Hi guys.
So I’m morbidly obese. 6ft and 321lbs. However over the years I’ve built some nice muscle and have been hitting the gym these past 6 months.I’ve lost 45lbs so far with OMAD but want to get some water fasts in mainly 36s-48s.
I’m scared I’m going to lose muscle and just look terrible skinny/fat if I reach my goal weight. However because I have sooo much fat on me, I know my body should focus on burning that first instead of going through the muscle, yet I’m still afraid to start. It makes logical sense right, body thinks “hmm I need energy, lets use the abundance of fat stores we have specifically for this exact reason rather than burn the muscle that we use in the gym!”. I’ve heard stories of people having their muscle burned but to be fair these were guys much smaller than me (weight wise).
I wanted to hear from big fat guys/gals with decent muscle mass and what their experience was like fasting and retaining muscle. Or anybody that has decent knowledge and that can back it up with science studies etc.
Thanks guys.
Bro you’re not going to lose your muscle. I’ve lost 50 lbs fasting 4-5\~ days a week for the past 5-6 months and I’m lifting the same amount. I can lift slightly higher on my eating days.
Even if you somehow lost muscle, it would be worth it lol. The quality of life that comes from losing weight > muscle. You’d also be able to put it back on pretty quickly once you start bulking again.
You’re afraid of looking skinny-fat but imo that’s far better than looking obese. That was my logic when I first started fasting. If anything, as the weight drops I’m looking more and more ripped. Haven’t been making many gains but my muscles are definitely looking more defined.
You’re also only rolling 48s. I can still lift my max weight 2 days into the fast, day 3+ is where I start struggling with max weight. You’ll be fine.
yeah, I let that hold me back for a long time, but it got to the point where I was just so unhappy with the extra weight that I decided to move forward with fasting and just focus on doing moderate bodyweight exercises in an effort to maintain what muscle I have.
After I get to my goal weight, I plan to eat for maintenance and kick up the muscle building exercises again.
Think about it like this, your body is extremely smart. When you fast your body basically starts to eat the least important/damaging part of itself; dead cells, fat, acne, inflammation and so on. The last thing you would lose from a fast would be muscle, hell I’m pretty sure fasting actually improves muscle growth.