I've lost about 8 lbs., has my body been eating itself for protein?

I started at about 160.4, 26% body fat (jul 14) --> 118.7 lean ma

and today I was 152.6, 26% body fat. (aug 21) --> 112.9 lean ma

 

=5.8 lbs. of lean mass lost

So has my body been eating its muscle for protein?

 

from jul 14 - aug 14, is my daily average:

 

1786 cals

18.6% from protein

=332 cal protein = 83 grams of protein per day

 

I'm 5'6 and 17.5.  I've been doing about an hour of yoga almost every day, 2++ miles walking at 4mph (to/from gym), and some random cardio (4 bike sessions @ 300cals each in first 2 weeks with some extra stretching after yoga and light weights, then some extra walking and weights in first 2 weeks of august, then some light running and lots of sedentary days since then) -- this is all on top of an almost 100% sedentary (studying) lifestyle.

Daily Calorie Intake - 1,786 cals
Daily Sodium Intake - 2,607 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 107 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 22 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 11 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 44 grams

 

Fat - 20.9% (1,327 grams) /31 = 42.8g
Protein - 18.7% (2,671 grams) /31 = 86.2g
Carbohydrates - 60.4% (8,622 grams) /31 = 278.12g
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

To me it looks that way...looking at your numbers and activities. You do a lot of cardio, cardio, cardio...minor weight training and more cardio. That will help you lose weight but if you want to get muscles and keep the ones you have; you have to incorporate them in your lifestyle. You are not really doing that now. This is how it works protein and fats help conserve muscles and carbs give you energy. (in other words the carbs are used first, then fats, then protein) At 17 1/2 your numbers look more like you are trying to lose body fat and that is the main goal. If that's not the case than you need to chill with the cardio. 1hr maybe 2 split up in the day is max. Otherwise you need to incorporate more of a weight training program into your day.

You could easily lower your carbs down to 250 - 230grams

adding those calories to protein bringing it to 109 - 134grams, This will better your chances of keeping the muscle you have and if you work at it you will be able to also keep any new muscle you get.

You could also put carbs at 250, protein at 118 and fats at 34grams. By the way; way to go with the fiber so many people overlook it and it is soo important!

Hope this helps. Those numbers look very similar to mine (except carbs) and I am keeping all my muscles + adding some more. But I also do total body w/cardio 3xs a week with other days cardio.

I'm a vegetarian -- protein comes with carbs, I can't separate them.  High protein grains, protein bars, beans, etc... the only thing that isn't carb heavy is fake meat (soy protein), but that's not supposed to be consumed in large quantities, and it's exensive.  I don't eat anything besides fruit that's not combining protein w/ carbs (and some fat) except for fruit, which fills me up, and the once-a-week 200cal, 30g carb dark chocolate bar.

 

I don't do much cardio.  This is my entire activity log, though i don't usually log the walking around the city or to and from the gym, but it's not cardio.

 

Bicycling - Stationary, 200 Watts, Vigorous Effort 30 371   Total Calories Burned

371

 

 

Wed, Jul 16 2008       Mins Cals Stretching - Hatha Yoga 60 179 Bicycling - Stationary, 150 Watts, Moderate Effort 20 167   Total Calories Burned

346

 

 

Fri, Jul 18 2008       Mins Cals Pilates 25 105 Calisthenics - (e.g Pushups, Situps, Pullups, Jumping Jacks), Heavy, Vigorous Effort 10 95 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 20 59   Total Calories Burned

259

 

 

 

Thu, Jul 24 2008       Mins Cals Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 10 36 Bicycling - Stationary, 150 Watts, Moderate Effort 15 124   Total Calories Burned

160

 

 

 

Fri, Jul 25 2008       Mins Cals Bicycling - Stationary, 200 Watts, Vigorous Effort 45 560 Pilates 75 311 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 60 178   Total Calories Burned

1,049

 

 

Sun, Jul 27 2008       Mins Cals Stretching - Hatha Yoga 50 142 Pilates 15 60 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 20 75   Total Calories Burned

277

 

 

Mon, Jul 28 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Walking - 2.5 Mph, Slowly and Carrying Light Objects Less Than 25 Pounds 30 102   Total Calories Burned 102 Fri, Aug 01 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Stair-treadmill Ergometer - General 4 41 Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 10 34 Calisthenics - (e.g Pushups, Situps, Pullups, Jumping Jacks), Heavy, Vigorous Effort 5 45 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 40 114 Walking or Walk Downstairs or Standing - Carrying Objects About 25 To 49 Pounds 30 170 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 40 150   Total Calories Burned 554 Sat, Aug 02 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Walking - 3.5 Mph, Level, Brisk, Firm Surface, Walking for Exercise 15 65 Walking - 3.5 Mph, Uphill 15 102 Running - 6 mph (10 Min/mile) 15 170 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 20 57   Total Calories Burned 394 Mon, Aug 04 2008  

 

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Walking - 3.5 Mph, Uphill 30 205 Rowing - Stationary, 150 Watts, Vigorous Effort 5 48 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 40 150 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 50 142 Pilates 10 40 Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 15 51   Total Calories Burned 635 Tue, Aug 05 2008  

 

