Fiance is dieting

[NorgePrecision]

My fiance is going on a diet to try to lose 20 lbs. in 4 months. We have a dilemma right now. I want her to eat 5 times a day and she wants to eat 4 times.

Workout: Morning before breakfast everyday for 30 min. -Treadmill

Breakfast: Raisin Bran/skim milk/hot chocolate(she demands it...i say green tea)

Lunch: Fat free Bologne on whole wheat 35 cal./slice
Pretzels/low fat cheese its

Mid-afternoon: Applesauce/Wheat Thins

Dinner: Chicken/rice 3 times a week
Same as lunch twice a week
Noodle soup and pretzels twice a week

I told her to eat something low carb/low fat before bed but she refuses saying that Oprah's trainer said so.

This seems to be the best she can do as she is very very VERY picky. I can't stand it. If anybody has something she can improve on it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[velvett]

I'm sorry for being rude but

THAT DIET IS SHAMEFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst selection of food I've ever seen.

Jeez, where to start...

Raisin Bran - crap
Milk - unnecessary but not terribble
hot chocolate - crap
Bolonge - CRAP!!
Wheat bread - works for some
Pretzels???? SODIUM Is this a diet or a vending machine menu?
Cheese - I think it's crap - works for some
Applesauce - eh ok for a 1st meal or post wo if it has no sugar but it's not a fab choice for cutting
Noodle soup? SODIUM


Chicken and rice are the only good things I see here.

What about green veggies?


I'm just really stunned - sorry for being so blunt but really this is horrid.

What does she eat normally?

My fiance is going on a diet to try to lose 20 lbs. in 4 months. We have a dilemma right now. I want her to eat 5 times a day and she wants to eat 4 times.

Workout: Morning before breakfast everyday for 30 min. -Treadmill

Breakfast: Raisin Bran/skim milk/hot chocolate(she demands it...i say green tea)

Lunch: Fat free Bologne on whole wheat 35 cal./slice
Pretzels/low fat cheese its

Mid-afternoon: Applesauce/Wheat Thins

Dinner: Chicken/rice 3 times a week
Same as lunch twice a week
Noodle soup and pretzels twice a week

I told her to eat something low carb/low fat before bed but she refuses saying that Oprah's trainer said so.

This seems to be the best she can do as she is very very VERY picky. I can't stand it. If anybody has something she can improve on it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[velvett]

My standard list

oatmeal
cream of wheat
potato
sweet potato/yams
rice brown/white
cottage cheese (this doesn't work for everyone)
all green veggies
peppers (red yellow too)
eggs
egg white protein powder
whey protien powder
pea protein powder
chicken/turkey
fish
pork
lean beef
eggs

Fats
almonds, walnuts, pecans
peanut butter (this works for a lot of people)
avocado
olive oil (salads/ veggies)


Fruits - (some people can diet with them some can't)
berries
melon
apples
peaches
tomatos
bananas (small and very much on occasion)


Avoid most dairy (I know - the cottage cheese - it has protein too. dairy's like fruit some can some can't)

Avoid anything processed, white or prepacked in a box (except some brands of rice)

 

[nycgirl]

OMG, that diet is crap.

I would get her into the Women's Forum and look at the sample diets in the logs. I followed the bodyweight x 10 - x12 for my calories and ate 5-6 meals per day. I lost 15lbs. And then I lost an additional 5lbs.

 

[NorgePrecision]

She has done something similar to this a couple summers ago and had decent results losing 15 lbs. She has gained it all back though since she is a first year 3rd grade teacher. With tutoring after school and working on her masters, she doesn't have much time to be active and have a good diet, so it has to be something quick that she can take with her.

 

[nycgirl]

chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, etc. are portable. Most people here have busy schedules. That diet doesn't looks like it breaks 1000-1100 calories.

But, if it worked for her, then okay. Its best to develop a lifestyle than to pull out the same diet everytime you gain back the weight.

 

[Cynical Simian]

She has done something similar to this a couple summers ago and had decent results losing 15 lbs.

I really hate the criteria that the non-exercising populace uses to determine what constitutes successful eating habits (general rant, not directed at you, Norge). Losing weight is simply a matter of eating fewer calories than you expend; nearly anyone could lose weight on 1000 calories per day of McDonald's. But obviously that doesn't mean that it'd be at all healthy.


Needless to say, velvett's posts covered the problems with her diet and the set of good foods quite thoroughly. Regarding her schedule, if she's taking food with her in the first place, it's not much additional effort to make it healthy food. And even if she doesn't have the time/desire to make fitness a big part of her life, you might want to try to convince her that eating generally healthy foods and doing a bit of light cardio a few times a week would be a very good investment in both the short and long term.

 

[velvett]

She has done something similar to this a couple summers ago and had decent results losing 15 lbs. She has gained it all back though since she is a first year 3rd grade teacher. With tutoring after school and working on her masters, she doesn't have much time to be active and have a good diet, so it has to be something quick that she can take with her.

She gained the weight back because she never learned how to eat.

God bless Yo-Yo dieting to keep the diet supplement industry alive.

If it worked before why are you asking for advice? (I know you know the answer to this already.)

