Question:
Do you lose muscle mass faster than fat if you do not exercise?

Hi everyone!! Just a quick question...I have a friend who had lap RNY distal around the same time as me but she is not walking...at about a week after surgery I had lost 5 lbs more than she had at the time. I was trying not to be competitive, so I haven't told her how much weight I have lost, but she says she has lost already 28.5 lbs today, AND SHE IS NOT WALKING!! AND she doesn't follow the same eating as I do. I go exactly by the book. That helps me. I walk my two miles everyday even though it is my least favorite thing to do...I have also tried to stay active around the house while I am off work. She says she just reads and watches TV all day...so my ultimate question is..do you lose muscle mass quicker than you lose fat?    — mistyclapp (posted on March 20, 2003)

March 20, 2003
I know you know "everyone loses at their own pace", so even if you were both working the program identically you could lose at different rates. Even if she loses more according to the scale than you, you'll be smaller than her since you're keeping your muscle, but losing fat which takes up more volume that muscle. You'll be much more fit, and since muscle burns more calories, will have an easier time maintaining the loss in the long run. Keep up the good work!
   — mom2jtx3

March 20, 2003
I am not sure about the answer to your question. However, I did want to let you know that it IS possible to lose quickly without exercising or dieting. I did! I don't believe that I lost more muscle mass, I do however need some toning up. I am certainly not encouraging the no-exercise way of doing things, but it worked for me. Now, if I would ever start to gain, I have a safety net-I will start exercising. Shelley
   — Shelley.

March 20, 2003
For every person who reports getting to goal and maintaining it, long term, without exercising, there are probably 100 or more who couldn't get there or stay there without exercising and/or struggling with carb demons, sugar demons, and head hunger (run, Shelley, before I pelt you with a protein shake! Just kidding. Sorta!). Sigh. It's so individual. You and your friend just had this surgery, right? Time will tell what works for you, and what works for her. Personally, I wanted to feel that I'd done everything I could to make it successful, so I've stayed conservative about what I eat and am compulsive about exercise -- though I've noticed plenty of folks who are more conservative about their food choices than me, and some folks who exercise a lot harder, too. I've seen others whose dogged determination blows me away, no matter how many plateaus they hit, and I know they've got more character than I would have under those circumstances. You know that the things you're pushing yourself to do right now are good habits to develop for the long term, and they make you feel good when you do them (well...afterwards, anyway!). Don't be surprised if you notice folks who are losing more weight than you, who may seem like they're doing less work than you. Rest assured there will be others, working harder than you, having awful complications, or other tough hands dealt to them, who won't do as well as you do, either (and they keep on pluggin' away anyway). Just stick with what works for you, compete only with yourself, and try not to be too hard on yourself along the way, either!
   — Suzy C.

March 20, 2003
You didn't say what the weight difference was between you and your friend pre-op, but since she had a DISTAL RNY, I'll assume she has a higher BMI than you. Looking at your BMI on your profile page, you are more of a lightweight, which most people find out, lose weight a little slower than the SMO post-ops. Also, you guys just had this surgery and she may have had alot of edema (swelling from water retention) and thats always the first thing you lose when you've had this surgery. I found out I lost 45 lbs at my 2 week checkup post-op!! So just relax and try not to compare with her. Her losing will probably stall dramatically at some point and you'll be cruising along with your slow but steady weight loss. We also seem to lose by percentage of excess weight, which isn't the same for every person. Good luck to you!!<br> Lap-RNY 1/13/03 -83lbs & Counting!
   — thumpiez

March 22, 2003
Yes, you lose muscle mass if you don't exercise. Especially if you have just had WLS...here's why: When your body is getting few calories, your body needs to replenish its blood glucose levels. Since you're not eating a heck of a lot of glucose/sucrose/sugar-in-general, your body MUST break down muscle to create glucose in the liver. Fat cannot be converted to glucose in animals, only in plants. So, if you exercise (good choice, btw), you will convert your muscle to glucose, but also burn fat, which will spare your muscle mass, and you can rebuild that by eating enough protein. Hope this helps.
   — Brittany C.