I got a copy today of a fitness eval I had done last year, when I was about the same weight I am now. One thing in particular caught my eye: my LBM was 126...which is only 5 lbs less than *all* of me weighed 20 years ago.

Now, I know: that was 20 years ago, things change, etc... I'm not thinking I can go back to the person I was then. I'm just really amazed: my LBM then was probably 100, and now it's about 126. Where on Earth did those 26 lbs come from? Is it all extra muscle and sinew to support my extra pounds? Do I lose any of this LBM as I lose weight (I know I don't want to lose muscle, but still)?

First things first - you definitely DO lose some LBM with weight loss - it's almost inevitable. You can minimize losses as much as possible by maintaining muscle, but higher weights require more muscle to carry them, and also have more of other lean body mass constituents (water, for example). So higher weight generally means a higher lean body mass, and you're definitely going to lose some.

That's probably why you have the additional LBM now...extra skeletal muscle, extra other stuff that came with the extra fat. Shedding fat will also bring your LBM down a bit (though you can maintain some of that new muscle, if you wish, with lifting).

Seeing that LBM number made me wonder if my chosen Goal Weight was possibly completely bonkers, but maybe it's not after all... Thanks for the info.

Mandalinn - Thanks for this post. My LBM has gone down as I've lost weight and I was a bit concerned. My trainer just told me to eat more protein.

As I thought about it I wondered if it was normal for my LBM to go down as I am losing weight. Nice to read your post that again reaffirms that everything is going normally for me.

nevermind.

Where would you go to get that tested?