Q: Happy New Year Doctor !! I can’t thank you enough for your continued support to us advice seekers. This time I request your inputs on a weight loss undertaking. I have lost upto 20 – 25 kgs in the last 2 – 3 years. I am stuck at the last 6 – 8. I am planning to have a lot of vegetables and fruits to help me (and aerobic exercise, at least 50 min a day 5 times a week) and am targeting around a kg a week. My query is I have heard that with weight loss one loses muscle as well as fat so it’s important to rely on a high protein diet in order to preserve the muscle and avoid muscle wasting. So I wonder how true is this…if I lose weight with lots of vegetable and fruits, will my muscles waste away and fat remain…..what amount of protein is necessary in my diet to avoid muscle wasting while losing weight. Would really appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks.
– Roger
A: You do not have to be on a high protein diet to lose weight safely. Any extreme diet will probably result in some muscle loss; but the muscles can be built up again. If you are very concerned about this, you can add the use of weights to your aerobic exercise program.
It sounds like you are doing all the right things. You are exercising enough for that to have an effect on your weight–particularly on your ability to maintain your weight loss–which is the critical thing, of course. The proper weight loss you should aim for is one to two pounds a week. That gives you time to adjust to a new diet that can become permanent., If you find yourself no longer losing weight despite doing all the right things, you will have to eat even less or exercise even more.
– Dr. Neuman