How Fast You Lose Muscle When You Don’t Lift

In this episode of the Lifting Lindsay Podcast, Lindsay addresses the concerns and misinformation regarding muscle loss, particularly during periods of reduced physical activity. She begins by debunking myths around immediate muscle loss during short breaks from lifting, emphasizing that short-term breaks do not lead to significant muscle tissue loss. Lindsay delves into the process of muscle atrophy, differentiating between sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy, and explaining how nutrition, daily activity, and training intensity can influence muscle maintenance. She shares her personal experience of dealing with significant life events, including pregnancy and a miscarriage, which led to a temporary halt in her training routine and a noticeable change in her body composition.

Topics:
00:28 Let's talk muscle loss and the causes of atrophy
04:25 Setting the stage with the story I told on Instagram
17:31 Allowing myself to be flexible with life
22:07 The reality could be just a depletion in glycogen storage
26:58 I'm going to be increasing my carb intake around workouts
30:00 Looking at the studies
37:30 So now what do I do?

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Creators & Guests

Host

Lindsay

Wife and mother of three. I have a deep passion for learning and teaching. I also really love lifting weights and fitness.

What is LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness?

Dive into the joy of fitness with Lindsay and other guests exploring how it goes well and beyond the gym floor, the number on the scale, the size of your waist or the calories you're counting.

Lindsay: Welcome, welcome to
the Lifting Lindsay Podcast.

I feel like it's been a while, guys.

I'm so glad that everybody
seemed to really, really

enjoy that creatine episode.

That was the last episode.

If you haven't had a chance to listen to
it and you've had any questions, concerns,

wondering if you should take creatine.

I would definitely go ahead
and give that episode a listen.

Today we're actually gonna
be talking about muscle loss.

And the rate of muscle loss
and what causes atrophy.

So this question came up recently
on Instagram because I was

talking about everything that's
going on with me right now.

Now in the past, I have made it very clear
like, look guys, one, two weeks of not

lifting, you're not losing muscle tissue.

Like, don't, don't worry about it.

Calm down.

You're gonna be just fine.

Right.

Because there are a lot of accounts
out there that sometimes I feel like,

maybe the influencer knows just enough
to kind of do damage and scare people

without giving like full context.

They don't know enough, to be
able to really educate people.

So I've had so many women.

As they've been going on vacations
and summertime's coming up.

I mean, we still got a few more months,
but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

It's, it's, it's in the near future.

And when people start going on
vacations, oh, we, we have um,

we have spring break coming up.

People start going on vacations and they
get scared 'cause they're like, well.

What do you do?

Do you just bring bands?

Like, how can we prevent muscle loss?

And they're, they're nervous and
scared because they have worked

so hard to earn that muscle.

So I totally get it.

But I'm always very quick to
say, look guys, one to two weeks

and we're really not seeing.

Muscle loss when people go from
lifting weights to not lifting weights.

But, but, but, but I do want to dive
a little bit more into this because if

you think about all of the things that
go into building muscle, then pretty

much doing the opposite is what's going
to cause atrophy, but so we're gonna

be talking about nutrition and protein.

We're gonna be talking about training,
complete D training versus lowering

volume, and we're gonna be talking about
daily activities because all of these

can on a gradient, be able to show us
how much muscle loss and maybe at what

rate we're going to experience it.

Um, so I'm, I'm gonna be talking about.

What is muscle loss too, like even
defining, um, muscle hypertrophy.

So we're gonna be talking about my
fibular versus sarcoplasmic because I

feel like that's gonna open your eyes
to maybe what you're seeing and feeling,

and so can kind of calm you down and
you're not scared about this process.

And then we're also, we're
gonna end the discussion with

talking about muscle memory.

Although there are debates as
to the actual mechanisms of it,

we do know that this exists.

So I'm just gonna kind of go over what
do we know about, about muscle memory?

What are we seeing?

And so why we probably shouldn't fear
about things like this, you know?

I get it though.

I get it.

I am not an easy muscle gainer.

I have to work really, really hard
for any bit of muscle that I get.

So I understand, um, not
wanting to see that, that loss.

But I also understand the big
picture and, and so I'm, I'm

really not scared about it.

Now, how this all came about,
this topic came about recently.

I, because I got a question, somebody,
um, asking me, well, you said that,

you know, a week off of training,
you're not gonna lose muscle, but then

you just barely said you lost muscle.

