Loose weight without loosing muscle mass

jweighell

I've been trying to lose a little weight recently, maybe around a stone would be nice.

My food intake is similar to before I started, but now I'm avoiding any sneaky snacks in between meals and avoiding junk food. I'm doing a lot more miles on the bike now, and trying to mix both steady base miles up with harder faster/steeper rides. So hopefully this will help me loose some weight.

Though the more I've been reading, I've made myself paranoid that I'll loose muscle mass rather than burn fat in the process! Should I worry? Is there anything to help avoid this?

danowat

Thats the sort of stuff thats spouted on muscle mary forums, cardio work is a bit of a sin in those places!!!.

You'll only burn lean tissue if the body can't support its cal requirements from either stored fat, or stored glycogen.

Alsong as your diet isn't unusually restrictive, and your activity levels aren't unusually high, you'll be fine.

shm_uk

If you're worried about muscle mass then maybe it's worth complementing the cycling with one or two weights sessions in the gym each week? (or even at home - there's stuff you can do without the need for fancy gym equipment)

jweighell

I wasn't worried - the question is more... "should I be worried"?!

Probably like most, the objective is to lose a bit of weight and get stronger legs! And to achieve this I'm watching what I'm eating, and doing more riding... I think like I said, I'm probably reading too much, and making myself paranoid!

Pokerface

LOSE weight. Not loose weight. 8)

lemoncurd

Loose weight falls off really easily.

Losing weight is much more difficult.

jweighell

D'oh - OK... I meant "lose weight"!

pbt150

For starters, you don't need THAT much muscle for cycling, so unless you're REALLY losing weight you shouldn't worry too much and should be ok just being sensible.

Lose the weight slowly, aim for ~500 kcal deficit per day to lose 1-2 lbs per week. You want to cut down on fat (especially bad fats, olive oil/oily fish is ok), and increase your protein to around 1.6 g per kilo body weight, with enough carbs for duelling your training and recovery. Protein supplements that are a source of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) will also help keep the muscle on.