Hi all,

I seem to be losing muscle and not fat. I am staying at the same or higher body fat %, but losing weight.

I have been losing about 1 kilo a week over a 4 week period. and i am currently at 83 kilos. I thought it was a good amount of weight to be losing in that period of time.

here are my stats

height 184 cm
wieght 83
body fat 12.9-13.2
daily colories 1900-2000 40/30/30

training
5 day split
weights 40mins followed by 20 minutes cardio. I have a sedentry job.

so what do you think is going on folks? i was on 2300 calories for 1 month prior and i wasnt losing any weight or body fat, I am a bit stuck in what to do....

Some of the weight you lost could have been water weight. Also, your bf% calculations are likely to be inaccurate. You didnt provide much information (like exactly what you are eating), but from what you provided, you shouldnt be losing any muscle (not that much anyway).

Keep in mind, your body fat is rather low, meaning its a lot more difficult for you to lose fat than someone with 20 or 30% body fat.

One change you can make is splitting up your cardio and weights. Do the cardio in the mornings (20mins is too short, try at least 40mins) and do your weights in the arvo or evening.

Just keep at it for now. You're at the hard stage of weight loss (getting into single figures) so your progress will be slow. Just remain consistent and follow the major guidelines and the results should come. :tu:

thanks for the quick response.

Ive been eating clean and have been on a challenge with some others from this forum since xmas. Its not fluid as I have been tracking calories for about 3 months now and have not had a cheat meal in weeks.

I was just wondering what is going on with the body fat. i get it done at a bodybuilding supply shop from a guru (he's done hundreds) so im pretty confident with the whole thing.

I'm just a bit confused about the whole deal.... also i am starting to get reall tired and hungry most of the time on 1900 calories and wondering if i should go up? if i do , im worried ill put on more fat.

here is the challenge if you want to read more.

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=11146

Hmmm this one is difficult to work out.

I find it very hard to believe that what you lost was all muscle. Sure you will lose some muscle, but, losing 1kg of muscle a week is a hell of a lot. You have to be doing something very wrong to lose that much muscle.

In the other thread, you said you were doing an internship at a hospital. Are studying medicine? If so, you would probably have more of an idea than me regarding why the body metabolises muscle. I've never seen this much muscle loss in conjunction with the type program you are performing.

I'm 178cms and about 80kg, and in my last cut (Im currently bulking), I got down to 10% bf by eating 2000-2200 and I didnt lose that much muscle. And, I was doing way more cardio than you which would encourage muscle metabolism.

If I were you, I'd increase my cals to above 2000 and just stick it out. Sometimes the body can respond in unusual ways before it gets into a routine.

thanks again for the reply markus. times like this i wish i was doing medicine. i would fire a the hospitals dexa scan, and see if i was really losing all that muscle. I am an intern psychology at the moment, not to much stress but early mornings.

I am curious to about how much cardio you did when you got to 10%. maybe im not doing enough. although as i am tired from being hungry all the time im not sure if i could do anymore...

Maybe you're lifting inefficiently...
Flip some things around in that area :)

You need to cut back to a 3 day split and if you really want to, do cardio on these off days.
Your overtraining by doing cardio after weights.
Your diet seems to be under control but the training is out of control.
If your losing muscle it will reflect in your weight training, as in not increasing in weights or reps each week.

thanks again for the reply markus. times like this i wish i was doing medicine. i would fire a the hospitals dexa scan, and see if i was really losing all that muscle. I am an intern psychology at the moment, not to much stress but early mornings.

I am curious to about how much cardio you did when you got to 10%. maybe im not doing enough. although as i am tired from being hungry all the time im not sure if i could do anymore...

Well, I was doing 45-50 mins of cardio in the mornings (fasted) 5-6 times per week and I was playing squash (for about an hour) 3 times per week. I also did weight training 4 times per week.

It depends on your fitness, but from playing sport (some of it at a high level) most of my life, my fitness was pretty good when I began my transformation. Hence, I was able to jump into the deep end when it came to cardio.

As I said, if you are doing continuous training (40mins 65% MHR) for only 20mins, you should bump it up to at least 40mins.

You said you feel hungry and tired. When I was eating about 2000-2200, I was never hungry. In fact I had to force the food down my throat. It was all clean (heaps of vegies, lean meats, complex carbs etc.) so that adds up to a lot of food. I also took certain supps like whey and vit and minerals that made things a lot easier. If you are always tired, then something is not right. Maybe you should post exactly what you are eating, you might be deficient in certain nutrients or you could simply be not eating enough.

okay here is what i eat, i dont have my pda with me so i cant give you exact numbers, but they're bang on 1900 as i calculate it with dietclub software.

7am oats + 5 egg whites and 1 yolk
10am cashews 20g + chicken breast
1pm brocolli and other veg + 250 gm of cottage cheese
3pm low GI (39) heavily seeded bread 22grm of carbs
330 workout
430 PWO shake 30gms protein + 40gms dextrose
500 low gi heavily seeded bread agin 22 grams
800 cottage cheese and cashews

this is an average day, although i do change things around with type of foods i eat.

what do you think?

First, switch the Chicken breast at 1000 with the bread at 1700.

You have two meals with just bread. Why not add something to these meals to make them a bit more nutritious. Maybe a salad or vegetables and some tuna or something.

I definitely think you need to add more vegetables. It looks like you need more carbohydrates and they will provide that. I have veggies with at least 3 meals during the day. In the mornings I just steam up a big bowl of veggies and get through them during the day.

You might want to think about vitamin and mineral supplements also, pharmaceutical grade if possible.

I know you said you change these foods around, but it looks like you dont have any proper cooked meals. They all look a little one-dimesional. Check out the sticky in the recipes section and maggie (causticmuse) has posted heaps of great recipes. The thing about a healthy weight loss program is you want to start eating healthy foods and meals that you could eat for the rest of your life. Do you think you could eat the foods you posted forever? I wouldnt think so, its too bland and not nutritiously diverse. Learn to cook healthy, yummy meals and get into the right habits and healthy weight loss is no problem, not to mention healthy living for life. :tucool:

okay here is what i eat, i dont have my pda with me so i cant give you exact numbers, but they're bang on 1900 as i calculate it with dietclub software.

7am oats + 5 egg whites and 1 yolk
10am cashews 20g + chicken breast
1pm brocolli and other veg + 250 gm of cottage cheese
3pm low GI (39) heavily seeded bread 22grm of carbs
330 workout
430 PWO shake 30gms protein + 40gms dextrose
500 low gi heavily seeded bread agin 22 grams
800 cottage cheese and cashews

this is an average day, although i do change things around with type of foods i eat.

what do you think?


You say this is 1900? I had to guess at some of the portions but even being generous this only adds up to about 1300 the way I see it.

If that 20-minute cardio after lifting is only 20-minutes because it's high-intensity, then you've designed the perfect routine for muscle loss. You've got to begin the muscle recovery phase immediately after lifting, which means move your cardio somewhere else.

How are you measuring your BF? BF measurements are notoriously inaccurate.