lady Friend needs help

[jagbender]

I have a gal I work with she has lost 72 pounds in 3 years. good diet and solid exercise plan. cardio and some strength training.

currently 61 Y/O 5'5" 159.4 pounds 1500-1600 calories per day

She is trying to lose that "last" 11 pounds.

We have discussed Calorie cycling. changes in exercise routines.
and PSMF.

Any ideas?

 

[sassy69]

What does the current diet look like & how long has she followed it? Also how much cardio & what type?

 

[ExLe]

From my personal experience carb/calorie cycling worked good for preserving muscle while cutting. I did lose weight, but not as fast as a normal low carb low calorie diet.

If she is following the same routine and diet that she did losing the 72 pounds and has suddenly stopped losing the weight it is probably because her maintenence calories is much lower now that she is 72 pounds lighter.

If her concern is just to lose the weight and she is not concerned about preserving muscle I would go with eating under 50 carbs a day, mabey 1200-1400 calories and up the cardio a bit. Have her try that for a week and see if the weight loss continues.

Another problem I have come accross is that when people lose a bunch of weight after following a strict routine they start to notice how much better they look and fit in new clothes and want to go out with friends to show off the new look. They start eating at restaurants, drinking at night, and skipping gym sessions.

I am not saying this is what is going on, but if it is have her re-dedicate herself untill she has hit her target weightloss. Once she is happy with her weight she can then occasioanly go out and run the town.

 

[jagbender]

What does the current diet look like & how long has she followed it? Also how much cardio & what type?

she is 61 Y/O been dieting for 3.5 years and lost 72 pounds.

"My height is 5.5, weight 159.4 and approx 1500-1600 daily."

"Yes it took me 3 years this month. I have never been so low since 40 years ago. I am finding that I used to be able to do 30 min of cardio and that would be enough. But not anymore. I work with a personal trainer once a week, to keep me on track. I am looking into taking a class to train me how to go about lap swimming.

"I do weight with my trainer and when I go to the gym I am learning slowly what to use for free weights. That is all I do with the trainer is strength training with free weights."

She is doing cardio treadmill and biking going to check into spin class this winter.


"I am going to take swim class in Oct so I can train to lap swim. I really like water and they say it???s a workout. Then in Jan going to sign up for Lazy Man triathlon, its consists of having to walk/run so many miles. Swimming and also biking. You have 6 weeks to complete and then when finished your name goes into drawing for a free membership for a certain period of time.

So that will motivate me to try something new because to complete it I will have to work out every morning. Either, treadmill, stationary bike or spin. Then also swimming. "

currently she is doing weight watchers diet. I am trying to get her to get a fit day account and see what she is actually eating.

 

[ExLe]

You say she is trying to lose those last 11 pounds. Did she stop losing weight while keeping the same routine and diet or does she want to lose those last 11 pounds faster than she has been?

 

[sassy69]

I don't know what the WeightWatchers diet consists of - can you post at least a 1 day typical diet? There are a hundred different ways to tweak a diet to get results. If she's been following the same thing for this long - it is going to eventually stall - its inevitable. So the body has adapted to it and isn't going to respond anymore.

Does she do any cheat meals? That's another thing I'd recommend once/week - cheat meal! not cheat day. And then easy changes can range from a structured carb cycle, to a calorie cycle, to something as simple as just upping carbs on training days.

 

[jagbender]

You say she is trying to lose those last 11 pounds. Did she stop losing weight while keeping the same routine and diet or does she want to lose those last 11 pounds faster than she has been?

I don't know what the WeightWatchers diet consists of - can you post at least a 1 day typical diet? There are a hundred different ways to tweak a diet to get results. If she's been following the same thing for this long - it is going to eventually stall - its inevitable. So the body has adapted to it and isn't going to respond anymore.

Does she do any cheat meals? That's another thing I'd recommend once/week - cheat meal! not cheat day. And then easy changes can range from a structured carb cycle, to a calorie cycle, to something as simple as just upping carbs on training days.

She has hit a plataeu. been through them before by mixing up excercise and adding cardio changes.


I suggested a cheat meal also and will verify with her if she does or not. After 3 years of dieting I asked her to eat over maintenance for a week basicaly take a diet break. then hit it hard again.

also suggersted changing her macros up and she needs to get on a food log program like fitday. I'll suggest the changes to her and get back with you all

Thanks

 

[jagbender]

Her is her diet for a couple of days

She went to a county fair and over ate (cheat day)

"I never eat the same amount of points in a day. I have been trying to mix up my foods. I went to fair on Sat and way over ate so really watching what I eat this week.


