Two ways to hold on to #muscle when you are in a #weightloss program.

As discussed in the previous post, through the use of DEXA scans, (one of the best ways to determine body composition) #weightloss medication trials have found varying amounts of #muscle loss. This isn’t surprising, muscle loss is seen with any weight loss method - including lifestyle modification, medication use and even surgery.

As the Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic Canada Weight and Lifestyle Management Program, I’m proud to say that we are one of the only programs in Canada to use DEXA scans to track the quality of weight loss in our patients. We have found some interesting preliminary results.

While all of our patients lose more weight from fat than muscle, the range varies greatly. Some patients have lost no muscle mass while others have lost about 40% of their weight from muscle loss. So what gives?

We know that there are two ways to minimize muscle loss - by:

1) Focusing on moving/exercising more and
2) Consuming enough protein.

We encourage exercise by having patients meet with exercise professionals to work around injuries and any other difficulties working out. They start by learning about old injuries and pain points, help our patients to stretch and strengthen their cores, how do resistance training with proper form and how do aerobic and high intensity interval training effectively.

We also have patients focus on taking in 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This can be hard to do. As an example, a 220-pound person is advised to consume about 80-100 grams of protein per day. Luckily we have expert dieticians who are able to come up with creative solutions.

We have found that those patients who greatly improved their activity/exercise levels and consumed enough protein tended to have less than 20 percent muscle loss while those who relied solely on medicine without focusing on these two key components lost as much as 40 percent of their weight from muscle mass. That is a big difference!

Take home message:
No matter how you lose weight - through lifestyle, with medications, or through surgery - you need to do weight-bearing exercise, resistance training, and consume enough protein intake to minimize muscle mass.