So.

I'm hearing conflicting messages.

That was the message that I got.

Let me tell you the story that I was
telling on Instagram and then we're gonna

go over, like I said, the, the different
types of maybe muscle loss that we're

seeing, or not muscle loss, and then
what affects it to a greater degree.

So I was sharing that I
am 11 weeks pregnant now.

I have taken about three and a half weeks
off of training, and for those of you

who haven't, uh, listened to my Instagram
stories, I'll just kind of share briefly.

What happened?

So a few, three and a half weeks
ago, we found out two things.

We found out, um, that we
had lost one of the twins and

that I had some, a hemorrhage.

And so because of that, they put
me on pelvic rest and their first

instructions because there can be varying
degrees of what that means, right?

But their first instructions were just
absolutely no working out of any kind.

No cardio, no, you know, no
speed walking, none of that.

They said you don't need to be on
bedrest per se, but you've just got

to really lay low kind of thing.

Well, the, the miscarriage
hit me really hard.

That was our sixth miscarriage.

And, and it also, I was just
so excited about the twins.

That just, that just really kind of
put me in mourning and, and then taking

away the very thing that would help
me through a hard time, you know,

lifting weights and, but I understood
I, I needed to heal but that was a

hard few days and I honestly laid

pretty low.

I barely got any steps
in, just did bare minimum.

And, and keep in mind guys, I
was going from, you know, steps,

averaging like 12,000 steps.

And so going from, you know,
12,000 plus steps to um, just.

physically and em, and emotionally
going through this, this loss and,

and now pelvic rest and, and it
just kind of hit me pretty hard.

And anyway, so I, um, went from that
to the first few days, you know,

barely even like a thousand steps.

And then I got hit by
this awful, awful cold.

And you know how they always joke around
about how men, like it's like a cold

and it puts 'em into bed for weeks.

Like that's me.

That is literally me.

Every time somebody jokes around
about that and they're like,

and he was just a little cold.

I'm like, no, I get it though because
my sinuses don't drain very well.

So it always turns into a
massive infection and it's

like miserable with headaches.

And this time it like put me between the
nausea and the weakness and feeling super

sick from the pregnancy plus the cold.

I was in bed all week and so
barely getting a thousand steps.

Um, and then I.

I started getting massive migraines and
I was just so grateful that Alex worked

from home and that we had a community
around us that when they found out about

the miscarriage, just swooped in and
family and friends, just taking care

of us and stopping by and bringing us
just, food and flowers, but mostly food.

'cause I love food and I need food
and I couldn't, I really, uh, was

going through the fruit aversions
too, so I couldn't make meals, but I

couldn't eat very many meals either.

And I was living off of
toast and honey and butter.

That was pretty much it.

Major aversions to protein, just any
kind of food with any nutrient in it.

Pretty much just nutrient food
aversions is what I was dealing with.

And it's so funny 'cause you have these
ideas of, you know, I don't, I have

no memory of my previous pregnancies
being like this, and I've even asked

Alex like, do I just not remember?

It's like a gift from God being like,
well, she's not gonna have another

one if she remembers, well, I'm
just gonna wipe that clean, right?

As they talk a lot about the, the
major endorphins, post pregnancy,

it's almost like this clearing out
process of any of the hard right.

Um, but anyway, so I asked
Alex and he goes, no, no, no.

This pregnancy has been very different.

You know, with, um, he said, Hazel,
you had some warning sickness for a

few hours and then you were fine link.

There was barely even
that you continue to lift.

He's like, this one is wild because.

This one.

It wasn't just nausea
and morning sickness.

It was like all day.

So, you know, you just don't know
how things are going to affect you.

And, and I wa was planning,
this was not my plan.

I had, I had great plan.

It was an amazing plan.

I think, I think God needs to listen to
my plans a little bit more often because

I, I, it was just gonna, I was gonna be
rocking this, but reality hits and that

it doesn't always turn out that way.

And I had to prac practice being
mentally flexible and, and.

And what I mean by that is there'd be
like some pity party moments in bed.

'cause I was just like sick of being
in bed and then there were just like,

I was overwhelmed with gratitude
and then I'm like, no, and you

gotta be mentally flexible, Lindsay,
this is a great time to practice.

Like all of these,
principles you love studying.

