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How much muscle can I expect to lose when cutting or losing fat?
There is some confusion that people get excited about when they say lean mass is muscle. It's not true. There is fat, and then there is lean, which is everything but the fat. When you are in a competition and gain 5 pounds of lean, of course you'll want to say "muscle" because it sounds better, or else who would buy x product if it only claimed to add 1 pound of lean and 4 pounds of water weight?
The truth is that your muscles contain quite a bit of water, and things like sodium, carbohydrate, and creatine all impact the water balance in your muscle. This will register as "lean" gains and losses, but it is not muscle fiber, it is fluid.
The idea is to preserve as much mass as possible. You will more than likely lose some lean, but as long as you maintain strength or perhaps gain, there is a good chance you are not losing muscle tissue.