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I've recently experimented with low carbing, calorie reduction and fasting. I think I messed it up for the past two weeks and have lost most of the muscle mass Ive gained.

I am a novice, started getting into calorie counting, macronutrient partitioning, fasting and weight lifting (with starting strength) at around october of 2013. Ive gained mass and lost some due to my erroneous dieting schemes. I tended to binge on some days then fast for 40 hours afterwards to keep up with my binges. I recently found out that my fear of carbs, while helping me lose body fat for a few days, ultimately led me to a downward spiral of binging after days of deprivation.

To cut things short, my last binge and fast afterwards episode has left me with muscle mass that is close to what I had when I was starting out and the body fat I have now has started to bounce back to levels I so dreaded to keep it away from. Is there anyway I can recover my muscle mass? My strength hasnt diminished yet but my muscle mass did. Ot are things too late for me?

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Unless you only had a couple of weeks worth of muscle mass gain, two weeks is not enough time to lose "all the mass you had" and see bodyfat levels change that dramatically. Most likely all that you lost was some of the fluid in the muscle cells.

However, all is not lost. All that you need to do is get on track with a consistent diet plan that supports your workouts. Carbs are not evil, despite what paleo and other people will tell you.

Plan for 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, keep your fat intake to a 15-20% range from healthy fats and oils, and get the rest from high quality carbs and you should be fine. Work out an eating schedule to where you don't binge, and if you do binge, you don't need to fast. Calories are like working out, it's not the single big day that makes or breaks you, it's the day in day out consistent efforts that yield results.

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  • I see, your answer is pretty insightful and informative to me, thank you. I ask though if muscle fluid is different from glycogen? And if it is how can I increase the muscle fluid I had to 'puff' up the muscles that I believed I lost?
    – reverb
    Feb 12, 2014 at 17:23
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    Fluid levels in muscles varies quite a bit, a really hard exercise session can cause fluid retention. About the only "permanent" method that I am aware of is creatine supplementation, as the muscle cells will retain more fluid to accommodate. Just work out and eat healthy, and your muscles will show themselves. Any fluid pump is transitory. And yes, muscle fluid is different than glycogen. Muscle fluid is just that, fluid that contains all the elements needed for the cell to function normally.
    – JohnP ♦
    Feb 12, 2014 at 17:42
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    Thanks so much for your help. I guess this was just paranoia then after the binge. Ill just stick to the program then.
    – reverb
    Feb 13, 2014 at 3:12

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