And I'd go from that and then I'd go
back to my part pity party and it's

like, you know, it's all over the
board, but I'm like, Hey look, I was,

I was trying, I'm trying to, you know,
practice and work through the fact that

this was pregnancy was not going had
as I had experienced before and stuff.

But, but anyways, so it turns out
there was just one thing after another.

I started having some massive migraines
that actually kept me in bed too.

And pretty soon before I know it, three
and a half weeks have gone by and I

have been most bedridden eating, barely,
like just, just whatever it was that

I could keep down that sounded good.

And, um, so it.

Definitely it was not, you know, working
out, getting steps, um, not eating my

usual nutrient dense and protein foods.

It was just, I was in pure survival.

That was it.

That was it.

That's just like all I,
I've been focusing on.

So I was sharing this in stories
that, uh, it's been interesting

'cause on last Friday I got the
go ahead to start, you know,

incorporating lower body workouts again.

Just making sure I didn't do really,
really heavy deadlift or squats

to put a lot of pressure on the
pelvic floor as I continue to heal.

But that was really exciting
and I had just some, honestly,

today, Monday, this is March 25th.

This has been the first day in two months.

That, well, maybe like a month and a
half that I've actually like, woke up

not feeling just crummy, just sick.

And so that was really exciting.

But then there's this problem.

I'm like, oh, but if I'm not sick,
then, you know, there's that worry

of of, 'cause we have lost, uh, a lot
of, had a lot of miscarriages around.

11 to 13 weeks.

So, so we're always a
bit nervous about that.

But anyways, today has been a great day.

I was able to wake up, have high
energy, so I was able to get

into the gym and, and work out.

But I was sharing on stories, you know, I
go from being very active, feeling very,

very strong to getting out of breath,
just getting on my my walking pad barely

walking like this has been, this has been
definitely a practice in, in flexibility

and, but anyway, so, um, I was sharing in
Instagram stories that, it's interesting

because my weight has stayed the same, but
my body composition has greatly changed.

So I have seen an increase in body
fat and a decrease in muscle size.

So I, as, as I share these things,
I just really want to make it

clear that I'm, I really do.

This is just factual.

I'm, I'm pregnant guys.

I understand that.

I'm, I love the process.

I love being fit.

I love being strong.

I've been doing this for a while.

I feel like I'm getting older.

Like I feel like my, my priorities
are just, they're just different.

They're, I, I don't know.

To me, I'm like, this is a gain.

This is 100% a gain.

Women have messaged me saying,
well, do you feel like, you know,

are you worried that you've lost?

I'm like, I've lost.

Nothing but I, I've gained a baby.

I've gained everything.

So I don't look at this as a loss.

I also look at it as a wonderful
opportunity to practice

flexibility and accepting.

My body in all stages and being flexible
with a, I, I've said this many, many

times, I really do believe that women's
bodies are meant to alter and change

and, and it happens once a month.

You know, we feel bloated, then
we feel only, they just, they're,

they're, they're just, we've got to
practice and, and be more, I feel

like accepting of the fluidity of.

The process in our bodies
and, but also of pregnancy.

Um, it's, to me, it, it's such a gain.

I've, I've lost nothing.

So when I discuss things like this of
like my body composition has changed,

I'm not like, how can I get back?

It's like, like I still have like
two more trimesters, like I'm not

getting back and anytime soon, and
that's not where my mental energy

should even remotely be, right?

There are some times when,
when life happens and.

I'm not talking about pregnancy
or I'm talking about anything like

there's a loss of a loved one.

There's, there's a traumatic experience,
there's a, you know, a loss of a future

that you thought you'd have and now
you're going through a mourning that of,

of acceptance, any type of life change.

Um.

I think should help us practice
being mentally, emotionally,

and physically flexible.

There are times where I'm gonna
look leaner, and then there's gonna

be other times where I'm like,
ah, I feel a pull of, oh, keep

going to the gym, stay strong.

Um, keep a healthy lifestyle.

But, but right now.

You've gotta focus on, I've, I've had
this where it's like, you've gotta

focus on a little bit more on this
child or this relationship, or these

things need to take precedence and,
and my body may fluctuate during that.

I just look at it as like, okay, this
is a practice of just like allowing

myself to be flexible with life.

Okay.

So I think it's important to just
let you like to, to say that out

loud and to let you know when I say
my, my body composition is changing.

