Reducing risks of muscle loss

[TinglyandCurious]

So my understanding is that any rapid weight loss can inadvertently cause muscle loss at the same time. I’m trying to do this sensibly and keep my weight loss to 2lb maximum a week (by eating my calorie allowance whether I fancy it or not and having majority protein each meal) which I believe will lower the risks of this but I also want to start properly exercising.

Can anyone give any advice on the kind of levels of exercise I need to be doing to lower the risks of muscle loss? I have ehlers-danlos so can’t manage high impact exercise but I have an exercise bike and I like walking so would this be a good place to start? Sorry to sound so ignorant, I can’t say exercise has been a large part of my first 40 years (My BMI is 36 for information) and would really like to do this whole weight loss thing properly for once.

Thanks so much

Weight training and high protein diet

If you can afford it you might be best to get a PT qualified in training those with Hypermobility or EDS. They can teach you proper form on resistance training and build your strength slowly. My hypermobile son had to see a physio to rebuild his strength after atrophying during lockdown, so you could ask your GP to be referred to a physio for strength building especially if you have a diagnosis. Once you’re confident about being able to do the movements properly you can ask them to set you a routine and then do it on your own…gradually increasing the weights/reps once it gets easy.

You don’t need a gym!

I bought an EZ curl bar and do my own strength training at home, so many clips on YouTube.

Also walk 30 mins as many days as a I can.

Cardio won't stop muscle loss in my experience, but weight training will maintain (or possibly increase) muscle mass.

I have been on MJ for 6 months as part of a medical study, which includes DEXA scans every 8 weeks to measure lean muscle mass. I am doing 3 PT sessions a week of weight training - most scans still show a muscle loss (but I have more muscles than I've had in my life in terms of what I can feel/see). This is common to all the study participants I have spoken with, we are all losing muscle mass despite a heavy PT load - but not losing as much muscle as the control group who are not exercising (above daily life activities).

My last scan I did increase my muscle mass slightly, but overall I would say 3 weight training sessions (on top of walking and general life + healthy eating) has maintained my muscle mass.

I do about 5 minutes with 3kg dumbbells every morning while the kettle boils (credit Dr Chatterjee for this idea and I have been doing it for about 3 years now so the habit idea really works)

Recently I have taken up body pump classes.

DH says you don’t gain muscle unless you lift heavy weights (low repetition numbers) so that is more what you would do in a gym or with a PT.

I think the thing is to find a way that you enjoy and/or will keep doing.

It’s “maintain” muscle mass, not “gain” ,the op is asking about, she doesn’t want to lose muscle as she loses weight.

losing muscle as you lose weight is the same for any diet, it’s impossible not to, for example my gym scales said at 15 stone I’d 7 stone of muscle. There is no way for me to be 10 stone, with 7 stone of muscle, obviously, I need water, fat, and a skeleton. So I will lose muscle. I need to.

the op is correct it’s about reducing how much we lose, and ensuring you get to the end and your goal weight with a healthy proportion of muscle for your weight. That’s the key. Depends on how much muscle you had to start with too, I always worked out even fat, so my muscle mass was high to start with.

op, I do the gym 5 or 6 days a week, I do a mix of treadmill, bike, elliptical, rower, climber, upper body weights and squats and sit ups/core exercises. When on the cardio machines I have them at the hardest/highest resistance setting I can tolerate, ie rowing at max resistance, or walking /cycling up hill fast, which helps retain muscle.

I also ensure I consume enough protein, or try to, so far, I’ve lost about 38 lbs which is about 5lbs of muscle the rest fat. So my muscle to fat ratio in my body is staying high, and is now higher than it was when I started, I will lose more, as I’ve another 2 stone to lose, and I’m ok with that, as long as I maintain a high muscle mass for my weight and height.

Thank you so much for all the helpful replies, it’s really appreciated. I’ll look into options re weight training to add to my cardio.

@Shrinkingrose thanks for offering so much clarity about all of this! You’ve done so well.

Hi Tingly and Curious, I also have Ehlers Danlos and am on WLI, I have a high protein shake or yogurt for lunch then high protein dinner. With EDS you are better going slow and steady with any exercise but especially weights, think lots of reps and light weights to start. I did a EDS physio course and they essentially said exercise as if you were 70+ 😂 oh the joys! Still since doing that course my day to day has HUGELY improved. Good luck with you WLJ!

Walking won't help here. You need weights and ideally working to failure - whether it's fewer reps with higher weights, or vice versa - the last reps should be a challenge. If you don't want to go to a gym, get a set of weights and there are plenty of full body dumbbell videos on youtube. But either several weights, or an adjustable set - not much point doing deadlifts with bicep curl weight.