Loss Of Muscle Mass

Posted by Shannon Clark Jan 23, 2007

One of the biggest problems that dieters face when they go on a diet is the loss of lean muscle tissue. The reason why this can be so devastating is because along with a loss of lean muscle mass comes a decrease in the resting metabolic rate. This will not only make fat loss harder but will also make maintaining what weight loss you have achieved much more difficult as well.

The reason why muscle loss occurs when dieting is because when you are taking in a hypocalorie diet (eating less calories than required to maintain yourself), after your body runs out of carbohydrates to use it will start to initially turn to protein for fuel. This means that there is less protein leftover from your diet than is needed to maintain your muscle fibers. If the calorie deficit is great enough, rapid muscle loss can be a big problem.

The way to offset this situation from happening is to consume more dietary protein so that your body will have more than enough to spare. Generally, regardless of your total calorie requirements, so long as you are taking in 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight in protein, you will minimize any nitrogen losses (muscle degradation).

Another way to check to see if you are in fact losing muscle mass on a diet is to gauge your strength levels. If you notice your strength level is seriously declining, chances are you are losing muscle mass in the process. If this is the case, either increase total calories so there is less of a deficit or else increase protein intake if you are not yet at that 1.5 grams/lb recommendation.

Finally, performing strength training activities will also go a long way to stopping muscle tissue loss while dieting so it is of utmost importance that you continue to go to the gym 2-4 times per week while dieting. Don't get caught thinking that you should just go spend all your time doing cardio because it burns more calories per minute, while cardio is important, strength training is equally essential.