Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I checked my body fat % with one of those handheld checkers today and used its results to calculate my lean muscle mass. I did this in May/June at around 290lbs and had a lean muscle mass of around 193. I am 268lbs right now and, according to today, have around 183 lbs lean muscle mass. I don't like the thought of losing muscle, but should I be concerned?

Diet: 90+% paleo (primal variant, includes some dairy--mostly cheese, and Lindt 90% chocolate 2x/week or so)... probably much higher than 90% in actuality, but food is conventional, not grassfed/organic/pastured, etc which knocks it down a bit and I like cheese

Exercise: Predominately walking, maybe 7-8 miles/week at a slow pace. Occasional jog/walk intervals, very occasional sprints, wrestling on the floor with the kids every other day or so. Did the insanity fit test this morning; that about killed me.

Proportionally, I am still much higher muscle:weight ratio than I have been in a long time, but I don't want to get down to 215lb only to have another 30lbs+ of fat still to lose.

flag	asked Sep 24 2011 at 0:56 Eric 1,971●4●13

	+1 - good question and one of concern, for sure. Congrats on your weight loss and the healthy way in which you are going about it! – Atkins-witha-loincloth Sep 24 2011 at 1:26
	Thank you. I am down from a highest ever point of 382 - quite a ways to go, but quite a ways I've come. Still need to clean my diet up some... way too much poultry, not enough ruminants/fish/other game; too many nuts and bananas but I'm pretty content with it because I am losing weight still and feel good. Forgot to put in the OP that I typically eat in a 6-8 hour window in the afternoon/evening (3-9ish). Sometimes I will eat eggs at 6am as well. Don't know if that could hurt muscle. – Eric Sep 24 2011 at 1:38

Atkins-witha-loincloth · Answer 1 · 2011-09-24 01:24:55Z UTC

I am no expert on this. But the information I have and my experiece is, is that the hand held devices are very unreliable. Where I work out there is one and when I do weight and meaurements every 3-4 months, they always do it. I have a higher quality scale (moderately expensive - not cheap!) at home that I trust much more and there is a significant diference in the readings between the scale measurements of fat% and muscle% and what the hand held gizmo reads.

It sounds like you are having good loss and doing all the right stuff. For where you are now our exercise regime looks good to me. Walking is great stuff. Yo could try picking up the pace a bit there, sometimes, as well as adding some mileage incrementally.

Bottom line: I wouldn't trust the hand held measurment device at all!

Forge ahead!

Dorado Galore · Answer 2 · 2011-09-24 03:50:44Z UTC

Truly, the handheld fat-measurement devices are not reliable. They're close to a joke; no offense. The gold standard of body fat measurement remains hydrostatic body fat testing. You submerge in a pool of water, blow out all the air from your lungs, and get a very precise reading. Of course, at this point you have no baseline measure for comparison purposes. So find a hydrostatic testing situation, get a session, and let that be your baseline for future body fat changes.

If you're serious about not losing muscle, consider adding some. Even a light routine of strength training helps in that respect.

Above all, keep wrestling with those kids. No one ever turned 70 and said, "If only I had spent LESS time with my kids when they were young..."

Onward...

Paleo2.0 · Answer 3 · 2011-09-24 01:39:37Z UTC

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I think as you get lighter, your body requires less muscle than before to perform routine activities. Resistance exercise a couple of times a week will help retain what you have, but you still might lose some, especially if you lose a lot of weight and no longer have to move around 90 extra pounds every day.

answered Sep 24 2011 at 1:39

Paleo2.0
3,157●4●12

	I just finished commenting the same thing, then saw your answer. – Eric Sep 24 2011 at 1:43
	Why the downvote from someone? Do you disagree? – Eric Sep 24 2011 at 10:47

Daniel Kirsner · Answer 4 · 2011-09-24 04:12:09Z UTC

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1) Electrical impedance measurements of bodyfat are highly influenced by how hydrated you are.

2) If you wish to lose fat and muscle, diet and do not strength train. If you wish to lose fat and gain muscle, diet and strength train properly.

answered Sep 24 2011 at 4:12

Daniel Kirsner
2,773●1●2●8

	1) Interesting. So if I were poorly hydrated would I have a higher or lower bodyfat content according to the device? 2) I've seen a lot of people argue to drastically limit exercise in favor of diet while losing weight - you don't think it's possible to diet alone and maintain muscle mass? – Eric Sep 24 2011 at 10:45
	Also, what would you call "strength train[ing] properly"? – Eric Sep 24 2011 at 10:48
	Your body is not stupid--it won't cannibalize itself. Fat is the preferred fuel for most functions and you have plenty of that. Even if you eat negligible carbs, as long as you get adequate protein you will be able to produce the tiny amount of glucose necessary. You can weight train if you like, but be aware that doing cardio will increase cortisol which will impede fat burning. – Mr. Trashcan Sep 24 2011 at 14:10
	1) Water weight "reads" as muscle. The more dehydrated you are, the higher you bf % will "be." 2) When your body uses stored fat, it is cannibalizing itself. Ditto muscle. 3) Train all major muscles groups in such a manner that you get stronger in all exercises in the trained rep ranges; adjust frequency and volume when you plateau so as to continue to adjust. Baye.com is a good source of info. – Daniel Kirsner Sep 24 2011 at 18:15
	Or, rather, continue to progress... – Daniel Kirsner Sep 24 2011 at 18:17

Matt · Answer 5 · 2011-09-24 15:28:45Z UTC

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Is 215 pounds and reasonable body fat levels appropriate for your height? What's your goal body fat composition? If I were to wager a guess, you probably should go much lower body weight (180-190), don't know how tall you are though.

answered Sep 24 2011 at 15:28

Matt
37.9k●2●10●70

215 is the lowest I can picture myself at this point. When I get there, and I feel I still have more to go, I will look further down the road, but I think it's a good stop point for now. I just don't want to lose weight tremendously faster than I lose fat. My lean muscle mass is around 183 pounds. At 210 I should be around 15% body fat - I don't know that I've EVER been that low body fat. – Eric Sep 25 2011 at 1:07

Lost 10lbs muscle

5 Answers