certain rules:

- I like porridge / muesli for breakfast with banana but often find it leaves me hungry by late morning. I ride that out, or have a bit of fruit or flapjack or healthy cake or summat. Others swear by an egg for breakfast (with some toast) for holding off hunger, thanks to its protein content. I can just never be arsed cooking one.

- I swear by smoked fish (mackerel fillet etc) for lunch along with pasta / rice and salad.

- Whilst eating a large plate of pasta at night is not recommended by some, I find that if you are doing enough hard exercise over the week it's fine.

- Beer is the thing that puts weight on for me: two nights a week, 6-8 pints total - that's my limit (not strictly enforced but I know anything over that, I will have to cut back on summat else to keep the lbs off).

But my main point is: I am dubious re. exercising 'for weight loss' - I don't think it's the best way to go about it.

I think you're more likely to lose weight over the long-term and maintain a sensible weight if you are exercising for some other objective: to get aerobically fit, to get better at cycling, to improve strength, to take part in a triathlon / marathon / sportive, whatever.

Food intake is by far the more important side of the weight equation compared to exercise anyway.

Just my penceworth.

niblue

I'm also working on getting the weight down, having lost a stone since Boxing Day - but also with perhaps another 4 stone to get where I ideally want to be. I did a fair bit of reading etc. on approach initially but have decided on a very simple strategy - eat less, no snacking, exercise more.

I've completely cut out booze (not that I was much of a drinker anyway), stopped snacking between meals and cut out 2nd helpings when I do eat. In conjunction with an average of approximately an hours exercise a day that's seeing the weight come off steadily but with me still coping fine with exercise and not feeling too hungry.

I've got objectives in addition to weight loss ones, however realistically I think I need to get the weight down by a significant amount before I can start to focus on anything but that - although being lighter and having exercised more I should start to see my on-bike performance increase anyway.

I'm invested in a few gadgets to help as well - I already had a good (pretty much gym standard) treadmill and, having borrowed a simple turbo-trainer initially, picked up a cheap Tacx iMagic in the scales. I also use a Garmin Forerunner to track all my exercise sessions and log them - and fine that is making it easier to see the results (along with tracking my weight a couple of times a week on a Wii Fit).

markyboy2005

NapoleonD wrote:

Mate, you are a perfect candidate to speak to Barry at www.optimumnution4sport.com

He did me a plan that I started just over 5 weeks ago, it has transformed me and my cycling already!
Lost a shedload of weight but increased power faster than I was before. Feel fantastic too...

http://www.optimumnutrition4sport.com/

Sorry Nap, Link was slightly wrong, corrected it as I was interested in the site....cant shift a bit even though I'm working like a dog!

mattshrops

Calorie counting on one of the many free internet sites really seemed to work for me, especially if you find one that will show you what proportion of fats, carbs protein etc. you can also set weight loss targets and log your weight.
One thing that did for me was made me decide that some 'foods' just arent worth it.
Portion control is a biggie.- although having said that you can absolutely stuff your face with veggies and fruit- and thats got to have a positive effect on your health as well.
Back to the ops original question what ive read is that you cant help but burn SOME muscle. -but lower effort(zone1-2) burns a higher ratio of fat to muscle than when you push really hard. Go figure :?
Plenty of people say they dont care about their upper body as long as they can ride well, me personally i want to ride well and not look like a stick. I do exercises using my own bodyweight like chins, dips and press ups- this also doesnt seem to need any recovery time so no time off bike-result