I've been on this diet for five months now beginning Sept. 1. In that time I've lost approx. 70lbs. Start weight was 328. I'm now 259. I'm a male and 6'1".

In the last three weeks I've started working out three times a week. Essentially cross training with body weight and with free weights, kettle bells, ropes etc for 45 mins to an hour.

As you can see my lean mass has decreased dramatically almost a 12lb loss in five weeks.

Date ----- Lean Mass----- Weight
12/21/2014--- 185.9 ---- 264.6
1/4/2014---- 187.8----- 264 (Started working out this week)
1/11/2014--- 181.4---- 259.8 (First huge lean mass loss)
1/20/2014--- 180.6---- 258 ( Stabilized)
1/25/2014--- 173.1---- 259.2 (huge lean mass loss again)

After the first week's loss of lean mass I started to take an after workout protein shake: Combat Cookies and Cream info on the bottom of the post. The second week I saw a stabilization of the lean mass loss however this past week I've again started to lose lean mass again. (Also it was a short week because we usually weigh in on Saturdays but my coach was out and had to weigh us in on Monday.)

This is concerning to me and I'm freaking out. My coach is suggesting I take in another non restricted meal a day. But I'm not sure if I should discontinue taking the shakes post workouts or when to time my calorie intake. If anyone can give me some insight as to what is going on here I'd really appreciate it. When I started this diet started it was around 190lbs lean mass. I had intended to get down to 220 as my goal weight. With this recent lean mass loss though I'd have to get down much further to look my best. This is very demoralizing having been so close to my original goal.

Combat Cookies and Cream:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/mu...rm/combat.html

Calories 140
Calories From Fat 15
Total Fat 1.5g
Saturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 75mg
Sodium 150mg
Potassium 200mg
Carbohydrates 5g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Sugars 2g
Protein 25g

HOw do you calculate your lean mass?

Shingen - my first thought is, how are you measuring your lean body mass? The scales that measure that are not terribly accurate from what I've learned. What are your measurements doing? Measuring is really important because you can see where the fat is coming off.

Your coach may be absolutely right on adding another packet or additional protein to your day on days you work out. I'm sure people with more experience on exercise and P1 will chime in. How do you feel? Are you energetic or are you getting dizzy and tired? This is a pretty calorie restricted diet and you need to have enough nutrition to fuel your body doing those workouts.

And congrats on the 70 pounds - that is awesome!

if you are going by the bioimpedence scale...those things are worth a crap for truly measuring lean mass so don't stress over it. It could be as simple as needing more water. They aren't scientific. They are guesstimates. Really. Don't stress.

The other thing to remember is that lean mass isn't just muscle.
As we lose weight, we no longer need other supporting tissues, including blood vessels, which is also lean mass (everything is lean mass, except fat). Lean mass: bone, muscle, connective tissue, internal organs, skin, blood, blood vessels, water, etc. There are actually items there we don't need as we lose weight.

If you're working out and didn't add an extra packet, you absolutely should! IP wasn't designed for intense workouts and it is part of the program to add another packet for exercise.

I agree with others about the inherent difficulties in calculating lean mass! If I could calculate it to that accuracy, I'd give up my day job (and become a professional bodybuilder).

I am not on IP, but I will say that it is incredibly hard to build lean mass on a diet as long as you are in calorie deficit. It is tough to maintain muscle mass too.

Now I have lost quite a lot of weight, I have shifted to tracking my macronutrients, like bodybuilders so...my protein, calories, carbs and fats. This helps me continue to lose weight (I started to stall without watching my calories) while trying to maintain/build muscle by focusing on getting enough protein and fats. I try to keep my carbs low.

In this way, my diet has become much like a bodybuilder's diet on a 'cut'. I will not 'bulk' as that would add fat too, but bulking is how bodybuilders gain so much lean mass much easier than a dieter can as that fuels muscle development and fat gain.