Here is a couple of days menu:
Exercise: morning 30 min on my WII Fit, walked at lunch fast with co workers 25 min

Tuesday-29 PP+
Morning: 1 tsp oil, chobani strawberry yogurt, ½ cup fresh strawberries
Coffee with FF half & half
Morning snack: ½ cup low fat cottage cheese with ½ cup cantaloupe
Lunch: ½ cup tuna with 2 tsp light mayo with Dijon mustard in a low carb tortilla ½ cup cherry tomatoes and bell peppers
Afternoon snack: 1 ½ cup lettuce with red peppers, onion, Italian blend low fat cheese and 2 Tbsp light Italian dressing. ½ c mixed fruit
Dinner: ¼ cup serving of cooked steel cut oats with 1 tsp oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar. ½ packet hot chocolate
Bedtime snack: 1 c FF milk with Weight watchers chocolate smoothie
Exercise: morning 30 min on my WII Fit, walked at lunch fast with co workers 25 min

Today planned 31 PP+. exercise today was worked out with trainer for 45 min, later will either walk or bike riding

Morning before work out: 6 crackers with 2 tsp of Peanut butter and ½ banana
Breakfast: 1 c FF Milk, with serving of Steel cut oats, 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp brown sugar.
Coffee with FF Half and Half
Snack: peach chobani Greek yogurt
Lunch: 3 oz chicken with salsa over it, 1 tsp oil over ½ c brown rice. ½ serving of bell peppers
Afternoon snack, 1 low fat cheese stick with medium peach
Dinner: 3 oz cooked venison chops with 1 c broccoli and 1 slice of garlic bread
Bedtime snack: WW ice cream bar


Diet looks pretty good but open for ideas to tweak.

 

[ExLe]

Have her stop eating all that fruit. Simple carbs will slow her weightloss. Have her stick to low GI carbs and veggies only. Milk also has sugar, have her cut the milk out untill she reaches her goal, I'm pretty sure that yogurt is full of sugar too. If she cuts these sugars out and stays active she should start losing again.

 

[sassy69]

Have her stop eating all that fruit. Simple carbs will slow her weightloss. Have her stick to low GI carbs and veggies only. Milk also has sugar, have her cut the milk out untill she reaches her goal, I'm pretty sure that yogurt is full of sugar too. If she cuts these sugars out and stays active she should start losing again.

I think there's also some room to replace those calories w/ more protein too -e.g. all the 3 oz chicken servings, up to 4 oz. Instead of the yogurt stuff, consider 1/2 c oatmeal cooked w/ water, mix in 1 scoop of protein powder. Even something like Designer Whey protein (~18g protein / scoop) is pretty good and mixes well. For fruit, keep it to e.g. 1/4 c frozen berries.

Where she was using some brown sugar in the oats, again, you can mix in some vanilla protein powder and some frozen berries, maybe some Stevia or whatever she uses as a sweetener.

For getting those last 10 lbs - here is where you generally want to streamline everything to make that final cut to the goal. I find that w/ the little cheats and stuff I can't make it to my final goal and just need to buckle down & clean things up and keep the cheats & snacks to one meal / week. Try that for 3-4 weeks and I bet see sees some changes.

Another thing is consistent cardio - if even 20 min / day - the consistency is what has made the difference for me.

 

[jagbender]

sent an email to her with some other info too
Will let you know what she says after this weekend

Thanks
All

 

[ABINOAM]

Yes, Diet is good for health but the diet should not be so lean and non healthy that your body or you gonna be die. Use plan but healthy it will also help to reduce your weight as per your requirement.

 

[heckler7]

I would say eat a bigger breakfast and change the snacks to almonds. Also Cardio is only good if you do it everyday. On your days off you wont be burning those calories off.

 

[ABINOAM]

Yes, Diet is good for health but the diet should not be so lean and non healthy that your body or you gonna be die. Use plan but healthy it will also help to reduce your weight as per your requirement.

Orange County Bodybuilding

 

[Merkaba]

First thing i thought of when i saw the diet was ditch the freakin fruit and replace it with something lean or with veggies. Fruit is over rated in my opinion. Also when was the last time she ran any type of refeed or whatever if Weight Watchers has such a thing. 3 years is a long time to steadily lose weight. Does she do any cheating?