Curious About Catabolism and Bodyfat

Why is it that its so easy to fall into catabolic state when I have fat on me, why does the body not eat away at the fat first before it breaks down the muscle tissue? Why is it a bitch?..

the muscles are made of protein they need protein to stay fuctional so if you dont intake the protein through your diet the body starts to eat the protein in the muscle. its not just that you have more fat on you its that your not intaking enough protein in your diet.

Its only easy to fall into a catabolic state if you fall off the bandwagon.

Muscle require more energy to just exist on your body than fat does, and if you arent using your muscles then the body will stop sending energy to them because the energy can be used on some other bodily function. Like breathing :slight_smile:

Why do you become catabolic when you are carrying bodyfat? There could be many explanations, likely, I’d imagine, is that when you are carrying bodyfat you want to lose it and begin a diet strategy.

In the face of a reduced energy intake, reduced carbohydrate consumption, increased activity levels and reduced processed foods, glycogen depletion and fluid losses are quite easy to achieve, resulting in the apparent loss of lean tissue.

Obviously this will depend on the extent of the above factors, but in reality true muscle loss - as in the loss of contractile proteins - as long as an individual still trains at a high intensity and manintains a suitable protein intake - is a lot smaller during a diet than you would imagine. Intense resistanct exercise can, and studies do suggest this too, help preserve a significant amount of muscle tissue (some even suggest that lean mass could be gained, however, this is both rare and pretty unlikely).

The comments by BBB hold true too. From an evolutionary perspective bodyfat is a pretty important organ (some ‘authorties’ view fat tissue as an organ and not just stored energy), which may help regulate appetite, metabolism and satiety.

Look into nutrient timing.

Your likely not taking in the right nutrients at the right times. If your at a realistic bodyweight but are over fat then its not necessarily the amount your eating that is the problem, but the specifiic metabolic conditions your body is at.