Help getting metabolism kick started

nhradeuce

Ok, my wife has finally decided to start tracking her food after seeing the results I have had over the last few months. Her situation is the opposite of mine, she has been skinny fat for a long time. She is a picky eater and most of her intake consists of bread products, chicken, and ice cream. Until recently she was definitely eating too little - for as long as I have known her (17 years). From the little tracking she has done so far, even though she is trying to eat more, she is still around a 300-500 calorie net deficit daily from maintenance calories. She works out 6 days a week and is pretty active so she should be losing weight, but of course she is not. I am sure her metabolism and hormones are completely screwed up from eating so little for so long.

Her goal at this point is to maintain her weight but she wants to have abs. She's thin but still has just enough fat to hide any definition in her abs. So, the big question is how do we get he metabolism going again? Is it as simple as just upping her calorie intake so she reaches proper levels? Her macros are actually pretty close to what MFP recommends without making any changes, so should she just eat more of what she is already eating?

farsteve

Add some protein and lift heavy. Adding some muscle is the best way I know to kickstart a slow metabolism and you can't have abs without underlying muscle.