Looking for ideas to help the wife

datarock27

Hey everyone!!!
Thank you in advance for any advice/info etc that you may have to offer.

My wife is 29, 5'1" and currently hovers around 140 lbs. Her BMI is about 26.4.

For the 2 1/2 years we have been married she has constantly hovered around this number.

She goes to the gym four days a week and does 30 min of stairs, 30 on the treadmill and 30 with weight training. She varies the target area of the weights each day. Food wise we buy 80% organic and her she eats 5-6 times a day. A typical day can be found below for her.

She really wants to remove the bulge around her stomach and reach 130lbs and a normal bmi but she can't get there. If she deviates from exercise or diet she quickly gains weight and has to work to get it back to 140 but it stops after that point. I had been doing a lot of online searching and thought perhaps it was her birth control so we switched to the copper iud paragard that has no hormones and this was about a year ago with no difference in weight. Are we missing something?

For the record I think she looks great where she is but I know it's a goal she really wants to achieve and she was really upset about it again today.

Please feel free to ask questions. I am not sure what other info you may need.
Thank you in advance,
Ron

Breakfast
Nature Valley - Breakfast Biscuits Blueberry, 50 g/4 Biscuits (1 Pouch) 230 33g 9g 5g 0mg 170mg 12g 4g

Dinner
Morning Star Farms - Grillers Original Veggie Burger, 1 Burger (64g) 130 5g 6g 15g 0mg 260mg 1g 2g
Quick Added Calories, 40 calories 40 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Kings Hawaiian - Hamburger Roll, 1 bun 150 25g 4g 4g 0mg 135mg 9g 0g
Corn - White on the Cob, 1 large ear (7-9" long) 83 19g 1g 3g 0mg 2mg 2g 2g
Frozen - Green Beans, 0.5 cup 13 3g 0g 1g 0mg 0mg 1g 2g
Mexican Sweet Bread - Piedra, 0.5 piece 180 32g 5g 3g 21mg 83mg 15g 1g

Snacks
Fruit - Bannana, 118 grams 112 27g 0g 1g 0mg 1mg 14g 3g
Jif - Creamy Peanut Butter, Natural, 2 tablespoons 190 8g 16g 7g 0mg 80mg 3g 2g
Nabisco - Cracker, Premium Saltine, 10 cracker 140 24g 3g 0g 0mg 300mg 0g 0g
Generic - Montery Jack Cheese, 2 oz 208 0g 17g 14g 50mg 300mg 0g 0g
Strawberries - .strawberries, 16 ounces 145 35g 1g 3g 0mg 0mg 17g 9g
Strawberries - .strawberries, 16 ounces 145 35g 1g 3g 0mg 0mg 17g 9g
Farmer's Market - Bananna Chips, 1/3 cup (30g) 150 0g 8g 0g 0mg 0mg 5g 0g

TOTAL: 1,916 246g 71g 59g 71mg 1,331mg 96g 34g

maidentl

Has she tried reducing her calories? 1900 might be too much for her size. Clearly she can maintain on it, but to lose I think she'll need to cut back a little.

mrschains

I agree with cutting her calories. That's a lot for someone her size to be taking in. Also, she's taking in a lot of refined grains. Crackers are awful when you're trying to cut that last little bit. Also, she needs to take in protein at breakfast. Instead of the breakfast bar, try a couple of hard boiled eggs and a slice of whole grain toast with a tbs of peanut butter. She can cut additional calories by eating P2 (or is it P3) peanut butter instead of Jif. She's on the right track, but some small changes could drastically improve her results. She needs a LOT more protein than what she's getting. Protein will help her build muscle and burn some of that fat.

LosingItInDenver

I don't doubt that your heart is in the right place, but if my husband were on the internet looking for ways to help me lose weight (while talking about somewhat personal information,) I'd be really angry. I know that I've complained to him about things because I just needed to have someone listen, not necessarily to have someone trying to solve my problems without my explicit request to do so. Not to mention that weight loss for a woman could be hampered by hormonal influences.

IMO, the best option is to encourage her to set up her own account here where she can speak for herself.

margannmks

Is she increasing resistance or speed on stepper treadmill each week or just going through the motions. I personally find on cardio machines you can get lulled into not putting much effort into the work especially if your reading or watching tv.The body will adapt pretty quick to same old routine and if shes not really pushing out of her comfort zone shes probably not burning much. And you dont say what strength training program shes doing but it should be progressively harder also.Diet wise increase protein definetly and knock off 250 calories a day give it two weeks and see where she is. If she is burning the other 250 in exercise she should drop a lb a week. What shes doing now is maintaining.

healthygreek

I was around 138 at 5'2".
Joined MFP and started tracking. MFP put me at 1200.
I workout 1 hour a day and ate back 1/2-all of my exercise calories depending on my hunger level.
I lost 16 pounds in about 4-5 months. I've been maintaining for awhile at about 1600-2000.
I had to weigh my foods on a scale for accuracy.
I ate (and eat) lots of fruits, veggies, fish, chicken and sometimes steak.
Also some whole grain bread, pasta, olive oil, nuts, nut butters, yogurt and chocolate.
Pretty much anything I want but within my calorie goal.

ingasmile2

There may be a language barrier for her to type herself. I only say that because of the Mexican Sweet Bread in her daily meal. Could be totally wrong here. I know some women who do not use the internet at all and the husband does everything online.

I am 5'1". My TDEE (total daily energy expenditure is 1889) at my current weight of 134. That is what I could eat to maintain my current weight but to lose weight I have to create a deficit. Which I do by exercising and cutting calories. My BMR (what I need to maintain my life is 1291). So technically I need to eat between those 2 numbers to lose weight.

I started in April at 142 and I am now at 134. I eat around 1600 calories a day depending if I work out or not. So it is sometimes more and sometimes less.


A couple of things to change would be a protein for breakfast, that will help her feel full longer. I would reduce the crackers, breads, and things like banana chips. Just those things added 480 calories to her daily intake. She could add in cheese sticks, yogurt, more veggies for more bulk and less calories.

Hope that helps. Good luck to her.

Inga

Liftng4Lis

IMO, the best option is to encourage her to set up her own account here where she can speak for herself.

Bump!