Losing Muscle Mass

[beijing]

hello everyone!! hoping u guys can help me out, i've been gluten free for about 3 months..for the past 3 weeks ive been noticing i've been losing a lot of muscle mass especially in my lower body which used to be my strong point..i workout 6 days a week ive cut back drastically on cardio and i do a lot of weight lifting (P90X)..i cant seem to make any more gains i'm actually going backwards..i'm drinking biochem whey protein shake, i eat ALOT!! mostly fuits veggies and steak (ribeye, which is high in calories)with potatoes and rice i never get full and i am always hungry!! Please help i dont know what to do anymore i take in a lot of calories daily and now i dont even have the energy to get a good workout...i dont want to stop working out because i feel like thats what gets my belly going..does anyone have any advice for me??? should i take in more protein shakes?? or is it that the shake i'm taking right now isnt very good?? before i went gluten free i was drinking syntha 6 but that one is not gluten free...please help i'm losing all my gains and I never get full!!

[Glamour]

How old are you? Menopause can wreak havoc on skin and muscle tone. I am 51 and losing lots of weight and some muscle. I realized I was not getting enough protein from FOOD. As I was deleting gluten, I was not getting enough good balanced nutrition.

You can also overdo working out, both cardio and weight training. Make sure you are letting muscles recover, otherwise you just tear them down. If you work out as much as you indicate, you should already know this - read up about this.

[Reba32]

fats and protiens! They'll keep you sated, and will prevent you losing muscle mass.

[beijing]

I am 32 years old...I alternate between muscle groups allowing 2-3 days recovery depending on the muscle groups I worked...I've been doing it consistently for 4 years, with and without personal trainers...this is not the norm for me I've never had any trouble sustaining it, I was just wondering if perhaps there is some kind of vitamin deficiency or some other kind of deficiency, like I said Ive cut down on the cardio because I am not trying to lose weight, Im trying to gain good weight (low reps high weight)...at first going gluten free was a breeze for me but I've found that the more time that passes the harder its getting!! shouldn't it be the other way around???..also I still ocassionaly have the distended belly issue....could i be getting accidentally glutened..or does it take time for all that to go away..and the rashes too..when does that go away could someone give me an approx. time line when do u feel normal again or do you ever??

[kenlove]

Get your hormones checked. When I finally got diagnosed 5 years ago I had lost 60 some pounds, all my testostorne and another hormone in the parathyroid glands. To get back required much more than diet and exercise but also a fair amount of B's and other vitamins as well as hormone injections. There are a lot of variables but its good to keep an eye on the hormones.

good luck

ken

I am 32 years old...I alternate between muscle groups allowing 2-3 days recovery depending on the muscle groups I worked...I've been doing it consistently for 4 years, with and without personal trainers...this is not the norm for me I've never had any trouble sustaining it, I was just wondering if perhaps there is some kind of vitamin deficiency or some other kind of deficiency, like I said Ive cut down on the cardio because I am not trying to lose weight, Im trying to gain good weight (low reps high weight)...at first going gluten free was a breeze for me but I've found that the more time that passes the harder its getting!! shouldn't it be the other way around???..also I still ocassionaly have the distended belly issue....could i be getting accidentally glutened..or does it take time for all that to go away..and the rashes too..when does that go away could someone give me an approx. time line when do u feel normal again or do you ever??

[GFinDC]

I am 32 years old...I alternate between muscle groups allowing 2-3 days recovery depending on the muscle groups I worked...I've been doing it consistently for 4 years, with and without personal trainers...this is not the norm for me I've never had any trouble sustaining it, I was just wondering if perhaps there is some kind of vitamin deficiency or some other kind of deficiency, like I said Ive cut down on the cardio because I am not trying to lose weight, Im trying to gain good weight (low reps high weight)...at first going gluten free was a breeze for me but I've found that the more time that passes the harder its getting!! shouldn't it be the other way around???..also I still ocassionaly have the distended belly issue....could i be getting accidentally glutened..or does it take time for all that to go away..and the rashes too..when does that go away could someone give me an approx. time line when do u feel normal again or do you ever??

It sounds like you are having reactions to something in your diet. Rashes and a distended belly are the symptoms I think indicate that. Did you change anything in your diet around the time the problem showed up? You might want to try an elimination diet to see if you can identify a problem food.

[Erin Elberson]

I would suggest you first follow up with your doc to get tested for any other food intolerances, parasites, and also to have some levels checked-ferritin, Vit D, B vitamins, and your regular blood panel, and hormone levels as Ken stated. You may also want to meet with a nutritionist if you have deficiencies.

Aside from that, the weight training and adequate protein intake are crucial for maintaining muscle mass. Perhaps track your protein intake in grams for a few days to see where you're at-optimal would be about 1-1.5 g/lb of protein.

[Reba32]

have you ever had your thyroid levels checked? There are 2 autoimmine thyroid diseases that commonly go in tandem (one or the other) with Celiac disease.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis causes hypo-thyroid.

Grave's disease causes hyper-thyroid. I had Grave's disease (currently in remission) and suffered quite a lot of muscle wasting because of it.

I don't know that anyone with Celiac woudl ever feel "normal" but after a few weeks you should certainly notice some improvement. If you're not, then it is possible you have other health issues that need to b determined. Either other food intolerances, or possibly other in-tandem autoimmune diseases.

[beijing]

Thank you everyone for your help!! I certainly will go get checked for the thyroid issue...BTW i wanted to share a website that I found its called gluten free fitness, I'm not done navigating through the website but it has a link to a pretty cool food and calorie tracker...Thank you again ev1