I'm not like, well now I don't have any
worth, uh, because I have more body fat

and less muscle and, and now I don't
think, you know, I have anything to

contribute or I'm beautiful or whatnot.

That's not, that's not what that means.

What it means is that life is calling
my mental energy in another direction.

And you know, for a time period I couldn't
get into the gym, but, but now I can and

I'm gonna go not, so I look a certain way.

Because guess what, over this nine
months, I'm not looking a certain way.

Right?

I've lost all the, the, like, I'm not
gonna have a lean stomach over the

next, so it is literally, I am not
going right now to look a certain way.

It is, I'm going to remain healthy
and strong for myself and my baby

because there are great benefits.

That they have seen in those women who
are able to stay even a little active.

There are wonderful benefits that they
are seeing in the health of that child.

Um, and so I do it for me and I do
it for baby, but I, I'm not doing

it to look a certain way right now.

So I was sharing a lot of this.

I shared that my body composition
has changed and fat has increased,

and muscle size has decreased.

It's, I, I haven't lost all my muscle,
but there's a decrease that I can

definitely see when I look in the mirror.

And so I had somebody message
me and say, wait, wait, wait.

But you said that after a week you're
not gonna lose, you know, muscle.

But now you're saying you've lost muscle.

So what is it?

So let's talk about a few of these topics.

When we refer to muscle size, we
can be referring in hypertrophy.

There are different types of hypertrophy.

So typically sometimes people will
talk about sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

Have you ever heard them say
Sarcoplasmic or My fibular?

Typically when they say
sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

That seems to be focusing more on an
increase in the muscle glycogen storage.

So that means glucose is going
to, and the amount of carbs.

'cause you know, glucose, carbs,
pretty much same thing, right?

Same thing.

So the amount of carbs that
you have can influence.

Even the look and size of your muscle.

So sometimes people will go through like
keto diets and they'll lose a lot of body

fat and then when, and they can do a dexa.

I remember a, an influencer doing a dexa.

At the end of this keto diet, and
she was like, oh, I've, you know

my, I haven't gained any muscle.

In fact, this is saying
that I've lost muscle.

I don't get it.

And then she reversed out of the
keto, she started introducing

carbs again, and she's like, whoa.

In like a month, I've put on five
pounds of muscle and everybody,

'cause that's what her Dexus
said, and everybody's like, whoa.

Like okay, this is
sometimes what, this is.

What worries me about social
media is I'm like, okay.

If you don't know how to read Dexus and
you don't know what's going on, then I

don't know if you should be using 'em.

And I don't know if you should be
posting 'em to the public because

you're not giving education behind it.

You're not.

So it kind of is frustrating for me, but.

What happened there is she had a
decrease in glycogen storage because

she wasn't ha eating as many carbs.

So she, I'm sure when she did her dexa,
she did see a, a decrease in muscle.

But this was sarcoplasmic,
this was glycogen storage.

Right?

Because her glyco and storage
had been depleted more and she

wasn't filling it up with, um.

With carbs, with, you know,
glucose and, and, and water.

So that's what she was seeing.

And then all of a sudden she reintroduces
carbs and she's also lifting weights

and where's that gonna go, y'all?

Well, it's gonna, that is gonna be
a beautiful thing for your muscles.

You're gonna fill right up
and you're gonna look so good.

I mean, anybody who's ever done a
bodybuilding competition, this is

what you do, you refill before the
show so that you look your peak.

Best you are just full.

And that is a, uh, it can they top you off
through this process through using carbs.

They're topping you off and you just
come in looking really nice and full.

So, you know, to bodybuilders this is
something that they know inherently.

It's like, oh yeah, I know I can
get a little bit fuller, look

a little bit better post carb
day when I'm just topped off.

Right?

So.

that is sarcoplasmic hypertrophy
and, and what we're seeing a lot

of, because studies have shown

after two weeks, you're
really not of de training.

So somebody who's been lifting weights
and then they go and do two weeks of

de training and go ahead in the notes,
I'm gonna put a ton of different

studies that point to these things.

So we have a ton of studies on this, but
two weeks of de training didn't show any

noticeable muscle loss in that timeframe.

Now, sometimes I will have people
say like, after vacation, or I

felt this way after vacation.

They're like, oh, I, I wasn't working out.

