Its been 3 weeks, have only lost 2 pounds.

lindsey1979

You're clueless and btw I don't have time to troll around websites. I'm actually trying to help her out. Maybe you should see a dietician yourself and come back to this page and tell me what they say. She is eating way too much sugar and fat, and that is a fact that she is storing the additional energy. She is NOT on an Atkin's diet where excess fat and even protein is encouraged. Only a high fat/high protein diet with minimum carbs/sugar would cause her to gain weight via gluconeogenesis, but she is eating too many sugar and carbs and therefor storing anything extra. Also many days she exceeded her calories. She should definitely be losing MORE weight. You obviously know nothing on the topic.

Just to clarify, are you recommending a low carb, low fat and high protein diet? I agree that limiting carbs can be really useful for some people, but I hadn't heard of someone recommending that they lower fat as well. Oftentimes, when someone is suggesting that you lower carbs, the person is also suggesting that you raise fat to higher levels and protein to moderate levels (if no there).

I'm recommending lowering her fat in accordance to her diet now. She is getting too much fat, sometimes by as much as 20 grams. I'm also telling her that her protein is fine. Her sugar and carbs need to be lowered as well, since her sugar is wayy too high according to her journal and her recommended daily value.

Okay, but if that's the case, then she'd just be lowering her calories a lot, right? If her protein is the same, and she lowers fat and carbs, she'll be greatly lowering calories altogether?

Perhaps if you just give an idea of calorie goal and macro breakdown, that would be easier to understand what you're recommending here.

I don't know her BMI or weight loss goal so I can't give you exact numbers in terms of what I am recommending. But according to her journal, she is over in sugar and fat. Her protein never exceeds her recommendation (from what I looked at.) What she should be doing is substituting the foods with high sugar and fat with healthy foods that are low in sugar and fat, and still have the same calories. Just because she lowers her sugar and fat doesn't mean she is lowering her calories if she SUBSTITUTES those for healthy options. I know athletes and people who need to gain weight and have been on a 3,000 calorie diet with so-and-so amount of fat (don't remember exactly) and instead of eating white bread and butter for a snack, they eat hummus and whole wheat pita, for example- and that has zero cholesterol, perhaps the same amount of fat and calories. Or choose low fat cottage cheese over low fat fruit yogurt- which usually has more calories but wayy less sugar. Do you get it?

Well, she said she's 246 and 5'9", so her BMI has to be around 36.3 or so. Not sure of her weight loss goal, but I imagine she'd like to lose at least 50 lbs, perhaps as much as 80 or 90.

I'm still not following you on how she lowers her sugar and fats without also lowering her calories. I can understand how someone can choose lower GI carbs/sugars rather than higher ones -- which is particularly important for those with carb sensitivity issues. So, are you recommending that she lower the ADDED sugar and instead opt for the same number of carbs (or the caloric equivalent) through other food choices? So her carb numbers would stay the same, but her actual added sugar numbers would go down?

LeanButNotMean44

I'm still not following you on how she lowers her sugar and fats without also lowering her calories. I can understand how someone can choose lower GI carbs/sugars rather than higher ones -- which is particularly important for those with carb sensitivity issues. So, are you recommending that she lower the ADDED sugar and instead opt for the same number of carbs (or the caloric equivalent) through other food choices? So her carb numbers would stay the same, but her actual added sugar numbers would go down?

I think that is what she is suggesting - complex carbs instead of simple carbs (i.e. whole wheat pita instead of a regular pita, veggies instead of dinner rolls, etc.).

Vigilance88

And yes, I am definitely saying that if her macro nutrients (specifically fat and sugar) are over, even if her calories are under, those will be stored as extra energy i.e. FAT

You don't store energy if you're at a deficit. It's not that hard to understand.
Can I gain muscle if I'm eating over my protein limit, but under sugar/fat/cal limits? Nope

Yep_imchicbad

I've been training in the gym for over 2 years now, and I can tell you from my experience that macros makes a huge difference as well as caloric intake and calories burned. I want to build muscle and lean out. That's what my goal was. I'm hoping to compete.

I also took a quick look at all the posts here on peeking into her diary, and with just a couple of glances, I noticed there's no listing for SODIUM... there's a lot of high trans fatty food with high sodium in the OP's diary as well, trust me, I was an Oscar Meyer fan and Jenny O fan until I saw the sodium intake when I logged. I was plateaued for almost a year with no change all due to macros. High sugar, trans fat, and sodium, and carbs, will kill any progress even if your within your calorie range. This I can relate to.

Now having the occasional treat is ok, but everyday crap will leave you bloated and stuck. Its crazy for people to think that its ok to be high above your macros on a daily basis and make gains. You will plateau and bloat. This has been my experience. Processed food and fast food are a huge contributor to a lot of different problems, regardless. And not including cheat days lol

Aaron_K123

Again I want to reiterate it is honestly too early to know how you are doing. For people congratulating her on losing 2 pounds she has no idea how much fat she has actually lost only weighing herself for 3 weeks lets be honest. Most peoples bodies fluctuate by a good 5 pounds or more over the course of days or weeks due to changes in water retention and that fluctuation will mask the amount of fat you are truly losing until you have been logging consistantly for months at which a trend will establish where you can predict your weekly loss.

OP you can't tell how much fat you have lost yet, need to keep at it for at least twice as long. If you are correct and you HAVE lost 2 pounds in 3 weeks that is a very good loss rate and one you should be happy with not upset by.

All this second guessing and suggestions are on the back of insufficient data. It serves no purpose.