Strength training necessary to prevent muscle loss?

I'm making sure to eat enough protein in order to prevent muscle loss while dieting.

But is it necessary to do strength training as well to prevent loss? I do cardio 4-6 times a week. I dont really want to build more muscle, but I dont want to lose what I have.

Any help/info would be greatly appreciated!

I noticed that when I did just cardio, I lost weight, but I looked a lot thicker. I went down to 225lbs with about 28% BF and looked kinda chunky still. I took up weight training and I went to 235lbs with 18%bf and I looked a lot leaner, not to mention I lost pant sizes.

I think weight lifting/strenght training is a must.

The body wants to burn muscle before fat, keep the fat for emergency starvation. Also, 1 pound of muscle burns more calories than one pound of fat.

Weight training good to keep muscles.

The body wants to burn muscle before fat, keep the fat for emergency starvation. Also, 1 pound of muscle burns more calories than one pound of fat.

Weight training good to keep muscles.

I def think you need to keep doing strength training to maintain muscle. I didn't do any strength training this summer while I was doing triathlon training and I can def see the difference. I don't think I have that definition in my arms anymore and I feel like I have a bigger gut now. I can't wait for my races to be over so I can start hittin gthe weights again!

Absolutely, strength training 2-3 times a week should be part of everyones workout. The more muscle you have the faster your metabolism is. Burn more calories while just living.

The faster you lost weight, the larger proportion of the weight you lose is muscle, sadly. Since muscle eats up your calories much faster than fat mass, you want to prevent this so you can sustain weight loss. dietary protein itself won't prevent muscle loss, or help you gain muscle either. It will only support an increase in muscle mass when you do strength/resistance training

Yes.  In order to maintain muscle, or increase muscle beyond your body's current equilibrium, a stimulus is required.  Keep in mind though that depending on your diet and exercise, any muscle loss (or redistribution) may or may not be significant.