IP reads much like bodybuilders would use on a 'cut' phase too (ketosis) although I understand IP was never intended for intense workouts.

My advice would be not to stress about the lean mass number for now. Keep doing what you are doing until you get down to near maintenance and then play with your diet and exercise regime to hit the body shape you are aiming for. You are just shooting in the dark at the moment as you lose fat so quickly.

I was told not to exercise on this diet while in phase 1

Stef
You are new.
When you're new and acclimating to ketosis, you need to let your body become accustomed to it.

Some people have a LOT of weight to lose. Things may be different for them. Simple, gentle toning can be implemented after acclimation to ketosis. Likewise, walking can also be implemented. Movement is good for us. Intense exercise is NOT recommended, especially for people unaccustomed to it.

Ok thanks for info

Lean body mass is composed of all of the muscles, organs, bones, tissues, skin, blood, and water in the body excluding fat.

Water is a huge component of LBW.

Typically for every 2 pounds of fat lost, you will lose 1 pound of water. So you can expect a big LBW reduction as you lose fat mostly from the loss of water.

I think much of the mass of a human body is water. Take away the water and we can be reduced to a fairly small pile of chemicals (ever see a creamation urn?)

I also agree that those scales that measure fat mass and LBW are very inaccurate and can give wildly varying results.

I have been weight lifting for over 30 years, so was not wanting to stop for this diet. I did back down until ketosis was firmly in place and my body was accustom to burning fat for fuel. The other thing my coach said was to add lean protein after my work-out. I actually prefer something like eggs or chicken breast over packets or protein shakes. Just like real fuel. I have not been tracking body fat and lean muscle mass, just going by what I see. I am close to goal and my arms and legs have gotten very cut. I am pretty pleased with this considering that I am 52. Strength wise, I have not lost much at all. Full body push-ups are a piece of cake(of course not pushing up all the weight is a factor). But I am using 25 pound dumbbells for presses and pullovers and core work is very easy too.

Second all of this...If you are doing all the right things...you are not going to be doing the wrong thing to your body. It may take a while for everything to tighten up also. Which is why we continue to lose inches even when maintenance is achieved. LOL...Even at my age that has continued to take place.

Thanks for all the info! I too am losing lean mass but I am also losing fat. I'm still only 2 weeks in and 11 lbs down, so I was really hoping my lean mass was water and glycogen stores.

Thanks all for the speedy responses! This is why I love this forum so much.

We are using an electrical impedance device. (never knew it was such a crap shoot)

So in knowing now from all of you that the measures of body fat are really water dependent I'm not so worried. For some reason that I have always had poor water measurements each week this might just be a . I am consuming four or five nalgenes a day and almost one at night that sits by the bed.

As for the question about measurements (sorry for the bad formatting)

------------ Chest--- -Arm--- Waist ---Hips-- Thigh
12/21/2014--- 42.5--- 13 ---40.5--- 39.5--- 19
1/4/2014--- 42---- 12.5 ---40 ------39.5--- 18
1/11/2014--- 42---- 12.5 ---39.5--- 39---- 18
1/28/2014--- 41.5--- 12 ---39.5--- 38.5--- 18
1/25/2014--- 41.5--- 12 ---39--- 38---- 18

So my measurements are going down.

I'm going to give it another week and see what's up. I've also decided to tweak my diet by taking in a pre-workout and post workout meal.

I do have to report though that despite not having the energy to finish two of the workouts earlier in the month, I feel great now. I'm doing all of the exercises and finishing strong. Soreness is also down from when I started. I can tell I'm gaining strength but it seems paradoxical if I am loosing lean mass... but I didn't take into consideration that lean mass is all the other tissues as well. It's a lot to think about.

Thanks again everyone.

If you've lost 1.5 inches around the waist with just 5.4lbs of weightoss then - I am sorry - but most of your loss must be fat.

I would even go as far to say that you may have gained muscle. Individual results vary, but on average I used to lose a pant size for every 14lbs lost.