Is this good or bad?

[Katydid77]

So, I have been focusing on diet and cutting back on lifting a bit recently, just trying to actually lose some weight.

(My master plan is to lose 30 more pounds, reach my ideal weight, and then recomp more when I am not eating at a deficit)

Anyway, this month was a fairly big 'inches lost' month. I lost a few inches, but specifically I lost a full inch on my bicep. It went from 12 1/2 to 11 1/2, in a relaxed position. An inch seems like a heck of a lot . . and I am really sure that I took the measurement the same.

I have pudgy arms, so this makes me happy, but also that seems like a lot and I am also worried. Does that mean I am losing muscle mass?

I have stayed in the gym enough to keep the amount of weight I can lift the same, and I have made sure that it isn't any 'harder' now than it used to be.

So, ultimately if I can lift the same amount I have not lost muscle, right? I just don't want to do something stupid like lose muscle . . . .

[Aoife]

You're prolly fine. Variation in measurement due to fluctuations in water as well as operator margin of error are far more likely than muscle loss. So in addition to any fat loss that would be "true" change, and the more "regular" reasons for fluctuations/changed, there's stuff like weather/humidity changes as we head into fall making water retention different, or if you've just started heavily focusing on maintaining a non-small deficit you have depletion making for "larger" loss. Depending on timeliness of measurements there could be less muscle pump, esp if you're more depleted.

etc etc and so on and so forth


Eat enough protein and lift to maintain and muscle loss is about as minimized as you're gonna get it. Fat-free mass loss happens, but there's more to ffm than muscle.

*shrug*

[EasyRhino]

Also did you have significant muscle previously? I mean, I've lost fat in my arms, but since I was weak-sauce beforehand, I'm not too concerned.