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  1. #1
    Registered User Tribals's Avatar
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    Unhappy I think I am shrinking...

    Hey guys, I am currently on a pretty nice cut. I have lost about 25 pounds and 3% BF. Anyways, as I looked at my reflection today, I'm starting to think that my muscles are getting smaller, especially my arms Now, I know that losing weight is 75% fat/25% muscle, but it almost seems like I am loosing ALOT of muscle. Any thought?

    Also, is my time in the gym lifting going to waste. I have read multiple threads saying that you can't build muscle while losing weight. Am I just wasting my time and money?
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    What is your strength like? If you're still as strong as before, then you are not losing muscle. However, if you are weaker, it could be either or both because of muscle loss and/or low energy levels.

    Remember also that when you cut calories you deplete your glycogen levels somewhat. For every gram of glycogen stored in your muscles, you store 3 grams of water. But, the corollory of that is when you lose glycogen you also lose the stored water. The result is that your muscles look flat and small.

    What weight and body fat percentage were you before the cut and what are you now?
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  3. #3
    Banned The Solution's Avatar
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    maybe ur not giving ur body enough.. i know when i cut a lot of weight i lost a ton of muscle mass

    but a random guess is that if you dont give enough food for ur body to add ( such calories in > Calories Out) ull gain weight and muscle)

    if you maintain ur calories you could def cut up and and keep that muscle mass

    but when u take a caloric defecit ur body is losing weight and its got to take it from somewhere.. im guessing u might lose a bit of muscle mass on a cut but you have to expect it when ur not giving ur body enough to fuel itself.. so its got to take the fuel from somehwere

    this again.. just a guess.. and from what happened to me in losing weight i lost some good muscle mass
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    Registered User Tribals's Avatar
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    I was 197, probably 22% BF when I started, but now I am down to 175 with 18.4% BF. I have definitely gotten weaker because I had to take some time off for my appendectimy. I am eating 1800 calories per day, with easily over 200g of protein. I started another thread asking if I was eating enough, but everyone else seemed to think so. I'm not sure what to do...
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    Registered User Basil08's Avatar
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    1800 would be enough, granted your cardio is not absurd. There is a thing that Arnold use to call "fear of smallness". When BB diet down, they lose a lot of size because of how large fat makes your muscles look. So don't sweat it, as long as your lifts stay up.
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    Fortified With Iron gfundaro's Avatar
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    1800 is only about 10Xbodyweight, which is VERY low. Too low, obviously, if you're losing 25% of your weight from muscle. You really don't need to lose that much, if any, if you're doing things correctly. You need to crunch some numbers and find your daily calories expended with activity included, and only eat 500 less than that. It makes no sense just picking an arbitrary number.
    You can recompose your body, but it takes a lot of work and reading and proper nutrition. It'll stop eventually, but you can do it for a period of time. And your time in the gym is VERY important...it's probably spared a lot of the muscle you've been starving at that calorie level.
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    Registered User Tribals's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Basil08 View Post
    1800 would be enough, granted your cardio is not absurd. There is a thing that Arnold use to call "fear of smallness". When BB diet down, they lose a lot of size because of how large fat makes your muscles look. So don't sweat it, as long as your lifts stay up.
    Ha, thanks man, and all the people that have given me good advice. I only do about 10-20 minutes of cardio per day so I think I will be in good shape. Thanks for the support. Reps!
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    Registered User Tribals's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by gfundaro View Post
    1800 is only about 10Xbodyweight, which is VERY low. Too low, obviously, if you're losing 25% of your weight from muscle. You really don't need to lose that much, if any, if you're doing things correctly. You need to crunch some numbers and find your daily calories expended with activity included, and only eat 500 less than that. It makes no sense just picking an arbitrary number.
    You can recompose your body, but it takes a lot of work and reading and proper nutrition. It'll stop eventually, but you can do it for a period of time. And your time in the gym is VERY important...it's probably spared a lot of the muscle you've been starving at that calorie level.
    Do you happen to have an estimate on how many calories 45 minutes of hard weight lifting would burn?
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    Fortified With Iron gfundaro's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Tribals View Post
    Do you happen to have an estimate on how many calories 45 minutes of hard weight lifting would burn?
    For me, yes. But not for you. We're different sizes/genders. Try looking it up at www.caloriesperhour.com. You can also find your BMR *and* how many calories you burn daily with your level of activity.
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    yeah 1800 does sound awfully low for a guy.
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    Originally Posted by Tribals View Post
    Ha, thanks man, and all the people that have given me good advice. I only do about 10-20 minutes of cardio per day so I think I will be in good shape. Thanks for the support. Reps!
    avg 15 min. cardio 7 days a week plus weightlifting as your avtivity factor? 1800 will most likely not suffice.
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    Born Free Environ's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Tribals View Post
    I was 197, probably 22% BF when I started, but now I am down to 175 with 18.4% BF. I have definitely gotten weaker because I had to take some time off for my appendectimy. I am eating 1800 calories per day, with easily over 200g of protein. I started another thread asking if I was eating enough, but everyone else seemed to think so. I'm not sure what to do...

    OK, some maths.

    You were 197 @ 22% body fat, which is about 43 lbs of fat
    You are now 175 @ 18.4$ body fat, which is 32.2 lbs of fat.

    So, you have lost a total of 22 lbs, of which 10.8 lbs are fat. So, you've lost 11.2 lbs of something else. If you are thinking that the 11.2 lbs is all muscle, well, it's not. You've lost water, glycogen and gastrointestinal bulk too remember, but some of it was muscle.

    1800 calories is way too low for you. The maximum weight loss that you should allow is 1% of body weight per week, which is usually between 1 and 2 lbs a week.

    You need to increase your calories again. Do it gradually. You will find that your energy levels increase again and your strength will return.
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