This was like a seven to
14 day vacation or whatnot.

I haven't been training, and I did
notice that I, I didn't seem as full.

So a lot of researchers.

I actually, I believe this too.

I really do believe what we're seeing is
more of a depletion in glycogen storage.

We're not seeing my fibular loss.

Okay, so that's another
term that you may hear.

Myo fbri, myo fibular hypertrophy.

So what are myofibrils.

If you were to Google and look up
a muscle cell, okay, you're gonna

see it looks like they're rod like
organelles of the muscle cell, okay?

That's what myofibrils are.

So skeletal muscles are
composed of long tubular cells.

These are muscle fibers, and
these cells contain many chains.

Of my FALs.

Okay, so when we're talking about my
fibular hypertrophy, we're talking

usually about this increase of my FALs.

So when we're looking at real
muscle loss, we're not looking

at depletion of glycogen stores.

Okay?

That's usually what you see, two
weeks, maybe even three weeks.

Past that, maybe three plus, and
we'll talk about what influences

that, at what rate you would really
start losing this in this regard.

Real muscle loss.

We're talking about Myo.

Fibular.

Okay, so.

One, two, maybe even three weeks.

Are you really seeing muscle loss?

No.

Probably just that glycogen
storage going down and, and you

can quickly fill that back up.

Okay, so today when I was
sharing my stories, I was saying

that I'm actually going to be.

Tracking.

I haven't tracked for a while, but
I'm gonna track at maintenance and

I'm going to really increase my carbs.

Why?

Well, it's because of what I just
barely explained to you about

the sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

I really wanna top off my glycogen
stores, so I have seen this depletion.

I think it's mostly glycogen
depletion, but I actually do

think it is myo fibular as well.

And I'm not gonna freak out about that.

Once again, I know about muscle memory,
um, and I know how to get it back.

So I, I'm, I'm really
not worried about it.

It's taken me years and
years and years to put it on.

Yes.

But it doesn't take that long.

I mean, we can do it,
put it back on in weeks.

So today I was explaining
that I'm gonna be,

like I said, increasing my carb
intake, especially around my workouts.

Um, but throughout the
day obviously as well.

I'm gonna be going in, I'm gonna be, since
I haven't been training, I don't wanna go

in and just destroy myself with volume.

Because I would be so sore, and so,
because I'm so detrained at this point.

So usually when I go back in, after being
off for especially this long, like for,

I've had surgeries, I've had pregnancies,
I, um, like labor and delivery that

I've then taken time off, right?

So.

What I do when I go back in is I do
just this within my nutrition, make

sure my protein is high, make sure my
carbs are really high, and then I do

something called incomplete rest method.

And I'm gonna train more in the
shortened, contracted position.

Uh, think of.

Like a squat would be a lengthened
position for the glutes.

A uh, glute bridge or a cable
kickback would be, uh, focusing on

the shortened contracted position.

Okay.

Leg extension, shortened contracted
position, dumbbell y raises, uh, that

would be the, uh, dealt, medial dealt,
um, contracted, shortened position.

I'm going to be choosing
those so that I don't.

Get too sore and, um, so that I
can also, I'll do like eight to

10 reps and then rest for 15 to 30
seconds and then do another eight

to 10 reps, and I'll actually do
like six to eight sets of that.

And I, it, they're fast workouts,
so it's usually like half an hour.

I'm done.

I usually sip on some dextrose carbs
during, and then post I get another hit

of carbs, and this is a really great way.

That you can refill these
glycogen stores pretty quickly.

Now, you don't have to do that.

You can just do a little
bit higher volume.

I just don't like being super,
super sore when I first go in.

And so if you train high volume
in lengthened positions, you're

probably gonna be getting more sore.

So.

Um, if you go in and do more of like
the short and contracted, that's

gonna help prevent that, uh, as well.

But anyway, so that's how I'm gonna
be training, that's my nutrition.

Um, but let's go back to, well then how do
we prevent this myo fibular hypertrophy?

Um, loss.

Like that's really the atrophy
that we're worried about.

Um, and, and once again, I always
tell people, I just don't think

you should be too worried about
it, but let's go over the studies

and what, what they're showing.

So typically we're seeing like a, a four,
three to four weeks plus where we're

thinking, okay, this is now going into myo
fibular, muscle shrinking, um, or atrophy.

