will I lose muscle if I have enough protein but still few calories?

I am a teenage girl really trying to lose weight fast because I have been trying with failing for the past 2 years. For some reason I get too afraid to lose my lean muscle mass. I am 5 ft 7 and 136 pounds but I would like to be 120 because I do still have fat and I would like to be mostly lean because I am an athlete. I was wondering If I consume around 800 calories a day BUT part of those 800 cals are protein shakes that are 300 calories and 60 grams of protein and I do also weight lift and work out a lot. So even though I am eating too little amount of calories but I am getting well enough protein, will I still lose my lean muscle tissue? I dont want to hear that 800 calories is too little and I will go into starvation mode and whatever cause I really do know all that, but im serious about this and I just want to get a really big kick start and get a big weight loss taken care of so I can just be my happy weight and eat really healthy. So I am going to just make a healthy lifestyle change I just want to get this hard part over with. Can someone give me information that helps because I dont want to lose my lean muscle! thanks to all who help!!!

Answer #1

The problem isn’t protein but carbohydrates. You see your body needs glucose to power cells that it normally gets from breaking down carbohydrates. When you don’t eat enough carbohydrates your body resorts to breaking down muscle for this purpose. After a while without carbs your body starts producing ketones. Your body can burn ketones instead of glucose so this is the way your body avoids loosing too much muscle during famines.

Any protein you consume beyond what you need is simply converted into carbohydrates or fat since you can not directly use protein for energy.

Answer #2

You should weigh between 122 and 148 pounds.

If you are athletic then you should probably be eating more than 800 calories per day.

“What should a minimum calorie intake be?”

As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/calorie-intake-to-lose-weight.php

Check out this calculator for how many calories YOU really need.

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/calneed

  Check out this link for exercise information:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Exercises/Exercises.htm

  Calories burned during exercise

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

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Answer #3

I understand where you’re coming from and 800 cals is fine, as long as you’re not exercising (but I thought you were an athlete).

protein shakes are great because they store energy but aren’t as hard to burn as fats. pay attention to the ingredients though, you don’t want powder with too much creatine, as that has the specific purpose to build muscle. you don’t want to build you want to tone.

outside of your normal athletic workouts get into a pilates class or do laps in a swimming pool. (make sure it’s an intense pilates/yoga class so it REALLY works you) these are great for making women’s bodies really lean.

p.s. if you can do 800 cals without skipping meals, great. make sure you’re eating in the morning, around lunchtime, and around six or seven though. skipping meals lowers your base metabolic rate and you will actually burn less calories throughout the day.

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