Fat Mass vs Lean Mass

[A_Lurker]

Okay, a couple of weeks ago I wass visiting a friend who I worked with when I first lost weight.  He's always encouraging, but reminded me I need to watch that I'm not losing too much muscle mass with my weight loss.  I know he's right, and since a concentrated look for my fancy scale that I uaed before came up empty, I sucked it up and bought another scale.  He's been using a specific brand that he's happy with (and he's one of these guys who has done more than one Dexa scan).

So, yikes... no surprise, too much fat %, not enough muscle % and for some reason really low water %.  I don't usually track my water as it's not something I struggle to get in.  I drink out of a half litre glass at work and I probably had 6 glasses during the day (and will do a couple of litres tonight at home).  Anyway, a couple of truly goofy questions.

1. Should fat%, muscle % add up to 100%?  There's a bone measurement in lbs also, which I think, or hope is too low.  I add the three together and ended up with 99.3% so I'm assuming it's good.

2. Goal weight.  I've got way too much to lose to truly be considering what a goal weight should be.  Would a decent rule of thumb be to take the lean mass weight and work in the 23-34% body fat that they say is appropriate for someone my gender and age?

Enough for now.  Off to do yardwork, swim, make dinner, do laundry, etc.  And still try and get to bed at a decent hour.

[FitBeforeFifty · Accepted solution]

Off the shelf body fat measurement devices (the most common one bioelectrical impedance) aren't that accurate, but they are probably good enough for what you are looking for. Just keep in mind that these devices have an accuracy proportional with their cost --- in other words, don't expect much more than +/- 5 % accuracy. 

Having said that, an acceptable body fat percentage for women is in the range of 25% to 30%:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3104919/

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/measure_up_body_fat.htm

Focusing on lean body mass is mostly a bro-science topic for those of us just trying to get to a healthy BMI -- most of us aren't body builders.

If you are losing weight at a slow and steady rate (less than 1% of body fat per week) and incorporate strength training into your fitness regimen everything else will take care of itself.

[Dominique]

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@A_Lurker wrote:

He's been using a specific brand that he's happy with (and he's one of these guys who has done more than one Dexa scan).

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Just curious: what is the specific brand/model of scale approved of by the DEXA-tested guy?

[JohnRi]

I got a fitbit Aria back in February.  Since that time I have been eating 1800 a day.  Exercise almost every day, walking 4-6 miles, or riding my bike.  Last ride was for 20 miles.  Around 90-120 minutes a day of exercise.  I have about 3-4 days off a month.  According to my fitbit I'm burning between 3000-4000 on exercise days and around 2200-2400 on rest days.  My deficit is set to 750, but that's really for rest days for me.

When I started I was 98 lbs away from the top of the normal weight range.  Today I'm 35 lbs aways.  I used to burn about 6000 more calories a week when I was heavier than I do now.  So my weight loss has greatly slowed down.  I'm now burning 10,000 more calories than I eat.  I used to burn 14,000 more calories than I ate. 

Now since Feb, I have lost 30 lbs.  My Fat % has fallen about 6.5%   It was around 35%. Now it's around 27%.  My fat mass has fallen 24.6 lbs.  And my lean mass has fallen 5 lbs. 

Losing lean mass will happen.  The higher your calorie deficit, and the closer you are to your weight loss goal, you will lose mostly muscle mass.  So a lower deficit the closer you are to goal is the way to go.

I am keeping an eye on it, but doing weight training with cardio will help maintain your muscle mass.  I'm just now starting to add weight training...

[A_Lurker]

@FitBeforeFifty - I know nothing is going to be truly accurate, but I admit to being a numbers geek at heart, more numbers interest me.  I also know I'm light on the weight training at the moment.  I'm chasing the guys doing my restoration work so I can get back to more than just upper body and bodyweight exercises.

@Dominique - He uses a Withings, which I absolutely didn't want to spend money on.  His girlfriend (now wife) had a Ozeri Touch when they finally started living together.  He tells me the two were pretty much identical.  With the cost difference I went with the Ozeri.  Of course, he's very fit, lifts weights, trains constantly - so my experience may end up being completely different.

@JohnRi - I'm still running abouy 2.5 lbs/week, but trying to fine tune it to closer to the 2 lbs, but some days I can't bring myself to eat what it tells me.  I should trust more and enjoy the extra calories for the moment, but it's sometimes tough to fill with high protein / lower carb snacks.

[josephz2va]

Wake up water weight is heavier than your Dietitian's caliper measurer if that's any help.

My Aria says wake up water weight is 33.4% for example and my Dietitian's caliper measurer says 23.7%.

[A_Lurker]

My water is seriously low, like at the 20% level.  I actually do drink a lot of water, so I'm thinking my weight could be part of it.  I don't think I want to follow the few things I've read lately (ie. weight x .5 oz, and I've see even higher.  Sheesh, I'd have to pee constantly.  

[paulmayfield]

Is Fascia muscle or fat?

[Garciep]

I think you should eat more diet and nutritious food, it will help regain your weight

[Dominique]

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@paulmayfield wrote:

Is Fascia muscle or fat?

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It’s neither: it’s one type of connective tissue. Connective tissue is part of lean body mass`(aka "fat-free body mass"), like muscle tissue, bones, ligaments, tendons, organs etc.

Just curious: what practical difference would this bit of information make? People interested in improving body composition usually want to minimize fat mass and maximize lean mass (primarily by increasing muscle mass). What role would fascia play in that? 

[Samiyamccabe]

Lynn body mass (sometimes referred to as "lean mass" is the source of the term "muscle mass") due to fat mass, your body's total weight decreases.