The truth about muscle loss during a diet 💪

There is a diagram that I want to show you today.

It shows the percentage of fat -free fats lost at different levels of calorie deficiency, depending on whether you are a strong workout or not. (You will find it below.)

In addition, she sheds light on one of my most favorite trends I see in the fitness industry today: Making extensive statements without any context.

And with ​Reaming of drugs GLP-1​ Like Ozmpic and Wegovy, I see that this pops up everywhere:

« If you do not eat enough protein and lift weights, just lose your entire muscle. »

We will enter it, but extreme statements like this are just uncomfortable and we miss so much of the important nuance.

Is power training useful when you are on these medicines or as a whole calorie deficit? Yes.

But if you listen to the common talk on the Internet (never a good idea), it sounds so that your muscles literally fall out of your body with every step you take. And it’s not just an increase in fear, it’s just not true.

Let’s increase the scale:

I want to destroy what is actually happening in your body so that we can talk real about different compromises.

✅ If you are in calorie deficit, you will lose weight

✅ Every time you lose weight, There is always some loss of a slender mass. (Ie things other than fat)

✅ The strength of exercise and eating larger amounts of protein can help you keep more than your muscle mass​ While in a calorie deficit

✅ The greater your deficit, the more a built -in mass you tend to lose independently From what you do.

✅ and GLP-1 do not change this, they just help people stick to larger deficits than they can and otherwise.

So to summarize, every time someone in the history of forever is weakened, part of it comes from a slender table.

The greater the calorie deficiency you are in (ie, the more you lose weight), the greater the percentage of this weight will come from the slender mass. This is completely normal and expected.

Strong workouts and eating larger amounts of protein can absolutely help you keep more than your slender mass. But you do not move from « loss of all muscles » to « loss of zero muscle ». These changes are degreesNot everything or nothing.

How much difference can workouts and eat more protein?

I’m so glad you asked!

Here is a diagram that shows on average where we expect a weight loss to come. (Individual results will vary depending on genetics, type of training, diet, etc.)

In general, power training helps to maintain an additional 10-15% of the lean body weight.

So, for example, if you lost 10 pounds for 3 months with a deficit of 500 kcal/day, you would expect about 2.5 pounds from being a lean mass, if you did not train and 1.5 kilograms of you are from a lean mass if you have trained (ie a difference of 1 kilogram.)

Why it matters:

I see that so many people are discouraging because they feel they don’t do it right. « 

Maybe they are not ​strength training​ Still.

Maybe they didn’t come up with how to hit their protein targets​S

Maybe they just try Stay consistent​ with each part of the process.

And they start to hear things like:

« You just lose muscle. »

« You are ruining all your progress. »

« You do it wrong. »

But really? You just compromise.

As an example, perhaps a slight calorie deficiency without strength training is easier to maintain than a much higher deficit with added strength training. Of course, it can take more time to see weight loss – but the fat -free ratio is essentially the same in each of these scenarios.

Or maybe you are deliberately continuing with a greater calorie deficiency for a short period of time and follow this with a more focused muscle building phase to restore some of this slender mass. This is another viable strategy.

The question is: if we can cross the fear and wild statements, we can hold a real discussion about which is the best choice for you based on where you are right now.

True Tales from a coach:

If you just start and weight loss is your goal, focus only Stay in a calorie deficiency​ It can be the best move.

Only this can help reduce joint pain, improve energy and increase confidence.

Then once is this solid? Add strength training.

Then protein.

Then maybe a little walk or sleeping habits​S

You don’t have to do everything, everywhere, all at once, to succeed.

In fact, most of the people we work with are successful by building a base and then adding to it – A habit at a time​S

Tl; DR:

• Yes, eating enough protein and lifting weights will help you maintain more muscles.
• More calorie deficiency = more muscle loss, even if you do everything else « right ».
• But these are degrees, not disasters.
• Focus on what you can do.

Do you want to talk about how to apply this to your plan? Just hit the answer and let me know.

You have this.

-Matt