Dr.NateNeph said:The honest range is roughly 20 to 40% of total loss as lean mass without deliberate resistance training, and roughly 10 to 20% with it plus adequate…
I read this differently from Dr.NateNeph, on substance rather than tone. I think this board over-worries about lean mass. Some lean loss is obligatory — you need less muscle to move a smaller body, and preserving mass you no longer need is not a health outcome. The question is whether strength and function held, and mine did.
Happy to go further on any of that.
amsterdam_pete said:I lifted three times a week throughout and still lost lean mass.
Body composition tracking via bioimpedance on lean mass (InBody scan every 3 months):
| Metric | Baseline | Month 3 | Month 6 | Month 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeletal Muscle (lbs) | 74 | 66 | 68 | 72 |
| Body Fat (lbs) | 91 | 76 | 60 | 40 |
| Body Fat % | 40% | 32% | 25% | 22% |
| Visceral Fat (cm²) | 171 | 126 | 91 | 61 |
Note: skeletal muscle mass dipped initially then recovered with consistent resistance training + high protein. The visceral fat reduction is where the metabolic magic happens.
SarahChen_PharmD said:I think this board over-worries about lean mass.
SarahChen_PharmD said:...the muscle loss concern with lean mass...
This is a legitimate and well-studied concern. Let me put some numbers on it:
In STEP 1, approximately 39% of weight lost was lean mass. However, the Lundgren 2024 study showed that structured resistance training reduced this to ~25% lean mass loss.
Context matters: at BMI 35+, you're carrying excess lean mass to support the extra weight. Losing some lean mass is expected and not inherently harmful if you maintain adequate muscle function through exercise.
The solution isn't avoiding the medication — it's combining it with proper exercise and protein intake.
Sigma-Aldrich — Research-Grade Standards
Certified reference materials, analytical reagents, and research-grade standards for peptide verification. Trusted by laboratories worldwide.
Shop Reference StandardsFollowing on from julia.endo — and this may be the naive question:
Whether resistance training and protein change the ratio or only the absolute amount?
OP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.
Second scan under matched conditions, six months apart, same time of day: the lean number came back nearly a kilo higher than the panic scan. Strength was up throughout.