How to lose weight according to my Naturopathic Dr.

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Krista_1
Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I had an appointment with my Naturopath yesterday. Here is how she recommended changing things up for me on a 1600-1800 "Net Calories" diet: I am 46, 5'7", weigh 140 lbs with a goal of getting into the 132-135 lb. range.

-Combine 30% Protein to 25% carbs. Eating mostly protein, with a lot of fruits and veg, with a very small portion of grains per meal would be ideal.
-Since I like to exercise a lot, she said do 5 Cardio/Weight lifting days, mixed with 2 yoga/stretch class days a week. The yoga days, allow my body to repair itself and avoid injuries.
-Continue to burn 1600-1800 calories a day with the exercise, but cut back my intake to 1300-1400 calories a day.
-Eat 400 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 500 at dinner .
-NO Snacks, except a little turkey or chicken before bed.
-But if you must have a snack, a Lara Bar is a great one.
-Specifically, she recommended upping the protein and reducing the grains. For example, cut out the granola, it has too much sugar. Another example, she suggested 5 crackers, not 10. Instead, eat more Shrimp, Cheese, or other proteins.
-She was not too crazy about my whole nut intake, as she said I wouldn't feel satisfied, because they take a long time to digest. Instead, she recommended nut butter (like natural Peanut or Almond Butter) because they are already partially digested. This will fill me up during the meal.
-Eat beans and lentils
-My sugar intake was a little high, but she said the sugar intake does not matter, as long as it is coming from healthy foods, such as fruits, and not refined sugar.
-agreed with the MFP target of 2500 mg of Sodium.
-upped the fiber from MFP recommended 13.8 g to 25 g.

She said doing this regimen, I will loose a lb. about every week and half, and it is very likely to stay off, once I get into maintenance mode. I hope some of these tips will help you. Do you have any thoughts about it?
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Replies

  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Sounds like way too much exercise imo! How are you burning 1600-1800 calories a day? Don't overdo it. Otherwise I'd agree with most of that except the thing about no snacks. Snacking throughout the day is good because it helps keep your blood glucose more steady.
  • somanyrhoades
    somanyrhoades Posts: 107 Member
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    I disagree with no snacking. Snacking between meals (especially if there is over 4 hours between them) can help to prevent over eating at the next meal, and also keeps your body's metabolism up. I sort of disagree with the nut thing too. While nut butters are delicious most people like to pair them with something (usually people do it with a carb, like cracker or a fruit). They can also be expensive. The whole reason that nuts keep you full is because they take a long time to digest. Almonds are by far my favorite snack! Just stick to one serving! Also, you said 5 days of cardio/weight training. Does that mean 5 days a week cardio OR weight or cardio AND weights. Either is fine, but if you are only doing a little right now I would suggest starting with easy cardio or short duration and working your way up. It really depends on what kind of cardio you are doing. There is a big difference between walking for 30 minutes 5 days a week and biking through the hills as fast as you can for 30 minutes a day.
  • sgermanmd
    sgermanmd Posts: 2
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    The method you describe is not based on any medical science, but it's not bad. Seems like way too much work and calculations and monitoring and measuring.

    Here is a basic simple rule: if you cut out 500 cal a day from your basal requirements, you will lose 1 pound per week. It doesn't matter if the calories you cut are cheese, chocolate, cauliflower, or cardboard. Most exercise burns 400 to 500 cal per hour. 1 pound of body weight equals 3500 cal. Therefore, 500 cal deficit per day times seven days equals 1 pound weight loss per week. Subtracting another 500 cal a day for exercise can add another 1 pound per week loss. Obviously, the type and duration of exercise will determine how many calories you burn.

    Basic rule of thumb is: your weight times 10 equals basic calorie requirements with normal sedentary activity. 180 pounds equals 1800 cal to maintain that weight.

    Cutting down on simple carbohydrates decreases the insulin spikes which causes hunger. Snacking also decreases insulin spikes, as long as you are snacking on low carbohydrate or very complex carbohydrate or other types of foods.

