[Question] creatine while eating 1,400 calories — worth it
creatine while eating 1,400 calories — worth it, and I want the answer with the reasoning attached rather than just the conclusion.
Fat-free mass index is a ratio of fat-free mass to height squared. It moves when either term does, which makes it awkward to interpret during active weight change.
Some lean mass loss accompanies weight loss in any deficit. Resistance training and adequate protein intake are the two interventions with the best evidence for limiting the proportion.
DEXA has a meaningful coefficient of variation, and it differs between machines and protocols. Comparing scans from different clinics adds a systematic offset that is invisible on the report.
I will update this if the picture changes rather than quietly leaving it up.
best — the order this archive was captured in
Reduced appetite makes hitting a protein target a logistics problem rather than a motivation problem, which is why the practical advice here is about timing and food choice rather than willpower.
resistance training first, cardio if there is time left
protein intake gets harder exactly when appetite drops
Right — strength retention is a free proxy and it tracks better than most people expect.
nothing on this board is a training or nutrition prescription
Right — strength retention is a free proxy and it tracks better than most people expect.
Adding the free proxy — track a few lifts monthly. It costs nothing and it is longitudinal.
Adding the free proxy — track a few lifts monthly.
Agreed — and same machine, same conditions, or the two scans are not comparable.
lean mass loss during weight loss is expected, the question is how much
Not convinced by that DEXA comparison. Different machine, different protocol, and the difference is inside the error.
Correction: those scans are from different machines, and the difference you are describing is within the measurement error.
Agreed — protein and resistance training. Everything else in these threads is a rounding error on those two.
Disagree — slower loss does not automatically preserve lean mass. Protein and training do the work, not the rate on its own.
Removed a prescriptive nutrition target aimed at another member. Describe your own intake instead.
Correcting myself upthread: 19 months between scans, not the figure I gave.
Push back: strength dropping in a deficit is not the same as lean mass loss. Related, not identical.
That protein figure is grams per day, not grams per kilogram. Different claim entirely.
Yes. Nobody here is prescribing training or nutrition and the good posts say so.
Small fix — that is fat-free mass, not muscle mass. The scan cannot separate them the way the post assumes.
- 1Right — strength retention is a free proxy and it tracks better than most…9 comments in this branch · started by u/incretin_ivy
- 2Disagree — slower loss does not automatically preserve lean mass. Protein…7 comments in this branch · started by u/baseline_drifter