Re: Body Fat Increasing Fluxuation

[Guest guest]

It is essentially not possible to lose fat without losing muscle mass as

well.

Weight training during the process can change the ratio of muscle to fat

that you're losing, but there's no way around it. One method is to lose

weight, hit the gym with increased caloric intake to regain the lost muscle

mass, lose weight, hit the gym, repeat.. Finally you're left with very

little body fat, and as much muscle mass as you want.

This is how those guys on TV get " six-pack abs. "

Don't put too much stock in your Tanita scale, by the way. The fact that I

can drink a small glass of water and totally throw mine off is not a good

sign.

----- Original Message -----

From: " robertheinemann " <robertheinemann@...>

< >

Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 9:55 AM

Subject: [ ] Body Fat Increasing Fluxuation

> Hi All,

>

> Maybe someone can give some guidance regarding the following:

>

> I am in the begining stages of acheiving a CRON lifestyle. I started

> making changes to my diet at the begining of this year. Starting to

> eat more nutrionilly dense foods and less calories. To monitor this

> progress I've purchased and used daily the Tanita scale. What I see

> is happening is that my weight is decresing but my body fat % is

> increasing. This concerns me, but however the change is not that

> great. I am wondering if the Body Fat % can fluxate just like body

> weight (ie, becuase of water retention, food being digested, etc)?

>

> The other question:

>

> I am overweight. 5ft 9in, 205 lbs. My set point weight is 165 lbs.

> I plan to lose 4lbs / month till I reach my set point and then pull

> it back to 2 lbs / month until I reach my CR level. When I am losing

> the weight to my set point, how do I make sure that I am losing

> mostly Fat and not muscle? If I do see a trend with the Tanita

> monitor of losing muscle, what do I do (Diet wise) to make sure my

> body burns Fat and not muscle in my CR state?

>

> If anybody can provide insight to these questions, I would be very

> apreciative.

>

> Bob Heinemann

> Heinemann@...

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

From: " " <defiler@...>

> Don't put too much stock in your Tanita scale, by the way. The fact that I

> can drink a small glass of water and totally throw mine off is not a good

> sign.

True, the readings can vary ridiciously during the day, even a few minutes

apart. But over time, it is a very valuable indicator that you're making

progress. So don't throw it out, just realize the limitations of that

particular method of measuring something (% body fat) that is inherently

difficult to measure.

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> To monitor this

> progress I've purchased and used daily the Tanita scale. What I see

> is happening is that my weight is decresing but my body fat % is

> increasing.

: Welcome to the support list and the CR lifestyle. In addition to

the other valuable comments you've received, remember that weight loss and

reduction of body fat is not the primary goal of CR. It's a SIDE EFFECT

that USUALLY happens, when you eat less calories. However it's not the goal

and does not necessarily happen to everyone. Even if you lose little BF,

how much you eat and what you eat, is what counts.

[Guest guest]

> : Welcome to the support list and the CR lifestyle. In

addition to

> the other valuable comments you've received, remember that weight

loss and

> reduction of body fat is not the primary goal of CR. It's a SIDE

EFFECT

> that USUALLY happens, when you eat less calories. However it's not

the goal

> and does not necessarily happen to everyone. Even if you lose

little BF,

> how much you eat and what you eat, is what counts.

Thank you. Regarding the weight loss being a side effect. I had

read some posts that had pertained to the leanness of ones body as an

indicator of the effectiveness of your CR regiment. (Sorry I can't

reference them). Also in Walford's text " Beyond the 120 Year Diet " ,

the 2000 edition, he states in table 2.3 that weight is a Biomarker

of success. Mr. Walford further states in Chapter 9, pg 227,

that " ...on the CRON diet, your percentage body fat should be about

half that of your initial set point. "

Yes I do agree with you that the main factor contributing to a

successful CRON regiment is eating a nutritionally dense diet while

eating fewer calories than your AL days. My current concern, which

prompted me to post, is that I am still developing my CRON diet and

that this BF% increase may be an indicator that my CRON diet has a

flaw in it.

However, this may be moot. I recently discovered that the Tanita 551

has a variation +/- 1 percent when used under consistent conditions.

So I just may be overly cautious regarding this.

Again, thanks for everyone's input. I do appreciate it.