Re: Body Eating your Muscle

June 27, 2006

I know a long time ago there was a women on this site that had a

problem where her body would start to eat at her muscles at a

extremely high rate. She noted that should would need to consume a

mass amount of protein each day just to keep up with her body. Now

for this particular women, it sounded like she still had fat to

lose.

My question, a friend of mine has a problem that is undiagnosed yet,

but she clams that when she does any cardio, or even light housework

she gets that pneumonia taste in her mouth that is almost unbearable

due to her Asama. About a year ago before this issue she was about

105-110 pounds, in one year she has ballooned to about 200. She

states that she has not changed her eating habits and was checked

for thyroid issues. The doctor claims she is fine. I was wondering

if possibly this could be why the huge gain in pounds. Her body is

breaking down protein, before carbs and fat, and causing her to gain

weight due to lack of muscle loss. I know that usually the

pheumonia state in your mouth is typically a sign muscle is being

used as engery...which is a BAD thing.

Is there such an issue, and if so where can I find out more

information for her. She is so desperate to lose weight and I feel

so bad for her. As of now I have her on a 50/30/20 split with

protein, carbs, and fat. Adding the extra protein I thought might

help.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

~

June 27, 2006

I'm not 100% sure I'm reading this right, but if she has the metallic

taste and the amonia smell (like a new perm) after exercise, it's

because her carbs are way too low. Carbs are protein sparing, meaning

if you're eating enough carbs, they fuel your workouts and the protein

is then available for muscle building and repair. Cut the carbs to

low, and protein/muscle becomes a fuel source. Burning protein as a

fuel source makes you smell and taste funny. Check out 's

article on the subject:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ammonia.htm

I would say that eating only 30% carbs is probably aggravating the

situation. Try at least 50%, and make sure she's eating carbs at every

meal and plenty of carbs before and after her workouts. Once you get

the protein breakdown under control, you might be able to squeak the

carbs down a little more to speed up fat loss. In general though, if

there's a consistent calorie deficit, it shouldn't matter much if

she's eating 50% carbs, she'll still be able to lose and she'll

probably feel a lot better. Not everybody is cut out to be a

low-carber, or even a moderate-carber. I definitely function best with

at least half of my calorie intake coming from carbs.

> I know a long time ago there was a women on this site that had a

> problem where her body would start to eat at her muscles at a

> extremely high rate. She noted that should would need to consume a

> mass amount of protein each day just to keep up with her body. Now

> for this particular women, it sounded like she still had fat to

> lose.

>

> My question, a friend of mine has a problem that is undiagnosed yet,

> but she clams that when she does any cardio, or even light housework

> she gets that pneumonia taste in her mouth that is almost unbearable

> due to her Asama. About a year ago before this issue she was about

> 105-110 pounds, in one year she has ballooned to about 200. She

> states that she has not changed her eating habits and was checked

> for thyroid issues. The doctor claims she is fine. I was wondering

> if possibly this could be why the huge gain in pounds. Her body is

> breaking down protein, before carbs and fat, and causing her to gain

> weight due to lack of muscle loss. I know that usually the

> pheumonia state in your mouth is typically a sign muscle is being

> used as engery...which is a BAD thing.

>

> Is there such an issue, and if so where can I find out more

> information for her. She is so desperate to lose weight and I feel

> so bad for her. As of now I have her on a 50/30/20 split with

> protein, carbs, and fat. Adding the extra protein I thought might

> help.

>

> Any help would be appreciated.

>

> Thanks,

>

> ~

June 27, 2006

I never knew what it was, but when I was doing tons of fasted cardio and eating

only around 1500 calories and not many carbs, I got that weird taste in my

mouth during and after cardio. I would agree with to up the carbs and not

do fasted cardio if she's doing that. What is her calorie intake?

Skwigg wrote: I'm not 100% sure I'm reading this

right, but if she has the metallic