Help! Loss in LBM as well as fat! Is this OK?

[is thin possible?]

If anyone can advise me on this subject...especially those of you who have lost a significant amount of weight, I would greatly appreciate it!

Here is my dilemma. I have been keeping track of my BMI, which as you know breaks down the % of body fat as well as the actual #'s of fat vs. your lean body mass. Anyhow, this time when I had my BMI calculated I not only lost fat, but...some lean body mass. Should I be concerned? I don't want to be losing muscle! I have heard that it is normal to lose LBM as you lose weight simply because you are not carrying around as much weight. Is this true? What happened with any of you? I am curious. I might add that I am lifting weights faithfully at the gym 3X a week in addition to my aerobic exercise.

Here were my stats:

May 2, 2005
213 lbs
34.4% body fat = 73 lbs. of fat and 140 lbs. lean body mass

June 15, 2005
196 lbs.
31.9% body fat = 62 lbs. of fat and 134 lbs. of lean body mass


I lost 11 lbs. of fat but also 6 lbs. of lean mass.

Please advise if you can. I just want to make sure I am not losing the "wrong" kind of tissue. I want to be healthy and thin....not just thin!
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
:hug

[Laurenfra]

I think it is just natural to loose some lbm as you get smaller. If you are exercising you are doing just fine.

[spirittalker]

Your body simple does not have to carry around as much fat so it doesn;t need as much muscle. I think you are fine.

[BreakfastSurreal]

Re: Help! Loss in LBM as well as fat! Is this OK?

If anyone can advise me on this subject...especially those of you who have lost a significant amount of weight, I would greatly appreciate it!

Here is my dilemma. I have been keeping track of my BMI, which as you know breaks down the % of body fat as well as the actual #'s of fat vs. your lean body mass. Anyhow, this time when I had my BMI calculated I not only lost fat, but...some lean body mass. Should I be concerned? I don't want to be losing muscle! I have heard that it is normal to lose LBM as you lose weight simply because you are not carrying around as much weight. Is this true? What happened with any of you? I am curious. I might add that I am lifting weights faithfully at the gym 3X a week in addition to my aerobic exercise.

Here were my stats:

May 2, 2005
213 lbs
34.4% body fat = 73 lbs. of fat and 140 lbs. lean body mass

June 15, 2005
196 lbs.
31.9% body fat = 62 lbs. of fat and 134 lbs. of lean body mass


I lost 11 lbs. of fat but also 6 lbs. of lean mass.

Please advise if you can. I just want to make sure I am not losing the "wrong" kind of tissue. I want to be healthy and thin....not just thin!
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
:hug

think about it this way...at 213 pounds you had 140lbs of lean body mass...your goal weight is in the 120's...now at 120something pounds you cannot possibly have 140lbs of muscle on you now can you? You will still have some fat at your goal weight, EVERYONE has some fat on them, so when you reach your goal you will have significantly less LBM than you do now. The fat/lbm ratio will just be better looking!

[Iapetus999]

Those calculations are not super accurate.
As long as you are exercising including weight training you will not lose any real muscle.

[not2late]

Re: Help! Loss in LBM as well as fat! Is this OK?

If anyone can advise me on this subject...especially those of you who have lost a significant amount of weight, I would greatly appreciate it!

Here is my dilemma. I have been keeping track of my BMI, which as you know breaks down the % of body fat as well as the actual #'s of fat vs. your lean body mass. Anyhow, this time when I had my BMI calculated I not only lost fat, but...some lean body mass. Should I be concerned? I don't want to be losing muscle! I have heard that it is normal to lose LBM as you lose weight simply because you are not carrying around as much weight. Is this true? What happened with any of you? I am curious. I might add that I am lifting weights faithfully at the gym 3X a week in addition to my aerobic exercise.

Here were my stats:

May 2, 2005
213 lbs
34.4% body fat = 73 lbs. of fat and 140 lbs. lean body mass

June 15, 2005
196 lbs.
31.9% body fat = 62 lbs. of fat and 134 lbs. of lean body mass


I lost 11 lbs. of fat but also 6 lbs. of lean mass.

Please advise if you can. I just want to make sure I am not losing the "wrong" kind of tissue. I want to be healthy and thin....not just thin!
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!
:hug

BMI (Body Mass Index) is calculated using weight and height. It doesn't take lean muscle or fat into account, which is why BMI isn't very accurate for muscular people. For example a bodybuilder who is 5'11 and has 250 pounds of muscle will still be "obese" according to his BMI.

BMI is calculated using this formula:

weight(lbs) divided by the stature(inches) squared multipled by 703.

[jroche5998]

I'm not sure how you got your lean vs. fat weight, because BMI doesn't break that down. But regardless it is absolutly normal to lose some LBM as well for the following reasons:

1. Your bone density will decrease slightly since they don't have to support as much weight.
2. Your muscles will atrophy a bit for the same reason as number one. Exercise will counteract this to a degree but even that it's like a toning workout, you are exercising with less weight.
3. You have less body volume. So all of the requirements for that will diminish: blood vessels, nerves, blood volume.

There may be more but those are the obvious ones. So the short answer (I know, too late) is yes LBM will fall as your weight drops.

I hope this helps.