But once again, there's a few
things that go into this, right?

A few things that can help
lessen it or increase it.

So if you think about everything
that contributes to building muscle,

you know, you've gotta have good
training and good training volume.

I.

Right.

So that's gonna help.

If you stop doing training,
well then obviously three

plus weeks we can see atrophy.

But what if you can do a
little bit of training?

Is that gonna reduce it?

Yes.

In fact, we have studies a, a study
showing that reducing volume by one ninth.

Allowed for muscle maintenance
up to seven plus months.

Kay.

Now this was for those that were
under 60, 60 and older, um, they have

a higher degree of atrophy, and so
they probably need a more volume, not

just one ninth to maintain, but So
what does that look like one ninth?

Well, if you're going in.

Lifting four times a week doing
like upper body, lower body splits.

It's like the easiest way to
really set up a training program.

Then you could technically, if, if
you just do body weights at home,

even high rep pushing to that, burn,
that failure, you can be maintaining.

So you don't even really
need to go into the gym.

You can be doing a lot of body weight at
at home that can help you maintain the

muscle that you've worked so hard for.

So once again, I want you to
think about this as a gradient.

It's not like, well, I'm not doing
what I was doing before, so therefore

I'm gonna lose all my muscle.

That's not it at all.

It's not that black and white.

It's this gradient of you can actually
just do one ninth of the volume

and you're, you're gonna maintain.

It's a, it's way easier to maintain
muscle than to build muscle.

Okay.

So just that is gonna help.

Um, another thing that will help
is just getting up and walking and

doing regular daily activities.

There is a huge difference between
those who stop training plus or on

bedrest versus those that stop training,
but can continue to just move around.

Just keeping overall activity levels high.

So a lot of times when people come to me
and they say, well, I'm getting a surgery.

I'm not gonna be able
to train for six weeks.

What do I do?

I always tell 'em, walk, walk.

Um, more than likely your surgery
we'll still allow for you to walk.

If you can't walk.

Let's say it was like a knee
surgery ankle, lower body.

Even if you can, uh, go into the gym,
a lot of times they have machines

where you just use your arms, just
get in there and just use your arms.

Then there are those times where
it's like, no, I can't do anything.

I can't, you know, um, use
any type of those machines.

Uh, but sometimes they still
allow like the walking around,

and that is what I tell people.

You know, the population that faces
the most and the quickest atrophy

are astronauts when they go into
space and there's no gravity.

It is absolutely incredible, the
amount of atrophy, but we can

mitigate a lot of that just by
continuing to get up and walk around.

Another thing too is
nutrition and protein.

So our bodies are in this
constant state of breaking down

protein and building it back up.

Okay, so you don't wanna end the day by
being in a net negative protein state.

That means we haven't
built it back up the wall.

I think of it as a wall.

I don't know why, but I
always think of it as a wall.

And if you just keep
the wall the same level.

Then you're just gonna be
maintaining, you know, if you

get enough protein, we can build.

If you don't, if the wall keeps getting
shorter and shorter, that's, that's

when you're in the net negative state.

And that's where, we heighten the
chances of atrophy, especially if

we're in a calorie deficit too.

'cause that can increase and have negative
impacts on muscle protein synthesis when

we're not getting enough protein too.

So it's, those two things really combine.

So post-surgery, I tell people, make
sure that protein is still sufficient.

You're not trying to be in some
crazy calorie deficit because you

can't train to counter any of that.

So if you want to maintain muscle,
then stay as close to maintenance.

Have enough protein and walk.

Just move as much as you healthily can.

One of the reasons why I said I actually
do think that mine wasn't just glycogen

storage depletion was actually because
of the amount of bed rest that I was on.

It mixed.

It was, it was literally, I
nailed all three of those.

Wasn't even trying, just nailed them.

That's how good I am.

Protein.

I was having such massive
protein aversions.

I wasn't even getting
sedentary protein rates.

I wasn't even hitting that.

Um, I mean, some days like
20 grams, like that was it.

, and, and I'm just kind of guessing,
'cause once again I wasn't tracking

during this time, but just kind of
guessing from what I was eating that day.

I'm like, woo, I don't, I didn't.

Get enough protein with that, right?

So really low protein, that in
and of itself is going to lead

to the negative, uh, net protein.

Um, and then the fact that I'm
not doing any type of training.

