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Is it possible to gain (or at least preserve) muscle on a VERY low calorie diet?

$broke$

New member
Alright so I need to lose about 15-20 lbs as quickly as possible (I'm a college track athlete and so the sooner I drop fat, the sooner I see better performances). I am currently on a very low calorie diet of usually 1000 calories per day. No more than 1500 daily. I run about 5 miles every morning and then hit the gym for 1.5-2 hours. I also do core work in the evenings.

I have been eating clean, since there is really no room for junk food at 1000 calories a day. My breakfast is usually a pack of oatmeal and whey protein, lunch varies depending on the day, and dinner is usually chicken or fish with veggies on the side.

I guess I'm wondering if anybody else has had to lose weight quickly, and when you did, were you able to lose fat without the muscle wasting away? And if so, what did you eat/do so that you only burned fat and not muscle?
 
For every 3600 some odd calories that you burn off more then you eat you will lose 1lb. But being in starvation mode (which IS at the calories you're eating at) your body WILL lose muscle. The most of that weight you are going to lose IMO is water weight, which is not healthy for an athlete so stay hydrated while running in the AM, especially in the summer. Now are you going to lose a lot of muscle in a short time frame? No. You can pack your meal full of dark leafy vegetables and raw oats (not oatmeal packets) to keep the calories down and still get vital nutrients but I doubt you will get enough protein in you at 1000 calories a day, being a man and an athlete. I do understand the stress that team events put on a person and your probable desperation, just be SAFE. I've seen MANY athletes pass out at events and be pulled from events for passing out, dehydration.
 
You never said how much you weight right now but if your a lil guy even 1k calories seems a lil low. Whats fast to you? All natural 15-20 lbs a couple months would sound about right without loosing alot of muscle. Try cycling your carbs
 
You never said how much you weight right now but if your a lil guy even 1k calories seems a lil low. Whats fast to you? All natural 15-20 lbs a couple months would sound about right without loosing alot of muscle. Try cycling your carbs

I am short/small, which is advantageous in middle distance. About 5'4'' 130 lb. The coaches want me to drop excess weight, but I don't want to be a twig. I don't really have a ton of fat to lose as it is, but I know that losing whatever fat I have would make me faster. I'm afraid to lose muscle though because it will really hurt my footspeed, especially the kick at the end of my races.
"Fast" in terms of weight loss for me would be maybe losing the weight by mid-October, November at the latest. That way I can start serious training for indoor in November.
 
Dude trust me you dont want to lose 15lbs to 20lbs if you are only 130lbs. You will be extremly weak and most of your weight will be from bones and water. No muscle whatsoever.
 
For every 3600 some odd calories that you burn off more then you eat you will lose 1lb. But being in starvation mode (which IS at the calories you're eating at) your body WILL lose muscle. The most of that weight you are going to lose IMO is water weight, which is not healthy for an athlete so stay hydrated while running in the AM, especially in the summer. Now are you going to lose a lot of muscle in a short time frame? No. You can pack your meal full of dark leafy vegetables and raw oats (not oatmeal packets) to keep the calories down and still get vital nutrients but I doubt you will get enough protein in you at 1000 calories a day, being a man and an athlete. I do understand the stress that team events put on a person and your probable desperation, just be SAFE. I've seen MANY athletes pass out at events and be pulled from events for passing out, dehydration.


yep...
 
Well ur posting in a bb forum and i have no clue how things are done on the track an field but i know it gets pretty in depth... Maybe try hiting up a t&f forum.. But ur specs 5ft4 130lbs about 1k-1500 would seem like ur goals are realistic.... Jus talking out my ass now, from watching tv those track guys are built speacially in there legs n upper body super cut, seems like there goals are not to loosw weight at All cost but then again im no track guy
 
You're basically doing exactly what you don't want to do. You're going to lose muscle by eating so little and trying to lose weight quickly. And with the amount of workout you're doing 1000-1500 is nowhere enough to fuel your body. Heck you could probably eat 3000+ calories a day and still lose weight if you're running 5 miles and hitting the gym 2 hours a day.

I use to run mid distance for track back in highschool..... we did a crap load of interval sprints. We only did 5+ miles of running for cross country. From what I know high intensity workouts such as interval sprinting is better for retaining muscle. But seeing how your coach is forcing you to lose weight by all means without telling you the proper way I could already tell he's probably a moron.

And FYI some bodyfat for mid to long distance runners is good. You need fat and carbs to fuel your body. Your performance is based off of your training, not how little fat you have. If you continue to aimlessly run 5 miles a day (overtraining) and starving yourself for no reason your performance will be complete crap.
 
Hey man, if you're 130lbs you're already skinny enough.

I used to weigh 130 pounds myself. I'm also 5'5. I'm currently 216lbs, but I know what it's like to be 130. That's freaken skinny. If you lose another 15-20lbs then you'll be so tiny.
 
Ya reading back on this now im thinking only way id wana loose any more weight is if i was a race horse jocky or somthing... Throw the scale away n work on those legs!
 
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