The short answer is yes.

Here is an interesting article on the matter: CLICK HERE
In a nutshell:
- Muscle is denser than fat and takes up less space in the body
- At rest, muscle burns more calories than fat
- The more muscle and less fat your body has the higher your metabolism (burns more calories all the time)
- As we age we can weigh the same but be gaining fat and losing muscle
- After 30, muscle decreases 3-5% per decade with inactivity
- After 50, muscle decreases 15% per decade with inactivity
- Working out in general and Weight Training 2x’s per week is recommended to off-set muscle loss
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When you diet you want to lose fat not muscle, therefore monitor protein intake:
- The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight
- Research recommends protein intake at 1.25 times the RDA for sedentary individuals and 1.5 times the RDA for active individuals
- For example for 150 lbs individual, protein intake would be:
- 150 lbs = 68 kg
- Average Individual: 68 kg x 0.8 grams = 54.4 grams of protein per day
- Sedentary Individual: 68 kg x 1.25 grams = 85 grams of protein per day
- Active Individual: 68 kg x 1.5 grams = 102 grams of protein per day
- Or try this ONLINE PROTEIN CALCULATOR
TAKE AWAYS:
- Although weight is one important factor in determining ones health it can be misleading, focus more on how you feel and how your clothes fit, not on the weigh scale
- If trying to lose weight or maintain muscle cut back on the empty carb calories and increase the lean protein!
- Tally up your grams of protein per day, I think you will be surprised how little protein you are actually getting
MORE ABOUT PROTEIN NEXT WEEK!