New Ideas for Girlfriend's Fat Loss

Hello all.

My girlfriend and I are confused as to why she’s not dropping any weight. I understand that the scale is the least accurate device in terms of getting where you want to be because of muscle gain, water weight, time of the month, etc.

My opinion is that although calipers and a scale are a way of tracking a body’s changes, the main goal is to like how you LOOK in the mirror. Anyway. From January until about March she dropped from 190 lbs to 160 lbs. From March until now, she hasn’t moved, if anything goes up a few pounds every few weeks (menst. cycle i’m guessing).

She almost never eats anything considered bad…low on sugar…zero simple carbs(once in awhile post workout shake). Her carbs depend on if she’s doing HIIT or not(she takes them on HIIT day).

She uses livestrong.com and says her average is around 1,100 - 1,200 caloric intake a day(too low in my opinion). But even when boosting her calories up to +1500-1700 not much change seemed to occur, but maybe she didn’t maintain that long enough.

Her workout is as follows:

Sunday: Plate complex and 1 mile speed time (got 7 min 39 secs yesterday)
Monday: HIIT
Tuesday: Speed day(speed squats, jump squats, pushups, burpees, jump thrusts)
Wednesday: Barbell complex and Incline walk 30-40 min or OFF day depending
Thursday: Heavy day (heavy squat, heavy deadlift, heavy bench) rep range 4-8
Friday: OFF
Sat: 30 min run around town

(In the gym from 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 min )

I think that’s correct, maybe one more HIIT day in there. But, she appears to be working very hard…doesn’t necessarily up her weight when she should though.

But that ladies, I would consider a fairly intense workout regiment. We both dorm at college, and our food selection is AWFUL. This morning she had around 4 eggwhites, 3 pieces of pinapple and some red grapes. If anyone is able to help out in any way it’s much appreciated, she has her own account on T-Nation and livestrong, but I figured I had some time to make a post.

Thank you for your time!

Egg whites, pineapple and grapes? For the love of god, give her a proper breakfast, like bacon and eggs (yolks included), or steak. She needs some red meat in her, and I don’t mean your Johnson.

She’s done well to lose 30lbs but it’s not surprising that her fat loss has stalled on such a meagre diet. If she is not eating much in the way of carbs, she needs to up her fat intake. The body runs surprisingly well off fats - most people who go low carb feel crap because they don’t get enough fat and also don’t give themselves enough time to adjust.

She needs to drop the pineapple and grapes - they’re just sugar. If she wants fruits as a treat, stick to berries - they are low in fructose and calories and high in nutrients. However, to reach optimal fat burning and energy levels, she needs a high fat, medium protein, low carb diet.

I do very well on this protocol myself - no blood sugar rollercoaster and gnawing hunger, and plenty of energy - enough to lift heavy. She cannot sustain that level of training on a few egg whites and a bit of fruit.

Get a lean gf. Boooya!

Her calorie intake is way way way way way way too low! At 160 lbs (before I F*CKED my metabolism by competing in another figure comp) I was maintaining on 2600-3200 calories a day. Granted I was probably leaner and more muscular than your GF… but still. 15 x BW is often a VERY rough estimate of maintenance and she is WAY below that.

Most people (even in the last week of contest prep) don’t go below 8xBW and your GF has been taking in 7-7.5 consistently. You say that even when you bump her calories up to 1500-1700, nothing happens… well shit if nothing is happening at 1100-1200, why the heck don’t you stay at 1500-1700 where you are getting the same result?

My advice would be to back down her training (she needs more than 1 days of rest… she can take light walks or do stretching and mobility or pre-hab work on these days, but she doesn’t need to be lifting heavy, doing HIIT or plyometrics or anything of the like on these days) I know your food choices are limited, but she is better off with more fat, less sugar and more fiber.

Can you all have mini-fridges in the room? She could keep some heavy cream, omega-3 whole eggs, cheese, raw veggies and berries in there. She should also keep her room stocked with nuts and protein powder.

I would start by increasing her calories by 10% every two weeks or so until she is closer to 2000. Back her training down… make sure she is doing 3 days of heavy lifting and maybe 1-2 days of HIIT… also brisk walks are always a good idea (but if you live on campus you probably take lots of those).

Good Luck and keep us posted and FEED YOUR POOR GF! =D

[quote]Cal Jones wrote:

She needs some red meat in her, and I don’t mean your Johnson.
[/quote]

Cal, darling, you are a funny, funny girl.

[quote]mmgalb727 wrote:
FEED YOUR POOR GF! =D[/quote]

x2

god im hungry now.

Ditto on the more food and double ditto on all mmgalb’s advice. That girl knows her shite!!

And now I’ll take this time to shameless plug Dr. Clay’s new book, if you are looking for a set ‘plan’ for her to follow. Go to www.drclay.com and he has a link to download his new e-book Set Your Metabolism on Fire.
Its good stuff, starts with the basics of clean eating and works into advanced macro cycling and then a rapid fast loss plan.

Hello I am the girlfriend of Slyder2412 and I would not be were I am today if it wasn’t for his help and him always by my side. I am going through some hard times putting myself on the right track with my life, this is a big change in my life among other things and I love the changes I am making and want to make myself even better.

I have started to do 100 fast squats, 100 crunches, 100 knee push-up a day and I am already feeling stronger along with lifting and running everyday.

I have been eating every three hours manly p&f’s I am trying to stay away from carbs. If I have them they are with breakfast and after lifting.

What I have questions about is what is the best lifting style for women I heard that lifting heavy and doing a complex is the way to go.

Hi lynn.

Im so glad to hear that youre putting in so much effort, and that you’re looking for the proper outlet.

I agree with your heavy lifting idea, and I like complexes as well.

try mixing up your squat, ab work, and pushups with different variations, totalling 100 of each. like, 4 variations of each exercise, 25 each, rest for 3 or 4 min after 75 reps, then repeat.

there are thousands of programs out there, and it’s really easy to get frustrated. just keep an open mind and the drive to excel, you’ll be fine!

Dave Tate has some good diet tips for powerlifting at the end of this article: