Loss of muscle definition due to diet?

[mulva]

Wondering if I've hit some type of plateau or if I'm not eating enough to maintain the definition I've had in abs. In the fall of 2012, I had some crazy defined abs (for a girl) much like a very defined man would have. I was running about 20 miles a week, playing ice hockey once or twice a week and eating very well (lots of veggies proteins, etc.) and taking whey protein before running. I've noticed a considerable drop-off in definition and am thinking an increase in activity (add 2-3 nights of rec league softball to the mix) and not using whey protein before running for a few months without increasing calorie intake might be the culprit. Diet has, for the most part, remained the same, if not better due to consuming less alcohol as of late. Any insight?

[Boss Man]

You may have burned a bit of muscle. 1lb of added muscle burns an extra 45-50 calories a day, but if you increased cardio, you might have inadvertantly burned a bit of muscle, causing a small amount of fat gain.

You have kept calories the same and binned most or all of the alcohol consumption, so it's the only thing I can think off offhand at this moment in time.

[mulva]

I think you might be right. I'll have to try to eat more. Would loss of appetite be related at all?

[Alinshop]

Approximately how many carbs are you consuming on a daily basis?

[mulva]

A typical weekday consists of either a low carb English muffin and peanut butter or cereal for breakfast. Greek yogurt as a snack. Brown rice, veggies and protein (chicken or pork) for lunch, an apple and banana in afternoon and usually a protein and veggies for dinner.

[Boss Man]

You carbs seem reasonably fine, but you may require a tweak.

One way to tweak carbs for example, is to cut 10g out of each meal and replace the calories wih fat. The body requires carb energy it's not getting, so it sources a secondary source like fat with any luck, which is therefore beneficial.

However you maintain calories, so there hopefully no effects occur with muscle mass, bone mass or connective tissue condition, from calorie and / or nutrient remission.

You could also try cayenne pepper in your diet, as that is supposed to influence thermogenesis.

[Alinshop]

If you don't love the taste of cayenne pepper, you can buy cayenne pepper caps at Walmart.

[thechiseledchic]

You might want to scale back on the cardio a bit and throw in some strength training. You may just need to build those muscles back up a little. Good luck!