ideaman
Level 3 Valued Member
Ok, so here's a doozy for y'all. I am looking for more than conjecture here, as my wife is an RN, has a degree in integrative nutrition, and is generally not naive in the world of health, body chemistry, etc.
My wife has been doing a Paleo style diet with me and others for 3 weeks now. We did Dexascans before starting, to have the most accurate and trusted information possible. She just went in for another scan yesterday before she leaves for the USA. The results were astonishing... bad! Her overall body fat % has gone UP .4%, and she has lost over 3kg (about 5lbs) of pure muscle. Each arm, each leg has seen significant lean mass reduction, with zero reduction in fat. Her overall fat % went up because she lost muscle, and muscle only. She has been training 3-4 days/week, with admittedly lighter bells due to a back that isn't 100% yet after a minor injury. Though she wasn't lifting heavy, she was training hard for an hour 3-4 days. She did not cheat in any way on the diet. She has stuck to the program and the times of day to eat, despite it being very uncomfortable and unpleasant in every way.
With regard to history, she did have a hypothyroid issue before we moved here, which she does not have current blood work on its current status of. She has felt as though it was pretty well under control, as the hair loss, etc had stopped and last blood tests showed things just about back in line. She had to undergo all that right before we moved due to immigration policies. The only other contributing factor we can come up with would be her age. She is possibly close to menopause, based on the ages her mother and older sister went through it. Other than that, we cannot come up with an explanation.
For myself, I know I have shrunk a lot on this diet, and now of course am worried I have cannibalised my lean mass as well. I know I have in my legs, as they had almost no fat when I started, and now they are so small clothing that wouldn't fit is too big.
Does anyone else have similar experience with measured results... and I don't mean your bathroom scale. Fat % tracking. She was thrilled to be losing weight, but pretty bummed when she found out it was all muscle loss. And the 2nd part is then, with ZERO carbs, rigid Paleo, what the hell does she try next with after this monumental failure?
Quality feedback would be greatly appreciated.
My wife has been doing a Paleo style diet with me and others for 3 weeks now. We did Dexascans before starting, to have the most accurate and trusted information possible. She just went in for another scan yesterday before she leaves for the USA. The results were astonishing... bad! Her overall body fat % has gone UP .4%, and she has lost over 3kg (about 5lbs) of pure muscle. Each arm, each leg has seen significant lean mass reduction, with zero reduction in fat. Her overall fat % went up because she lost muscle, and muscle only. She has been training 3-4 days/week, with admittedly lighter bells due to a back that isn't 100% yet after a minor injury. Though she wasn't lifting heavy, she was training hard for an hour 3-4 days. She did not cheat in any way on the diet. She has stuck to the program and the times of day to eat, despite it being very uncomfortable and unpleasant in every way.
With regard to history, she did have a hypothyroid issue before we moved here, which she does not have current blood work on its current status of. She has felt as though it was pretty well under control, as the hair loss, etc had stopped and last blood tests showed things just about back in line. She had to undergo all that right before we moved due to immigration policies. The only other contributing factor we can come up with would be her age. She is possibly close to menopause, based on the ages her mother and older sister went through it. Other than that, we cannot come up with an explanation.
For myself, I know I have shrunk a lot on this diet, and now of course am worried I have cannibalised my lean mass as well. I know I have in my legs, as they had almost no fat when I started, and now they are so small clothing that wouldn't fit is too big.
Does anyone else have similar experience with measured results... and I don't mean your bathroom scale. Fat % tracking. She was thrilled to be losing weight, but pretty bummed when she found out it was all muscle loss. And the 2nd part is then, with ZERO carbs, rigid Paleo, what the hell does she try next with after this monumental failure?
Quality feedback would be greatly appreciated.