Diet Question - too few calories?

[Jim Ouini]

So I'm helping my sister-in-law get in shape. Like most of her friends, she wants to feel better, drop some bf and basically 'tone-up' ( )

Background:

Busy mother of 3, pretty thin but probably relatively high BF% (haven't taken it yet, but I'd estimate high 20's).

About 119-120 lbs, zero previous fitness experience, except for chasing her kids around, I guess.

I have her on a beginner's resistance and cardio program; my main question is her diet, and hence my post

I asked her to write down her diet for 3 days and here's what she gave me:

Day 1
Meal 1: Vietnamese noodle soop (beef and noodle soup)
Meal 2: 1 slice cheese and snap peas
Meal 3: Rice and Korean Beef/Kim Chee/Potato Salad + 1 fruit drink

Day 2
Meal 1: Special K w/milk
Meal 2: 1 slice cheese
Meal 3: Leftover rice & beef
Meal 4: BBQ pork sandwich + 1/2 smores + 1 glass wine

Day 3
Meal 1: Shredded wheat w/milk
Meal 2: pork and noodle soup
Meal 3: Carrots & Snap peas
Meal 4: Rice & Beef & Broccoli

So by calculating this (rough estimate, I just totaled everything on Fitday, estmiated some qty's and divided by 3) I get the following:

Cal/day = 1000
Carb = 110g
Pro = 60g
Fat = 36g

Using some of the helpful calculators found here, I figured for her TDEE she should be at (for maintenance):

Cal = 1852
Carb = 278
Pro = 93
Fat = 41

Questions:

1. So beyond the fact that some of the food choices are 'eh', I'm wondering how to exactly go about helping her lose body fat?

With her being in a calorie deficit already, I'm not sure what recommendation to make, except maybe to maybe add extra 1 solid meal per day, add some veggies and increase her protein every meal.

2&3. Is this a case of her metabolism being real slow after many years of not eating breakfast? Is her shortage of carbs causing some problems re: protein sparing and so forth?

Maybe these 3 days aren't representative of her previous several years of eating?

Because just the basic math would tell me she should be losing weight. Maybe I calculated something wrong here?

Sorry for the long post, kinda new to the cutting diet thing and again, any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[mehtadog]

where did you find these calculators?

 

[pintoca]

1000 cals/day is too little. For very innactive people (like she seems to be) the inclusion in their lives ogf a weight/lifting & cardio routine will be enough to get them to lose fat, without the need to starve them (remember they need whatever muscle they have right now, can't waste it).

Aim for a TDEE-25 ~ 30% and she will be fine (get a bf% reading so your estimate is accurate). Monitor BF% on a weekly basis to make adjustment to the diet.

For a complete beginner a ratio of 40P, 40C, 20F is easier to get used to than a higher-protein more aggresive one. Then after a few weeks, you can up the prot and lower the carbs by 5-10% (depending on how carb-sensitive the person is).

Of all the people I have helped outside of this board (in real life), I normally start only with "cleaning up their diets" and a cardio/lifting program

By cleaning, I mean, no specific diet but 1step:

1. no more refined carbs (this makes bread, sugar, pasta, etc go away)
2. no alcohol
3. no junk food

That alone, paired with a well defined program will make a world of difference. When they start seeing results they will want to get a better diet.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Pincota - thanks a million. Was hoping you'd be one of the responders

A couple questions:

1.

Aim for a TDEE-25 ~ 30% and she will be fine

Just want to clarify...you mean TDEE reduction %, correct? So I used a TDE factor of 1.38. BMR is 1,194 based on my 30% bf estimate.

A 30% TDEE reduction = 1,154. (BTW, very nice cutting calculator It's a great tool)

So she's already only in a deficit, based on these 3 days of diet she gave me. So at this point would you recommend I have her add a meal, to get her to her 'ideal' calculated TDEE?

Is the TDEE-25-30% you recommend more related to the cardio/resistance aspect?

2.

For a complete beginner a ratio of 40P, 40C, 20F is easier to get used to than a higher-protein more aggresive one

40P-40C-20F seems high protein to me...I've read 20P-60C-20F, although these sources may be more for general health as opposed to cutting. Can you comment on general effect on the body/results of the respective ratio's, based on your experience?

Again, really appreciate the input.

 

[Karmic Pendulum]

Oh but alcohol...why bash the alcohol? How painful.

 

[Jim Ouini]

where did you find these calculators?

Pincota's sticky has the links to the calculators