Body fat up, lean muscle mass down after one month?

[cmscrapmom]

Hi! After losing 60 pounds on Weight Watchers and very minimal exercise (some cardio and abs in the gym 3 times a week but no strength training really), and keeping it off for over a year now I decided not to be afraid of the scale going up by starting strength training with the weight machines at gym. gym offers free training/reprogramming once a month. I went last month, worked with a trainer for an hour (which REALLY hurt) and kept up the program on own for the month - 3-4 x a week, upped cardio just slightly (by 5 minutes). I'm generally always still on WW maintenance program so no real diet changes there (actually ate a bit more daily points due to the exercise which I'm allowed). Can't think of what I did wrong, BUT, at yesterday's evaluation the trainer told me I gained body fat and lost lean muscle mass....HUH?? He asked me if I was taking a multi-vitamin, which I don't (won't get into why). He told me that's the reason I lost lean muscle mass - not because of lack of protein or any other higher power supplements, just a daily multi-vitamin. Of course, a Centrum or one-a-day is not good enough - I need to purchase the vitamins they sell (he said the others are fine for people who don't work out but when you exercise frequently body is taking the nutrients it's not getting from muscles).....I'm not sure I get that as I've never heard of 'nutrients' causing muscle loss. Can someone with more expertise shed some light on this for me? I can't figure out how increased activity cost me muscle and I'm not sure I can trust the advice. Thanks!

[Boss Man]

Muscle can be burned when nutrition remains inadequate to support energy conversion, and energy use, so Muscle becomes a reserve energy fuel.

Taking a Multivitamin might help, but you have to bear in mind certainly Vitamins A,D,E and K, can become toxic when overconsumed, so taking a Multivit, might take your RDA of certain things to a very unadvantageous level, and also some vitamins / minerals at high enough levels, can compete and cause a probable deficiency in one or both things.

The other probable reason for muscle loss is the levels of activity. Too much activity fueled with inadequate nutrition, can sometimes be a precursor of lost muscle, by not giving the body anything to work with nutritionally, so the bodies Metabolism is revved up with exercise, and then has to look for things like Fat and Muscle to convert to energy, if caloric burn from food / liquids is not sufficient enough.

Muscle can also be lost through a lack of Protein, the only question is what foods were you eating, and the portions etc etc.

[cmscrapmom]

Thanks for the fast response. I'm leery of multi-vitamins for exactly the reasons you stated and I'm suspicious that the trainer only mentioned that (no mention of food/diet) as the issue - and of course, he could sell me the vitamins (the only ones) that would solve problem.

Anyway, diet wasn't unusual and maybe I should add something to it for added weight lifting? typical day is maybe a low-fat yogurt when I get up (early, I work at 4:00 a.m.) breakfast before the gym - usually plain oatmeal and a cup of melon, snack would be a string cheese, banana or orange when I get back (sometimes the string cheese and the orange), lunch could be a salad with lean chicken or turkey, tomatoes and other veggies, oil and vinegar dressing and maybe another fruit, but not usually (maybe I should add cottage cheese here) OR a lean turkey breast sandwich on whole wheat,lettuce tomato, mustard, light mayo and then 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.....maybe a cereal bar in the afternoon or a bowl of cheerios (I'm a cereal junkie) and then dinner would be maybe a cup of whole wheat pasta with lean ground beef meat sauce, a veggie (either asparagus, green beans - who knows).....I drink 6-8 glasses of water a day - more if you add during exercise.

I know you weren't looking for daily menu necessarily, but I thought it would be helpful to see that I don't starve myself, I do eat in the proper portion sizes for sure (again, I am a lifetime WW member and that's crucial to success and maintenance, so I do okay there) and I really don't eat junk food or sweets at all (though I'm guilty of an occasional cookie or candy bar during the week but rarely). This week was son's birthday and I did have pizza and cake but again, in very reasonable amounts and that was one time during the entire month.

So, question is - if it's NOT the mutli-vitamin but I have increased activity drastically (I didn't think it was drastic but I guess for me it maybe was) then what should I do for nutritional intake - generally speaking.....? Thanks again....

[Boss Man]

I'd boost the nutrition in the snack after workouts. An Orange only has about 9g Carbs.

You could therefore have the following for example.

Apple 19g Carbs

2 slices thick Pineapple 19g Carbs

Small Banana 19g Carbs

Large Banana 28g Carbs.

The large Banana option would be if you wanted yet more Carbs.

You could boost Carbs pre-workout by for example simply adding a few sliced Strawberries say to your Oatmeal. Bearing in mind 1 Strawberry is 1g Carbs, just cut 4-6 in half, and add them.

Maybe other Berry fruits could work too. so you might only be getting another 16-24 calories, but he extra carbs will fuel you, and possibly assist in correcting your muscle loss, fat gain problem.

I'm not saying you should do that to Oatmeal, it's just an option.

I'm not sure about String Cheese. I'd say if String Cheese is a bit fatty, use low Fat Cheese off a Wedge. Most Wedges are 5g or less, then you can substitute the lost Fats, with better Fats like a few Almonds, or a few Low Salt Nuts for example.

Don't bother with Cheerios in the afternoon, the grains are just going to be high GI, and you don't really need that effect on Bloodsugar, on a regular basis, bearing in mind you're not eating it post sleep, or after workouts, so Bloodsugar won't be particuarly lowered, and the spike would not really be desirable in that situation.

and then dinner would be maybe a cup of whole wheat pasta with lean ground beef meat sauce, a veggie (either asparagus, green beans - who knows)

Nail those veggies / other Carb sources. "Who knows" is not good. It means you're not saying tonight Broccoli, tomorrow a Baked Potato, night after that Brown Rice say.

It sounds too hit and miss, which potentially means you might fluctuate Carb levels at dinner each night. With proper planning of those Carbs, you can regulate Carb amounts daily, nd keep daily caloric intake pretty much the same.

For example. 1 Baked Potato is around 30g Carbs, but some Bean sources, (which are not Veggies they're Legumes), might yield only 1/2 that amount for a goodly sized portion, so getting your Carb source at dinner every night, worked out and portions regulated, to get the same or similar Carb yield, is more beneficial.