What If We Never Lost Any Muscle, and We Only Lost Fat?

• What If We Never Lost Any Muscle, and We Only Lost Fat?

  This question had me pondering some today...I did my body fat analysis yesterday, and of the last 10 lbs I have lost, approximately 5 of them have been muscle. Which got me thinking. Up until now, I have lost mostly fat. I would I've lost fat:lean at a ratio of 9:1. So I was a little freaked out about losing 5 lbs of muscle this month, and I began to wonder why. I am exercising alot, and don't get all my protein in some days. So, firstly I have recommitted to getting every allowable ounce of protein in on a daily basis. I'll re-measure my body fat in another 2 weeks and see if that made a difference. I don't want my body actively burning my muscle for energy!!! But then I got to thinking a little further....we think it would be cool if our bodies lost all fat, and no muscle...right? WRONG!!! If you think about it, we would be so anatomically incorrect if we retained ALL or pre-MF muscle. Our bodies build up muscles specifically to support all our fat. Think about the definition we had in our calves, for example. Now think if we lost 100 lbs and still had all that muscle in our calves! We would look like something that walked out of Freaky's Circus Show!!! So, as we need less and less support our muscles adapt and grow smaller, but IN PROPORTION to the rest of our bodies. So we shouldn't stress to lose SOME muscle. It is inevitable. I started with 110+ lbs of lean body mass, and 156 lbs of fat. I'm now down to 54 lbs of fat and 98 lbs of lean body mass. But if I don't lose any more muscle, when I get to my goal of 118 I will have 110 lbs of lean body mass, putting me at 7% body fat. That is almost unheard of for a woman, and I wouldn't want it! I want to settle at about 20% body fat, which at a goal of 118 will be about 94-95 lbs of lean body mass. So that is my goal, as I continue to lose weight. To keep a lean body mass of 94 lbs at a minimum, which would mean I can only lose about 4 more lbs of lean in the next 34 lbs of weight loss. I think it's doable. Went up to Estes Park (20 min drive) today to get the violin music box for my darling little man, and ended up in my favorite "tourist clothes" shop, Brownfields. They are only open in the summers, and I try to get one or two items a year there. I already purchased a "small" long-sleeved t-shirt that says "Estes Park", and was totally thrilled to be fitting into a small! But then today I really loved one of the "junior" t-shirts...it was brown, short-sleaved, with a pink "moose" (looks like a pink highway sign with a moose outline) and "Rocky Mountain National Park" in matching pink lettering. It also has a little pink lining on the bottom seam and the sleeves. It was WAY cute! The saleslady tried to steer me toward the "mature adult lady" t-shirts, being a "mature adult lady" herself...you know the type of shirt, loose fitting, straight cut, flowers and such. NO WAY! I might be 37 and be pushing a stroller, but I am young at heart. And if I want to buy a junior-style T-shirt (I got it in a Youth Large) then by golly I WILL LADY!!!! So I tried it on, it fit, and I bought it. It was tight fitting, but it is meant to be tight fitting. And it really accentuates my, ah, features. I feel a bit naughty in it, actually, but I LOVE IT! So I'm wearing it right now and will wear it to my Sushi-Spa day next Sunday after the 5K. HA! Never thought I'd see the day I could wear junior-style large t-shirts! But I'm seeing those days more and more often. Hey, something fun and whimsical...I bought some hair curlers the other day. I always take a bath when my son is napping, and usually let my hair air-dry. It has a bit of a curl to it already, but lately I've been wanting to add more curl without a curling iron...so I got these little foam curlers, they are not heated curlers, they are just the air-dry curlers. I tried them yesterday and they are SO FUN! So I'm going to start using them daily. My husband said yesterday that I looked like my 8th grade picture...my hair was a similar length then and I curled it everyday to make it BIG HAIR! Now I can have big hair in a bando, which works for me. Ok, enough rambling thoughts. Take care! posted Monday, June 11, 2007 3:10 PM by goalbysummer | 10 Comments [Edit Post]

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