    Weight loss is a simple addition subtraction calculation. Sodium intake does contribute to water weight gain but that's not really what we are worried about, we are worried about body fat. When you reach a plateau, it means your basic requirement has decreased (due to weight loss) so you must decrease by more calories to continue losing weight.

    Obviously there are a lot of other complicating factors, such as hormones, stress levels etc. but those differ for everyone, so difficult to incorporate into a generalized formula.
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Since starting my mission to lose weight 6 weeks ago, Peachy, I work out about an hour in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    A -400 to -500 calorie energy balance per day sounds like an extremely bad idea to me - even more so considering that you don't have very much weight to lose. It's your body, but I sure as heck wouldn't touch that program with a ten-foot pole. There's great potential to lose an awful lot of lean body mass (muscle) in proportion to the fat.
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Somanyrhoades, I had almond butter with 1/2 an apple today for lunch, and it was quite satisfying. I am going to have to up beans and lentils, though to keep the fiber going, since fruit (kinda high in carbs) was my main source of fiber. I got the almond butter at Costco, so it keeps the price reasonable. They also sell the natural Peanut Butter there for cheap.
    For the 5 days of cardio/weight training, it depends on what I am doing. If you want to friend me, you can see my exercise diary to get a better idea. Sometimes I take a cardio class, like Zumba, then weight train for half an hour afterwards, for example.
    So far, so good on the no snacking, but it has been like a day on this so far, so I will have to keep you posted! :)
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    sgermanmd, you obviously know a lot about this topic. The trainers at the gym said many of the same things. However, I will disagree with your statement about all calories being equal. (" It doesn't matter if the calories you cut are cheese, chocolate, cauliflower, or cardboard.") For example, I cut a 150 calorie glass of wine out and substituted more substantial and nutritional foods for it (like a big salad, or a piece of cheese) and found I was more satisfied, and less hungry.
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Anvilhead, Thanks for your tip about watching out for losing muscle. If you do the math, though, it's a deficit of about 200-400 calories, a day, not 400-500. I do feel that if I am loosing 1 lb. every week to week and half, like the Natuopath said, I will be in no danger of losing muscle. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Check back with me in 2 weeks, if you are interested, and I will let you know how it's going.
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
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    Overall doesn't look like a bad plan, but it can probably be broken down to be much more simple:

    Cut carbs, especially grains
    Cut sugar back
    Up your protein and fat intake through eating meat
    Don't eat so much (cut snacking)
    Exercise (though the recommendation seems like a bit much to me)
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Marll, you hit it on the head with your simplification. The exercise part was not necessarily recommended by her, rather, it is my choice to exercise that much because I love it! btw, good job on your weight loss!
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
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    Marll, you hit it on the head with your simplification. The exercise part was not necessarily recommended by her, rather, it is my choice to exercise that much because I love it! btw, good job on your weight loss!

    If you like to exercise, go for it, that's great, nothing wrong with exercise, just beware of overtraining :)
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Marll, That is why she recommended 5 days of the cardio/weights and 2 days of yoga. The yoga days are light stretching and she said that will help me prevent injuries. :)
  • ShaneOSX
    ShaneOSX Posts: 198
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    -Combine 30% Protein to 25% carbs. Eating mostly protein, with a lot of fruits and veg, with a very small portion of grains per meal would be ideal.
    -Continue to burn 1600-1800 calories a day with the exercise, but cut back my intake to 1300-1400 calories a day.
    -Eat 400 calories at breakfast, 500 at lunch and 500 at dinner .
    -NO Snacks, except a little turkey or chicken before bed.
    -But if you must have a snack, a Lara Bar is a great one.
    -She was not too crazy about my whole nut intake, as she said I wouldn't feel satisfied, because they take a long time to digest. Instead, she recommended nut butter (like natural Peanut or Almond Butter) because they are already partially digested. This will fill me up during the meal.
    -agreed with the MFP target of 2500 mg of Sodium.