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Gymnastics - General 40 182 Pilates 15 60 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 45 128 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 35 131   Total Calories Burned 500 Wed, Aug 06 2008  

 

 

 

 

  Mins Cals power yoga 60 230   Total Calories Burned 230 Thu, Aug 07 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals dynamic flow yoga 60 220   Total Calories Burned 220 Fri, Aug 08 2008  

 

 

 

 

  Mins Cals slow flow yoga 60 200   Total Calories Burned 200 Sat, Aug 09 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Running - 5 mph (12 Min/mile) 12 112 Stair-treadmill Ergometer - General 5 53 Walking - 3.5 Mph, Uphill 5 35 Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Power Lifting or Body Building, Vigorous Effort 10 70 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 30 116   Total Calories Burned 386 Sun, Aug 10 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Stretching - Hatha Yoga 60 175 Running - 5 mph (12 Min/mile) 12 112 Walking - 4.0 Mph, Level, Firm Surface, Very Brisk Pace 30 175   Total Calories Burned 463 Mon, Aug 11 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Stretching - Hatha Yoga 60 175 Pilates 15 61   Total Calories Burned 237 Tue, Aug 12 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Pilates 15 61   Total Calories Burned 61 Wed, Aug 13 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Pilates 50 205

 

 

Mon, Aug 18 2008       Mins Cals Running - 6 mph (10 Min/mile) 10 117 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 100 292 Walking - 3.0 Mph, Level, Moderate Pace, Firm Surface 30 116   Total Calories Burned 525 Tue, Aug 19 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Running - 6 mph (10 Min/mile) 10 117   Total Calories Burned 117 Thu, Aug 21 2008  

 

 

 

  Mins Cals Running - 5.2 mph (11.5 Min/mile) 17 182 Running - 8 mph (7.5 Min/mile) 1 16 Stretching - Hatha Yoga 60 173 Walking - 4.0 Mph, Level, Firm Surface, Very Brisk Pace 20 115 Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 15 52   Total Calories Burned 538 Total Calories Burned

205

 

 

Well I can't blame your body, you get less than 90 g of protein a day...  Decrease your carbs by 50% and replace those grams with protein.  Just as important is when you have your protein.  You should have around 1/4 of your daily protein within an hour after you workout/cardio.

I'm a vegetarian and my food log is very close to yours. The problem isn't protein at all. You need to lift heavier weights. You are absolutely getting enough protein, you get more then I do, I average anywhere from 50-65 grams a day.  I went from 30% body fat to 21% body fat and I've only lost about 9 pounds, but the cool part is I've lost 15 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle.

I lift heavy weights, meaning deadlifts and squats with 70 pound dumbbells, and I only started 2 months ago. You are losing muscle because your body doesn't need the extra muscle for what you are doing in your everyday life. You need a little bit of muscle for every pound of fat you have because of gravity. Once you lose that fat the muscle doesn't really have a job of carrying around all that fat, so your body uses that as energy as well. As people get older they have less active so they start to lose muscle every year of their life. You have to use your muscles and trick them into thinking gravity is getting heavier and heavier. It is absolutely possible to lose scale weight and keep the same body fat percentage. Lifting weights will help you firm up all over, keep your bones strong, and you can weigh a bit more then someone that doesn't lift. As a result you can eat a bit more too.

According to Dr. Colgan, Sylvester Stallones former nutritionist, you need only 2.8 grams of extra protein per day to build the maximum amount of muscle you can obtain in one year even if you are an olympic bodybuilder. Protein shakes are a huge business in this country, so don't fall for the hype.

I agree: you're overdoing cardio/yoga/pilates and not lifting enough heavy weights. Yoga and pilates might make you more flexible, but they do nothing for your muscle mass. And anabolic cardio like running breaks down muscle. Add that to a calorie deficit and you have the perfect recipe for lean muscle mass loss.

I've been lifting weights for nearly 19 years and I have only recently upped my protein—and I work hard to get myself to between 80g and 90g a day. I try to get more in, and do when I can, but it's not an easy thing to do when you're constantly on the go and you don't want to eat protein bars or sodium-laden luncheon meats and the like. And as I said, until recently I didn't even get this much protein. But you know what? I have 14% body fat—because I lift weights. I have been leaner, too, but choose to maintain at this BF%. And I'm 35 years old.

I'm still a small person—very small. You can lift heavy weight and still look like a lean woman. In fact, you will look—and be—leaner than you otherwise would.

As we age, we lose muscle mass naturally if we don't work to hold onto it. We also face bone loss, which can lead to osteoporosis. Lifting weights protects you against both of these health concerns, and many, many other ones as well. And you get to look great at the same time.

But I really don't work out that much -- that activity log is for 6 weeks.  And I only just started running in the past week or so.  And yoga is strength training, probably more so than the stretching component.  And I do strength train after I run... I do lifts with my arms with 10-12 lbs. weights each.

 

Is it possible that I had a lot of water weight (adds to lean mass) and then it dropped when I started working out and now I don't have as much?  5.8 lbs. of water weight?  Also, when I took that body fat measurement, I had been dieting for 2 weeks prior (calories at 1200-1300 a day), but didn't get to work out until a few days before that, but lightly.