Fat Vs Muscle - Importance of Protein
- ciaralitchfield
- Feb 24, 2014
- 2 min read
The problem with losing weight is that you’re losing weight… you don’t always know what type of body mass you are losing. It’s difficult to ensure it’s the preferable type of mass (fat!). Very low calorie diets are essentially starvation diets in which your body wastes away due to reduced intakes of all foods. Weight is lost but this doesn’t mean you are just losing fat. Your body will reach for anything to fill the calorie deficit you have created in order to provide you with energy. With diets that don’t meet your protein requirements (as everything you eat is reduced even protein sources) some of the weight you lose is muscle mass. In times of need your body will break down your muscle for energy which puts you in a very dangerous position.
The best weight loss methods don’t reduce everything in the way low calorie diets do. They reduce fat, calories and carbohydrates but keep the amount of vitamins, minerals, calcium and magnesium the same. Protein is often increased to ensure most (it’s impossible to say all) of the weight you lose is just fat mass while muscle is maintained. Protein allows muscle to be built and repaired, without it muscle can be freely broken down and destroyed. Apart from the fact that maintaining muscle mass is positive aesthetically, in that it gives you a better shape and less loose skin, it’s also favourable metabolically.
1lb of fat will burn 2-3 calories a day even when you’re sitting doing nothing. 1lb of muscle however, will burn 7-10 calories. Throughout weight loss programs in which protein needs are met you will maintain the maximum amount of muscle possible, meaning you will burn more calories throughout the day through natural metabolism aiding your weight loss! It will also set you up for maintaining your target weight and give you a helping hand on getting back into physical activity.
Many people experience plateaux in their weight loss after a period of time in which protein needs are met and exercise has increased. This is because their body composition has shifted from predominantly fat to muscle. Muscle physically weighs much more than fat so at this point looking at waist circumference or how clothes feel may be a better indication of progress. Constantly focusing on body weight may be de-motivating and misleading once muscle mass increases so considering body shape is very important.
