1 month into the BSD, loss of muscle tone.

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posted by lambrettachoirboy
on 2 May 2017 at 11:11

After a very stressful year moving house, my blood sugars went out of control with very raised HbA1C at 99. Started the 8 week plan on 1st April. Yesterday(1st May) 16 lbs lost, daily blood sugars now averaging 7mgs/L on daily checks. HbA1C due in 6 weeks.
My main concern is loss of muscle tone in my legs in spite of never walking less than 5 miles daily. Any ideas please?.
posted by bigeater
on 2 May 2017 at 23:59

Hi ambrettachoirboy,

I would recommend swimming for your legs freestyle and breaststroke but especially breassttroke. I have been swimming a lot and my legs are in good shape, even have a thigh gap despite weight in other areas. But it must be regular and I think at least 1km – or build up to it. Hope this helps and keep up the good work!
posted by Esnecca
on 3 May 2017 at 00:26

I wouldn’t worry, if I were you. You walk so much there’s no reason to think you’ll lose muscle tone just because you’re not eating carbs and reducing your calorie intake. There are plenty of bodybuilders who do intermittent fasting and eat very little compared to most couch surfers. Their muscles are doing just fine.
posted by catherine80
on 3 May 2017 at 11:33

How much protein are you eating? To maintain muscle I’ve seen it recommended that your protein ratio shouldn’t be less than 0.69 – 0.8 per 1lbs of lean body mass. Any less than that and you start to lose muscle mass. About 50% of my daily calories are made up of protein – 104g protein, 25g carbs and 33g fat.
posted by senhorzorro
on 3 Sep 2017 at 22:05

Hi Catherine,
What sort of calorie intake do you have eating those quantities of protein, carbs and fat? I have just started the BSD and using the keto calculator I see I should be eating 90g of protein to not lose muscle. Almost any combination of foods which contain that quantity of protein puts me way over 800 calories a day?
posted by Esnecca
on 4 Sep 2017 at 00:22

That number seems very high to me. What is your goal weight, senhorzorro, and what kind of exercise do you do?
posted by senhorzorro
on 4 Sep 2017 at 16:10

Hi Esnecca,
My goal weight is 80kg. At the moment I am just walking, but do want to start some HIIT as well. Here are the numbers from the keto-calculator site:

814 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
50 g Carbs (25%, 200 kcal)
86 g Protein (42%, 344 kcal) (86g minimum / 143g max)
30 g Fat (33%, 270 kcal)

If I put in any protein quantity lower than this is gives a warning saying I will lose muscle. I think what I may do is just just stick to the recipes from the book which tend to be quite high in protein anyway and not worry too much about it? Hopefully it will not take me too long to reach my target weight as I ‘only’ have 10kilos to lose. I wonder if the muscle loss thing is more of a concern for people who are dieting like that for a very long time?
posted by Californiagirl
on 4 Sep 2017 at 16:49

Hi Senhorzorro — those numbers sound ok but I would encourage you to pull down the carb count and add in a bit more fat. Your protein is high — that’s sort of three servings (plus) of meat — I think you could cut a bit there unless you are really working out every day.
Regarding muscle loss — I did NOT lose my muscle even after five months of (mostly) BSD’ing — I even thought I had added muscle by the end — I am sporty and do two hours of sports about three times a week plus walking and some weight lifting about once a week.
I did eat a lot of protein (60-90 grams/day) because it fills me up and keeps my hunger down.
Can you add in a weight workout once or twice a week? It will really pay off.
Best wishes!
posted by senhorzorro
on 4 Sep 2017 at 21:46

Thanks for the advice Californiagirl. Very reassuring to know that I don’t have to eat that much meat everyday, although I have noticed that it really does keep the hunger away 🙂 Bizarrely I seem to be feeling less hungry on the BSD than with what I was eating before. I guess it must be the carb cravings?
I am definitely going to up my exercise routine (ie. start one) and maybe will try some weights!