Weight loss: how much % fat and muscle does the body lose?

When people start losing weight, they are most concerned with the number of pounds they lose, forgetting that not all of the weight they lose is fat. In fact, weight loss includes fat, muscle, and water loss.

Losing too much muscle can slow down your metabolism, making it easier to gain weight again and weaken your physical strength. On the contrary, if you maintain muscle mass while burning fat, your body will be toned, healthy and easier to maintain weight, according to the health website Verywellfit (USA).

Losing weight too quickly by cutting calories too much will result in a loss of muscle mass.

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The rate of muscle and fat loss when losing weight will depend on the following methods:

Diet, no exercise

Many people choose to cut calories without exercising, resulting in rapid weight loss but also a significant loss of muscle mass.

A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that when you lose weight through dieting alone, about 20-25% of the weight lost is lean muscle. This happens because if you don't take in enough calories, your body will not only mobilize fat but also break down muscle protein for energy.

Therefore, losing weight by dieting alone can help you lose weight quickly but it can easily cause muscle loss and slow down your metabolism. Not only that, the weight comes back faster after stopping the diet.

When combining diet with weight lifting

Strength training is the most important factor in preventing muscle loss during weight loss. When you combine a moderately reduced calorie diet with exercises like weight lifting, squats, or push-ups, your body will prioritize burning fat over muscle.

According to the same study, if dieting is combined with strength training or adequate protein intake, muscle loss can be reduced to 10-15%. In some cases, a moderately low-calorie diet but high protein intake and strength training not only helps maintain but even slightly increase muscle mass.

This happens because the mechanical stimulation of exercise triggers muscle protein synthesis, which counterbalances the breakdown of muscle protein caused by calorie restriction. As a result, the exerciser burns fat while maintaining muscle mass and strength.

Extreme calorie cutting

Cutting calories drastically will create a large energy deficit. This can result in rapid weight loss. However, the result is that you will lose more muscle than fat.

Rapid weight loss depletes muscle glycogen and water, causing a sharp drop in weight in the first few days, but it is mostly water and muscle, not fat. Some research evidence suggests that about 30-50% of the weight lost this way is lean muscle.

Because when cutting calories extremely, the body will have a serious lack of energy, the concentration of thyroid hormones and insulin decreases. As a result, the body falls into energy conservation mode. At this time, muscle protein is broken down to create glucose for the brain, leading to significant muscle loss, according to Verywellfit.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giam-can-co-the-mat-bao-nhieu-la-mo-bao-nhieu-la-co-185251109135157892.htm