    I'd agree with the foundation of what she said. I think "NO snacks" will drive you crazy. There are better bars out there than Lara bars, like Quest for example. Never thought about the nut/nut butter thing, that's something to take into account. In line with more recent studies I've lowered my own sodium target to 1500, but I don't worry much about if I go over. My basic philosophy is to get 45-55% of my calories from protein, 20-30% from fat, and the rest from carbs, so as I said I'd agree with the basic idea.

    One thing I'd point out is that it doesn't make any difference what time of day you eat what, or how much, etc. That's a myth. If you'd rather eat 7 smaller meals than those three, or two larger ones, or eat the bulk of your calories in the morning, etc., it won't make any difference. End result is the same, so find a schedule that works for you.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Anvilhead, Thanks for your tip about watching out for losing muscle. If you do the math, though, it's a deficit of about 200-400 calories, a day, not 400-500....
    Maybe I'm misunderstanding...are you taking in 1300-1400 calories per day total, but burning a total of 1600-1800 calories per day? Is the 200-400 calorie deficit subtracted from your TDEE, or are we talking a NET -200 to -400 per day?
  • Zoggy3333
    Zoggy3333 Posts: 43 Member
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    Very interesting following the tread of conversation. I hope I can apply some of these ideas and lose more effectively
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    Hi Anvilhead, Sorry for not being clear. It is 200-400 Net calories less. (Net Calories Consumed = Total Calories Consumed - Exercise Calories Burned). In my case, the total calories consumed is (1400) minus exercise calories burned (1600-1800). So 200-400 Net calories less.

    My Naturopath said to eat roughly 400 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and 500 for dinner. So, that is the 1400 per day recommended amount. I would not eat back all my calories burned from exercise.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Since starting my mission to lose weight 6 weeks ago, Peachy, I work out about an hour in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.

    You are not burning 1,600 to 1,800 calories at your weight in that amount of time.

    Sorry to burst your bubble.
  • Krista_1
    Krista_1 Posts: 50 Member
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    ShaneO SX, Congratulations on your weight loss; I am glad to see something similar to what I going to be doing is working for you.
  • SocWkrBee
    SocWkrBee Posts: 374
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    Hi Anvilhead, Sorry for not being clear. It is 200-400 Net calories less. (Net Calories Consumed = Total Calories Consumed - Exercise Calories Burned). In my case, the total calories consumed is (1400) minus exercise calories burned (1600-1800). So 200-400 Net calories less.

    My Naturopath said to eat roughly 400 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and 500 for dinner. So, that is the 1400 per day recommended amount. I would not eat back all my calories burned from exercise.

    If this is the case your net calories would be a negative number. That is not healthy at all.
  • brjustice2000
    brjustice2000 Posts: 33
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    I wish weight loss was simply achieving a calorie deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound. Last week I had a 10,285 calorie deficit which by the simple rule of calorie counting should have resulted in almost 3 lbs lost. I gained 2 tenths of a lb. The calorie deficit and weight loss rarely work out for me.

    What counts for me is fat loss. Using the body fat loss monitor an Omron HBF-306C, I lost 1.54 lbs of fat, increased nonfat body mass by 1.7 pounds, and went from 29.3% body fat to 28.6% body fat. My goal is 20% body fat which is supposed to be a healthy and fit amount. The 7 tenths of a percent drop in body fat was a large one for me because usually it is about 2 or 3 tenths. The change I made last week was the amount of weight lifting done. I try to get close to 60 minutes without going over the 60 minutes. What I do is hard for me because the sweat is dripping off of me just like I spent an hour on the treadmill at the 15 incline setting and 2.1 mph. I changed things because the weight change was yo-yoing for a month. My new weight lifting plan is lift for 3 days, a day off, lift for two days, a day off because that makes the routine the same each week and easier for me to remember.

    Bottom line, I wish it was just calorie deficit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This isn't easy but it is working.

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