I’m 6’1"-6"2, mid forties, been lifting a long time, have a build most would describe as solid, but definitely a little fat. About 275 or so. I would guess 30% boday fat. Not a huge gut but not washboard anymore.
I’ve lost 20 pounds in 10 weeks, working hard, eating better. Just started fasting twice a week (24 hours each time)…have lost some strength, not much. I also do some pretty heavy aerobics on a fasted stomach too…
Question is, how do I make sure I’m losing just fat? The fasting has caused the weight loss to accelerate…realistically if I eat 2,500 cal 5 days a week and work out 4,000 cal per day, can I lose 4 pounds of fat (15,500 cal deficit per week) per week?, or will my body for some reason lose muscle too? I am upping the protein, no sugar, some veggies…I don’t cut out all carbs though, I like them too much and I need some glycogen for my workouts. Workout 3x per week and bike/hike 3x per week. Workouts are heavy but also a lot of circuit training type stuff with minimal rest between sets. I’m gasping for breath and the end of a workout.
What type of fat/weight loss per week should I aim for?
a safe rate at which to avoid muscle loss imo and experience is half a pound to a pound(absolute max) per week . im 44 and it definatly is harder holding on to muscle when dieting at this age
Strength levels usually indicate if youve lost muscle. Getting weaker means losing muscle. although, since your leverages are affected too, some lifts will probably go down if you lose a lot of weight, i.e. bench press
At your current caloric deficit, you are losing mass… but some of it is most definitely muscle. As another poster indicated, aim for 1-2 pounds per week. It really depends on your bf% though. If you truly are at 30%, then you can stand to lose 2 pounds per week and be pretty secure in knowing your muscle loss is minimal (keeping the protein intake high will spare muscle).
In the initial two weeks of dieting (especially if you are restricting carbs), you will lose more than that per week as your glycogen stores deplete and you shed water. Since you aren’t overly restricting carbs, and you’ve already lost your initial weight… 1-2 pounds is a good goal.
If you lose more than 2 pounds, up your daily caloric intake 250 calories and then weigh in again at the same time next week. Adjust your caloric intake to stay at or around 1-2 pounds per week.