Preserving Muscle Mass during Your Weight Loss Journey

Abstract

To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories or increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity or both. In general, you need to decrease your caloric intake by 500 to 700 calories a day to lose 0.5 to 1 kilogram a week. If you can add some physical activity to your day, you will be able to accomplish your weight-loss goals even faster. It sounds simple; however, it is much more complex than it sounds, because when you lose weight, you usually lose a combination of fat, lean mass, and water. Studies have shown that if you achieve a caloric deficit to lose weight solely by cutting calories, you are probably going to lose a quarter of your weight loss form muscle mass [1].