BMI , weight loss and muscle

[Batandball41]

I’m a 64 year old male , 182cm and 99 kgs. I’m on a VLCD ( this is my second week) and I’ve lost 5kgs. The reason o am on this diet is that my blood pressure was raised slightly and obviously losing weight is going to help.

I feel quite confident in this diet and I am thinking how low should I go.

As per BMI I should be looking at being perhaps 80 kgs. I’ve also tried to calculate the loss by measuring my waist. I have the usual old man belly and that calculation isn’t far from the BMI result perhaps 82kgs.

So far so good! I do like to plan and I am wondering on the impact of heavily muscled legs might have on the amount of weight I need to lose? My legs ( an inherited gift) are that of a body builder!

So I ask is there a potential “offset” in the weight I may need to lose?

[Grigid Moderator 4 stone]

Hello Batandball41, and a very warm welcome to Weight Loss Support.

As the name of the group suggests, what we offer each other here is lots of support through our various weight loss journeys.

You’re not alone with a pair of body builders legs, they have been passed down the generations in my family too 😊

You’re right that being overweight has a correlation with higher blood pressure it’s good to be paying attention to your overall health in this way.

We offer our experience as well as support here, and I would advocate a plan for a steady weight loss so that it’s sustainable.

There are people here who follow different approaches, whether that’s calorie counting, points, or a low carbohydrate approach.

Planning seems to help and we have a Daily Diary where members post what they’re planning to eat, and their exercise in some cases. There’s also a weekly weigh in (speaks for itself), and lots in between.

I’ve added a link at the bottom of this reply so you can see what’s available to join in with.

Let us know if you need more information, or get stuck with anything.

Good luck on your journey 🍀

healthunlocked.com/weight-l...

[Batandball41 in reply to Grigid]

Thanks for the reply.

It’s all rather new to me but I choose the VLCD route as I wanted a quick fix. If all goes to plan the true journey starts and that is ensuring I maintain my weight and a healthy lifestyle.

Hahaha so you’ve got those legs as well? I was working in Nigeria once and a guy there was a body builder. He was in awe of my calf’s , he said many had implants to get that shape!

[Grigid Moderator 4 stone in reply to Batandball41]

Yes, we’ve got the legs without implants too 😂

Do watch out for side effects of a VLCD like dizziness, stomach problems and headaches. If you get any of these it might be worth upping the calories a bit.

There are other approaches that can bring great results and that members here can share information about, such as low carb that might be worth checking out.

😊

[Eryl Visitor]

The 'old man belly' is probably inflammation of the guts due to your old bigh cab diet (esp bread) and ingestion of refined seed oils. It could be other foods as well (google'foods that csuse inflammation).

[UserError Visitor in reply to Eryl]

"probably". Bit of an assertion on limited info? Not saying it's not the case, but surely it could be plain old lardiness?

[Eryl Visitor in reply to UserError]

No, i've seen it in my cycling club, people who are fit, active and quite thin but with pronounced bellies from fuelling up on carbs.

[HazelP17 Healthy BMI 8st 7lbs]

Hello and welcome. Good luck on your journey. My motto is: Make it fun it will be gone and not coming back. 💪

While reading your introducing some things are coming to my mind.

a) Starving yourself with a total restricted diet doesn't change your lifestyle and eating habits on a long run to prevent further weight gain.

b) losing weight to fast can ??? cause? to a lot of loose skin when you reached your weight goal.

c) restricting is also malnutrition which causes muscle mass loss besides other misfunctions of your body and mind with makes it for the body much harder to lose stored fat or to burn the meals proper.

d) yes, you are correct, higher blood pressure and prediabetic can be bad for your heart and health BUT bad for your heart is also when you put too much stress and pressure on your body with starving it, excessive exercises or jojo-ing with your weight.

e) Wouldn't it be better to first look on your normal diet from the past years and which things caused your weight gain in the first place? And also which kind of food you prefer to adjust your diet based on it to make it easier and working as a long term health change.

f) Most folks on a very restricted diet are gaining weight again fast because ones body became used to the very low calories and even a little more calories will be fast stored in your belly fat to 'have a full pantry for further starving times'.

g) In Germany there a special clinics where one can go for a diet like this that one is permanently supervised by doctors and specialists and the blood controlled and vitamins and minerals added.

You said that you are already at your 2nd week and some of your questions/thoughts can no one answer in this forum, cause none of us is a professionell.

This stuff, how much low you should go and how long you should live on the VLCD diet can only be answered by your GP and other professionals who can see you and are also able to do bloodwork and other tests to make sure you are on a healthy way.

Does your GP know about it and has he given you advise and also supplements to avoid muscle mass loss? (or when I remember correct are the muscles named as leen mass? which has to be avoided to lose)

quote: So I ask is there a potential “offset” in the weight I may need to lose?

I am a female but I also might have what you called a body builder body. Even when I'm still 'overweight' in the BMI chart I look much slimmer and have bones looking under the skin at all parts of my body than other females my age with much less body weight and a much lower BMI.

[UserError Visitor in reply to HazelP17]

"Does your GP know about it " - good luck with that 🤣 . A while ago, whilst having routine blood tests, a nurse at our GP said I was prediabetic and the GP suggested over the phone that I lose a bit of weight. And my BP was up a bit. My annual review was up recently and when I rang, I was told "there aren't any appointments" 🤷‍♂️. If they bothered to look, as far as they're concerned I'm still overweight and prediabetic... Fortunately I'm now not overweight, but the GP system is in meltdown 😟

[HazelP17 Healthy BMI 8st 7lbs in reply to UserError]

Sorry to hear that. Can't you change the GP or go to a drugstore? The drugstores in Germany make some tests and can give advice and also the health insurance does.

Overweight can be one reason for high blood pressure, other important factors are too high salt intake, low potassium level (fruits and veggies have a lot of natural potassium), stress, lack of exercises and an mostly sedative livestyle, smoking, other health issues ...

I have a very nice GP and when she doesn't have an answer for me she searches in the www and asks other professionals.

Losing weight with small changes isn't that problem, health wise, but living on a very restricted or mono diet or as sedative starting excessive exercises can be.

[atrax_robustus Visitor]

I wish we'd stop talking about weight loss and instead talk about fat loss. You don't want to lose an arbitrary amount of kg, you want to lose fat. The scale is not a good measure of that. The best measure (unless you have access to a DEXA scan) is your waist. So get out a tape measure, and measure your waist. You want to aim for for half your height, so if you don't have a tape measure, then measure your height with a piece of string, and fold it in half, and wrap it around your waist.

I am personally not a huge fan of VLCD. Google Minnesota Starvation Experiment; it literally made them crazy! I am a fan of eating or not eating. Try one meal a day, but eat until you are full. You can eat real foods, and I believe it convinces your body you aren't in a famine.

Good luck!