Feeling sluggish and clumsy? Your weight-loss tactics might be backfiring.
Shedding weight is all about burning through your daily calories and tapping into fat for energy.
But run on an empty tank all of the time and you’ll work against your best efforts.
“People who are trying to lose weight sometimes think they have to go on a crazy diet and work out five times a day, but they’re stressing their system too much,” says Nick Clayton, C.S.C.S., the personal training program manager for the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
When your body gets too stressed, it thinks you’re starving and goes into survival mode—and its only motivation at that point is to ensure you have the energy for essential functions like breathing. Without enough energy (i.e., calories) to keep those going, your body will tap into its own sources—which include both stored fat and muscle.
Lose muscle, in turn, and your metabolism slows down.
Since muscle burns more calories than fat, that’s totally counter-productive to your goals.
Although any of the below signs could mean you’re losing muscle, the only way to know for sure is to check your body composition (or your percent fat vs. muscle) once a month.
The easiest and most trustworthy method is for your doctor or personal trainer to use a skin caliper.
“You really need to go to someone who’s qualified.
It needs to be done right or it won’t be consistent,” says Clayton.
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The good news is, by being smart about losing weight you can maximize fat and minimize muscle loss.
Keep an eye out for the following signs that can mean your body’s burning muscle.
Watching the pounds fall off is the worst…said no one, ever.
That said, there is a limit to how much fat your body can shed.
Dropping more than about two to two-and-a-half pounds a week usually means you’re tapping into your muscles as an energy source, says Albert Matheny, C.S.C.S, R.D., founder of Soho Strength Lab.
Of course the number on the scale can be deceiving, and lots of other factors—like eating a super-salty meal the night before you weigh yourself—can affect it.
But if the weight is falling off and you’re experiencing any of these other symptoms, there’s a good chance that some of the weight you’re losing is muscle.
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