Q: My weight went from 79kg to 71kg in two months and my fat percentage went from 22% to 17%. But my metabolic rate is also decreasing when measured with a body fat scale, so I’m asking if this is basal damage. What should I do? I understand: you have achieved a steady and reasonable weight loss by adjusting your diet-based lifestyle changes, which is a very satisfying result, and as for basal metabolic rate, let me explain it to you. Currently I get the data: 2 months time, weight loss of 8 kilograms, including fat and muscle (water), specifically, before weight loss body fat is 79 * 22% = 17.38 kilograms, after weight loss body fat is 71 * 17% = 12.07 kilograms, a total of 17.38-12.07 = 5.31 kilograms of fat loss, so the loss of muscle (water) 8-5.31 = 2.69 kilograms . Basal metabolic rate dropped from 1706 kcal to 1677 kcal. Okay, so we know that basal metabolic rate is primarily related to lean body mass (aka muscle mass), so why was muscle also lost when it was originally meant to be fat loss? Now to explain to you why those 2.69 kilograms of muscle were lost. First of all, saving energy adaptive regulation of weight. Any regulated diet diet, as long as the weight loss, are fat and muscle reduction at the same time, just the proportion of the two is different, generally the more rapid weight loss (low-carbohydrate or dieting), the more muscle loss, the greater the damage to the basal metabolic rate, so a healthy diet to lose weight, that is, to minimize the reduction of the muscle of the dietary pattern. Weight loss start-up period, are generally dietary adjustments, supplemented by exercise (seven minutes to eat three minutes to move), and exercise is also aerobic exercise or daily fragmented activities are mainly (fat people generally do not have resistance type of exercise hobby, otherwise it will not be fat). From a macro perspective, healthy eating for weight loss, while not as drastically damaging to health as dieting or very low carb, follows the basic rationale of negative energy balance, that is, it creates a gap of energy that the body can accept (e.g., negative 300 calories per day). Take a look at evolution. Under the law of survival of nature’s survival of the fittest, our ancestors can survive and continue the race, it means that the weight is very appropriate, “neither so thin as to starve to death, nor so fat as to run to be eaten by the beasts of the menace to catch up with,” so we have inherited this gene, that is, the body has long evolved a set of sophisticated energy monitoring and metabolic regulation mechanism, if the If we feel that our energy is not enough to make ends meet every day, we will sound the “hunger alarm” (although subjectively we may not feel hungry), and then we will protectively lower our basal metabolic rate and thriftily utilize our existing energy reserves (mainly fat) to ensure that we do not starve to death before we find our next meal. meal and not starve to death before finding the next one. Therefore, whenever we lose weight, the basal metabolic rate also declines is completely in line with the natural law of adaptive regulation (achieved by reducing muscle), is to efficiently conserve energy and maximize the possibility of ensuring survival, we must know that humans can eat enough or even eat to get fat, only in the last hundred years or so, before it is all starvation (think of the neighboring people of North Korea). From this point of view, it appears that the basal metabolic rate values dropped when compared longitudinally, but this doesn’t actually mean that your basal metabolic rate is impaired, but rather that you’ve finally returned to a basal metabolic rate that matches what it would be if you were at a healthy weight state. Looking at the data, two-thirds of the weight lost is fat, and the basal metabolic rate only dropped by (1706-1677)/1706 = 1.7%, which is already ideal for fat loss, and you’re losing weight at a very appropriate rate of about 1 kilogram/week, which is safe and painless. Simply perfect. Secondly, with a lighter body burden, there’s no need to retain so much muscle to carry the fat. There are many bad consequences of obesity, but there are also some benefits. Two of them are: it makes the muscles bigger and the bones denser. Simply think about it, before you lose weight, every moment on the body to carry an additional 8 kilograms of weight to move, invariably increase the body’s resistance training opportunities, according to the principle of use in waste, the body is also naturally adapted to this long-term extra weight state, muscle mass and bone strength than the “ideal body weight” state is more powerful to do. In addition, adipose tissue itself is also a living organism, not simply “hanging a 5-liter bucket of Dragon Fish cooking oil on your body”, they also need nutrients and energy metabolism, of course, also contributes to a small part of the basal metabolic rate. Well, at this stage, you have two choices: either accept your new adaptive basal metabolic rate and enjoy the success of your weight loss (phases), or continue to pursue basal metabolic rate increase, and continue to move forward in the direction of resistance building training, muscle sculpting (which is also a whole set of diet and exercise program). Generally speaking, I would recommend that we lose fat first, then gain muscle, so that it is more conducive to the smooth passage of the weight loss platform period. Cell phone fitness APP like Keep and Fittime these have muscle building training content, according to their own basic situation to arrange the training program. Summarize 1, adjust the diet as the main auxiliary small amount of exercise diet, smooth fat loss at the same time, will certainly be accompanied by a small amount of muscle loss, basal metabolic rate will also be adapted to reduce; 2, do not have to see the basal metabolic rate decline, it is considered to be a “damage to the base generation”, in fact, the level of the base generation, it is to adapt to you! In fact, this level of basal metabolic rate is the basal metabolic rate under the state of “ideal body weight”; 3, fat loss and muscle building are not separate, want to further pull up the basal generation, you need to consider resistance muscle training, the purpose is to get through the weight loss platform period.