It’s also incredibly important to remember that not eating anything at all will trigger your body to turn your proteins and muscles into fat in attempt to help you survive longer. Do not just not eat for a day or few. I have a friend who tried that. Didn’t work.
That is not all that accurate; “muscle mass” lost during a relatively short fast (1-2 days) is due to glycogen depletion - ie. you’re burning your sugar stores, and your body sheds 3-4mL of stored water for every gram of glycogen burned.
If you stop to think about it, it’s a bit nonsensical to claim that the body would burn additional calories (that it doesn’t have) to convert existing muscle into fat, rather than just burn existing fat stores as a fall-back source of energy.
Muscle breakdown only really begins when the body starts to experience a significant shortfall in required essential amino acids over a prolonged period of time, or significant physical stress.
It’s also incredibly important to remember that not eating anything at all will trigger your body to turn your proteins and muscles into fat in attempt to help you survive longer. Do not just not eat for a day or few. I have a friend who tried that. Didn’t work.
That is not all that accurate; “muscle mass” lost during a relatively short fast (1-2 days) is due to glycogen depletion - ie. you’re burning your sugar stores, and your body sheds 3-4mL of stored water for every gram of glycogen burned.
If you stop to think about it, it’s a bit nonsensical to claim that the body would burn additional calories (that it doesn’t have) to convert existing muscle into fat, rather than just burn existing fat stores as a fall-back source of energy.
Muscle breakdown only really begins when the body starts to experience a significant shortfall in required essential amino acids over a prolonged period of time, or significant physical stress.
And hormone issues can play a huge role in how your body processes and uses the fuel you give it. It’s not always as simple as calories in/out.