Um, and then the fact that most of
the time I was, I was bedridden.

So then what do you do?

What do I do?

Do I sit here and moan and complain
that life is over because I lost all

that muscle that I worked so, so, so,
so hard for, no, um, I can, I, I'm back

to eating my usual high protein foods.

I'm really grateful for that.

I still have trouble with chicken.

Um, a few, like probably five weeks
ago, I was sharing on Instagram stories,

the fact that, uh, Costco sells bulk,

shredded Rotti rotisserie chicken,
and it's awesome just to buy it.

We had that in the fridge and I would
dry heave every time I would see it.

I, it was so disturbing.

Right now I'm still having a
little chicken aversion, but

I'm slowly getting over it.

The thought of that rotisserie
chicken doesn't make me dry heave,

which is, I think, a step in the
right direction, but it's still, um.

For, I, I can't, it is so weird.

It's like this mental block.

I, I can't, I could not buy
that and I could not put it

into any food that I would eat.

It's still, still having some aversions
there, but for the most part, my other

high protein meals I can still enjoy.

Um, and, and I'm back to lifting.

Today was my first day really back.

I'm excited to be back.

I was able to even do a nice 45
minute walk after, um, my lift.

I'm just feeling really good.

Now there are debates as to the actual
mechanisms in the body that create

this and allow for it, but we do know.

We do know that there are people who
literally spend years and years and years

building the physique of their dreams.

They have something happen where they
lose a lot of that muscle tissue, but

what's crazy is they're able to gain it
back and at the rate, the rate is so.

Fast.

Um, that even if I was like, okay,
I lost like five pounds in muscle,

I know that I can put it right
back on within a month or two.

It like it would be really fast,
you know, years to gain it, but

we'd be able to put it on so much
quicker now that it has been there.

Now, I did wanna share, I forgot
to mention these, these studies,

like a few of these studies that
I thought were really interesting.

This was talking about how mainly like
these studies weren't seeing reduction

in lean mass in until about six weeks.

So it seems like four weeks kind
of began and after six weeks they

saw reduction, 42% lean mass.

Um, but that's very deceiving.

Let me explain why the o the other
study was eight weeks lost 52% Now.

The study, like I said,
sounds really scary, like I'm

gonna lose 50% of my muscle.

Like that's not actually what it was.

What they were saying was they took
some newbies and they trained them

for like eight weeks, and they saw
an increase in 10% muscle mass.

Then after that, they went another eight
weeks de training, so they weren't allowed

to train anymore, and by the end of the
eight weeks they saw 5% of that gone.

So they lost that 50% that they'd put on.

Right.

So that's what that means there.

So, but once again, like I said,
muscle memory, we're seeing these

things so quickly coming back on.

So anything that you do lose
because you have to take a

few months off of training, I.

Like I said, don't be, don't be
frustrated or disheartened because one,

you, you needed the surgery, right?

You needed that, and so this is
a gain because you gained the

benefits of that surgery and then
within a few months it's like.

It doesn't matter.

The muscle's back, the muscle's back.

Just get back to maintenance, get
back to eating enough protein,

start training hard again.

Um, and, and you're gonna be just fine.

So hopefully this, um, this
episode has been helpful.

One to really just.

Get rid of a lot of the fear behind
if life hits and you have to step

away from training, it's okay.

You're gonna be fine, right?

Like, you know what you need to do.

Get back in the gym, start working hard.

Just put your head down.

Don't I just wanna strongly emphasize
this, like our mental energy.

It's, at least this is how I feel.

For me, it's sacred and I, I can't waste
it on things that don't really matter.

Okay?

So think about, think about that,
like don't waste mental energy on

things outside of your control.

Things that don't matter.

Instead, take all of that.

Take all of that that you would
usually put towards worrying,

which doesn't do anything.

Take all of that mental energy
and put it towards what will

bring the change that you want.

Hey, I hope that that's your biggest
takeaway from this, but anyways,

you guys have an incredible.

Week.

I just wanna thank so many of you
for your touching messages that I've

received on Instagram and on Be Strong my
community, and, uh, thank you so much for.

Being our cheerleaders throughout
this process of pregnancy.

Um, the in vitro process the
infertility, it's, it's extremely

draining, um, and heartbreaking.

So thank you so much for those
that have reached out, and

supported us through this.

You guys have a wonderful week.