The busier you become are the greater the capacity one has to get things done in a timely manner.

She can cook all veggies, taters/rice and protein on Sundays and divide all the meals for the week - keep three days worth in the fridge the rest in the freezer. It takes 30 seconds longer to nuke a bowl of oats than it does to pour a bowl of raisin bran and milk. If she can't spare 30 minutes a day to prep her meals to eat than the weight isn't a big enough issue to her yet.

Some people will never learn how to feed themselves and that's just fine but I can tell you from personal experience that large drops in calories always start successfully, stalls and ends poorly - you want to give your fiance a gift in this life - find a way to teach her how to feed herself in a healthy manner and still meet her goals.

Here are three diets that have floated around the Women's forum in one way shape or forn or another.

Good Luck


SAMPLE 1

Meal 1
5 Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg
1/4-1/2 cup Cream of Wheat or Oatmeal (made w/water, cinnamon, splenda)

Meal 2
Protein Shake w/ water or skim milk (check your calories)

Meal 3
4-6oz chicken, turkey or fish
3oz potato/yam (small to medium)
Fat Source (almonds 10-15)

Meal 4
4oz chicken, turkey or fish
Green Veggie (unlimited)

Meal 5
Protein Shake (after workout) w/ water or skim milk (check your calories)

Meal 6
4oz chicken, turkey or fish
Green Veggie (unlimited)
Fat Source - 1tbsp Olive Oil


SAMPLE 2

Meal 1
5 Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg – optional frozen spinach cooked
1/2 Cup Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat

Meal 2
Cottage Cheese – not fat free get the regular one
Unlimited Green veggies or 6 medium strawberries or 15-20 blueberries (you will have to see how your body responses to diets w/ fruit)

Meal 3
4oz chicken, turkey or fish
Unlimited Green Veggies
Fat Source – 1tbsp Olive Oil or 10-15 Almonds
If you are fatigued add a small potato or yam or 1/3 cup rice brown or white

Meal 4
Protein Shake (after workout) w/ water or skim milk (check your calories)

Meal 5
4oz – chicken, turkey or fish
Unlimited Green Veggies
Fat Source - 1tbsp Olive Oil

Meal 6 (optional)
Protein Shake (after workout) 1/2 water 1/2 skim milk (check your calories)




SAMPLE 3

Meal 1
Protein shake w/ water and berries (6 med strawberries – 10-15 blueberries)

Meal2
10-15 Almonds

Meal 3
Baby spinach leaves (unlimited) with 4-6 sliced strawberries, 10-15 blueberries
4-6 oz – chicken, turkey or fish
small to med- yam, potato or 1/3 cup rice
1 tbsp Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar

Meal 4
Protein shake w/ water and berries (6 med strawberries – 10-15 blueberries)


Meal 5
6 oz chicken, turkey or fish
small yam, potato or 1/3 cup of rice
Unlimited green veggies

 

[Sassy69]

WORD! on everything the girls say. The reason that diet worked the first time is probably due to just limited calorie intake - what else did she lose w/ the 15 lb - not just fat I bet. I bet it cost her some muscle too. Your body WANTS to burn fuel efficiently, but if you feed it shit or starve it, it will respond for a short period of time, but not forever. For ex, the point of eating 5-6 x/day is to resupply fuel that has been burned up before your body starts turning to muscle to burn. Carbs, proteins & fats are metabolized in 2-3 hours, w/ the fats being the slowest to burn. If I ate anything as the last meal of the night, I would put some good quality fats in it to help slow down the rate of metabolism because it will be another 8-ish hours before I refuel.

Pretzels are terrible- carbs and salt = burn quickly but not for good results and salt to induce water retention = feelign of bloat.
Rasin bran - processed crap
milk - in small amounts not bad, but as lactose is a simple sugar, its still a sugar.

Damn I could go on & on about that diet but it is shit. She will get better, more reliable and more muscle preserving / fat burning results w/ a diet such as that listed in the "Shadow Project" (the link is in the "Are you new to EF Ladies Board - START HERE!" or the "TOP THREADS - MUST READ" stickies on the womens board.)

Or if she really wants to educate herself on a healthy lifestyle (instead of bullshit starvastion diet based on hype & myth), get her a copy of Bill Philips' BODY FOR LIFE book. You don't have to buy all the EAS products he hypes in there, but the nutrition & traingin concepts are excellent for beginners to build a basic understandign & set of tools to help make decisions about dropping bodyfat.

If you want to illustrate to your fiancee what a shitball diet that is, have her put it into a food counts program like www.fitday.com (its a free online account) - this will compile the total cals, proteins, fats & carbs to illustrate what you are really eating. And seriously, the best way to determine the quality of food you are eating (e.g. the amount of real nutrition and degree of processing) is to look at how you refer to it - if it's by a brand name instead of by the food type, then you know it ain't real food. If you are eating heavily processed food, you can bet that even if the cals are low (i.e. starvation diet) you are even more seriously starving nutritionally. Its not just hte cals but the quality of the cals you eat - i.e. the nutritional value of them. What the hell is a pretzel, hot chocolate, applesauce, wheat thins? It sure ain't food. Its more like processed carb, sugar & some extra salt.