Figured it might be worth letting ya know that you WILL be loosing muscle. Pretty much every diet out there will mean that you loose muscle while on. Very low calorie diets are the worst for it as well. Now I can picture you thinking "well, that means i have to work my muscles to keep them in shape!" but again, on this diet you can't. Basically for every lean lb of bodymass you need 1g of protein. The lipotrim shakes are giving us about 120g per day MAXIMUM so there is no way that you can build muscle while on this diet.
I used to do a lot of weight training before i gained my excess weight, as such I know a thing or two about this. Ketosis DOESN'T MEAN only fat is burned. Any low calorie diet causes a catabolic effect, which in turn means that muscle is being lost. Admittedly not LARGE ammounts but muscle is still being lost. Due to the LT diet being so low calorie some of the protein that is in the shakes is used for energy, as such we are not actually getting anywhere near the protein requirements of a normal person's muscles. The catabolic state occurs due to an imbalance in hormones and a reduction caused by the low calorie diet. Also doing high intensity aerobic exercise is a very good way to catabolize muscle and destroy it with a lack of protein. That doesnt mean dont exercise, but it means you do have to be carefull. Ensure that your hydrated etc. Most low carb diets recomend a "carb up" period every so often. Basically loading up on carbohydrates to aid recovery. It pulls you out of ketosis, but confuses the body into burning more fat as it doesn't know what is coming next, rather than settling into a routine.
Hard running, heavy weight lifting, and strenuous exercise aren't recomended on this diet as the pharmacists know that the ammount of protein in this diet is not as much as there should be.
Me personally? I'm not bothered in the slightest. I know what weight I'm aiming for. I also know that when i hit that weight I'll be increasing my protein intake to at least tripple whats in these shakes and hitting the weights hard, along with running at least 5 miles a day.
This diet is amazing for weight loss. It isn't amazing for toning. If you want to tone, then loose the weight using this and then follow a reasonable exerise plan while eating healthy. There is no way to be toned without exercise. Simple.
I'm running while on this diet. I run 3 miles a day minimum. I'm also using fat burners (mentioned in a previous supplement thread). I'm not concerned about loosing muscle as I know I will be building them back up. The sooner the weight is off me the sooner I can start toning.
Hope this all doesnt sound too critical, but if anyone wants to know anything I'll be more than happy to try and help. But. Simply put, No protein + exercise = No muscle gain, possible muscle loss. Ketosis doesn't = no muscle loss when incoperated in a VLC diet. VLC diet = bad for muscle training.
HTH
