Losing Muscle Along With The Fat?

[Diomed]

Ok,

So I just read this article and it kind of have has me thinking about what I am doing improperly or maybe not. Anyways backstory is I have lost about 35 pounds this summer doing an hour of walking on a treadmill on the hill segment which has a lot of incline. It has gotten to be an intense workout for me but I have progressed from like 6.0 incline at the start to about 17.0 at its peak. And I have been eating a lot better cutting out bad foods, and eating just better in general.

My question is am I doing more harm then good in working out like this? Is my body eating more lean muscle then fat? I feel really good after a workout but I am still a realist and I have a long way to go. I've never really weight trained before. Can I gain muscle by lifting and still keep up with my cardio and lose fat?

I just don't want to lose 80 pounds and find out that 1/3 of it was muscle...

Thanks guys I know its a general question but basically I am a dude that went from a completely lazy life (office job) to getting off my fat ass (310 at the summer, 273.3 now) and I feel great. But I don't want to be doing more harm then good.

Diomed

[thirddan]

if your caloric defiicit is too great then you can lose lean muscle...if you don't lift weights you can lose muscle...i also think that if your protein is too low you can lose muscle...

[Blarg]

If you lose 80 pounds, but 1/3 of that is muscle, it's well worth it and you've done a miracle for your health. You can always get muscle back, though it's hard. But probably not near as hard as losing 80 pounds. And you'll be so friggin' proud of yourself if you lose 80 pounds that it will be just plain pissy to do any complaining.

If you want to keep some muscle on, sneak in some very heavy full-body exercises to stimulate your hormonal system. That will help both burn fat and build muscle. Sneaking in a day or two of deadlifts per week could help you retain a lot of muscle and increase your strength a lot too. Or squats, though they will probably wear your legs out more than deads. Whatever, both will work.

[Diomed]

Blarg,

Yeah my overall goal right now is to get down to 230. I think you hit it spot on though about losing the weight. I don't know how much lean muscle mass I am going to lose the rest of the way and was somewhat concerned. I went and found at my gym my lean body weight is at 200lbs. I just don't want to lose to much muscle and well I'm kind of concerned about skin stuff as well. But I guess I will address those issues if/when they occur.

[cbloom]

Just get skinny. Once you are more fit it will feel better and be easier for you to work out more and put muscle on. That said it would certainly help your overall fitness to add in some weight training now. But the main thing is to get skinny so if weights would make you quit the program then don't do it.

[Korch]

how the hell do you have 200lb of lean body mass??

[Diomed]

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how the hell do you have 200lb of lean body mass??

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I don't know that is what the trainer said. I don't know much about this stuff actually. But he said if I got down to about 10% body fat I'd be about 220 pounds. I did play sports in college but haven't lifted weights in ages.

[Jay.]

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how the hell do you have 200lb of lean body mass??

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[Korch]

if 220 makes you 10% bodyfat, then you'd be a jacked 210. I thought that was pretty rare/hard to do.

[secretprankster]

Doggie Coleman.