[Discussion] we are measuring lean mass at the wrong time and calling it noise
we are measuring lean mass at the wrong time and calling it noise. Change my mind, genuinely — I have no stake in being right about this.
Reduced appetite makes hitting a protein target a logistics problem rather than a motivation problem, which is why the practical advice here is about timing and food choice rather than willpower.
Hydration status and fasting state affect the lean mass estimate. Standardising both is the difference between a comparison and a coin toss.
Fat-free mass index is a ratio of fat-free mass to height squared. It moves when either term does, which makes it awkward to interpret during active weight change.
That is everything I have. The rest is opinion and I have tried to keep it out.
best — the order this archive was captured in
On comparing yourself to composition figures from trials.
Published composition data comes from supervised populations with structured protocols, standardised scanning, and analysis populations that have been defined in advance. Your two scans at a local clinic, taken in different states of hydration, are not the same measurement.
Use your own baseline. The question worth asking is whether your own trajectory is going the way you want given what you are actually doing, and the honest answer usually requires measuring protein rather than estimating it and being truthful about training frequency. Neither of those is advice — a programme and a target are things to work out with somebody who knows your history.
Reminder that nobody here is prescribing training and the sidebar says so.
Yes. Nobody here is prescribing training or nutrition and the good posts say so.
Same DEXA machine both times?
Correcting myself upthread: 23 months between scans, not the figure I gave.
Yes. Lean mass change during weight loss is expected; the useful question is the proportion, not whether it happens.
strength retention is a decent proxy and it is free
Protein was the whole problem. Appetite dropped and I was eating well under target without noticing for a month.
Strength retention is an imperfect but free longitudinal proxy: it is affected by neural factors and by being in a deficit, so it tracks tissue change loosely rather than exactly.
the appetite effect makes eating enough protein a logistics problem
DEXA has a meaningful coefficient of variation, and it differs between machines and protocols. Comparing scans from different clinics adds a systematic offset that is invisible on the report.
Two scans on the same machine 15 months apart. Lean mass held better than I expected and the lifts told the same story for free.
Two scans on the same machine 15 months apart.
This is the whole intervention. Protein and resistance training.
This is the whole intervention.
Disagreeing with this line: rate alone does not preserve lean mass. The training does.
resistance training first, cardio if there is time left
nothing on this board is a training or nutrition prescription
Some lean mass loss accompanies weight loss in any deficit. Resistance training and adequate protein intake are the two interventions with the best evidence for limiting the proportion.
Three scans over eighteen months, same machine, same conditions. Only the third one made the first two interpretable.
lean mass loss during weight loss is expected, the question is how much
lean mass loss during weight loss is expected, the question is how much
first_pen_fear is right that protein becomes a logistics problem when appetite drops.
first_pen_fear is right that protein becomes a logistics problem when appetite drops.
Adding the free proxy — track a few lifts monthly. It costs nothing and it is longitudinal.
Correction: those scans are from different machines, and the difference you are describing is within the measurement error.
Started weighing protein rather than estimating it. The gap between what I thought and what I ate was embarrassing.
- 1Two scans on the same machine 15 months apart. Lean mass held better than I…11 comments in this branch · started by u/throwaway_titration
- 2Yes. Nobody here is prescribing training or nutrition and the good posts say…7 comments in this branch · started by u/saskia_wojcik