GF Very Discouraged with Progress

[power]

Here's a thought, have you had her body fat % tested so you have a realistic base to start planning from? Cut the calories, cut the weight training to low/moderate weight high rep scheme. Use the scale, body fat %, and most importantly the mirrior to gauge her success.

 

[Ehren]

Great to see the women jumping in here with some solid advice from their experience!

My GF is about 5'8" and her weight when she's not working is about 130lbs. For a shoot, she needs to be about 120+/-. It takes her 1000 cals or less for 4-5 weeks, and daily cardio. About 40min to 1hr 5-6 days a week. Mostly Protein and lowered carbs, but not zero carbs.

We played with her diet, ratios, times..blah blah. Bottom line, nothing worked until we shaved the portion size off her normal healthy meals until she started losing weight.

 

[wukillabee]

wukillabe,

have you added all of those meals you have laid out for her diet up to see exactly how many calories it is? yes its too much, but i'm curious is to how many calories you had her eating.?

I'm also very curious because looking at it personally i really didn't see it being much food. Shake and some carbs pre-workout, same post workout, literally zero carb lunch, snack of a shake and almonds, then dinner. I know if i ate like that i'd be down from my current 218lbs to probably 180lbs, lol!

At work now so when i get home i will look at all the labels and do the math and report back, very curious to see. Also off work tomorrow with her so will be sure to hit the health food store to do shopping for her new diet to start on Monday.

Appreciate everyone's feedback and help in this but curious to hear more actual examples instead of lower her cals to 1k a day and she's eating too much. Where would i lower the cals, in what meals or snacks? I got good info saying to switch her non-fat plain yogurt to greek yogurt and her organic flax granola mixed with it to now wholte steel cut oats but i'm looking beyond that what else can i do to her diet? Even doing that, don't see those 2 changes making a huge difference in her daily caloric intake but will compare and look at the labels and be sure to report back on here when i have the totals of what she's on now and the changes from suggestions on here and see the difference.

 

[wukillabee]

Great to see the women jumping in here with some solid advice from their experience!

My GF is about 5'8" and her weight when she's not working is about 130lbs. For a shoot, she needs to be about 120+/-. It takes her 1000 cals or less for 4-5 weeks, and daily cardio. About 40min to 1hr 5-6 days a week. Mostly Protein and lowered carbs, but not zero carbs.

We played with her diet, ratios, times..blah blah. Bottom line, nothing worked until we shaved the portion size off her normal healthy meals until she started losing weight.

Good info here but my gf works 2 jobs 1 full time and 1 part time and also in school full time. To get at least 7hrs sleep each night she doesn't have the time in the day to do cardio 5-7 days a week and the same day also have time to do a weight lifting routine, it's one or the other for that particular day with her current schedule.

When she's on break from school won't be an issue but spring break is only a week or so long and summer is a ways away. I have her weight training 4 days a week and cardio 3 days a week. If something does change in her schedule which it happens time to time she will do cardio a 4th day if possible on a weight lifting day.

Her time is in the morning which we both wake up around 5:45am to start our days. This is when she either does fasted cardio for an hour straight or wakes up, drinks a protein shake with a banana or some yogurt with mixed granola, then weight lifts. Then she starts her day at work all day or school all day literally until 7pm. After work comes home to help make dinner and we're in bed by 9:30pm, couple of old people here, haha! As you can see, unfortunately not enough time to do both cardio and weights in the same day at 2 different sessions in that same day. Now if a class gets cancelled or can leave work early then yes, she will use that time and do extra cardio.

Read on here and makes sense that it's counter productive for her to do weights for 40-60min then after do cardio for another 45min, too much stress on the body and i'm sure would only raise her cortisol levels as a response to this.

 

[MarineWifey]

i still think 1k calories is too low. could possibly mess with her thyroid in time.. also once she is off of this 1k calorie diet and goes back to eating a normal amount of food...a healthy amount without adding more exercise throughout will not continue to lose weight.. will prob gain a little. so unless someone is getting ready for a show and needs to lean out for it, i personally think 1k is too low.

i see she is having salads 1-2 times a day.. is she using dressings? if so, what are they? definitely have to watch out there.. wrong dressing, can ruin a healthy salad.

would stick with lean white meats. chicken, tilapia, shrimp..grilled or baked. steak is good just watch out for the fats and eat considerably.

green veggies. spinach is great in my diet.

 

[wukillabee]

Her Diet Breakdown with Calories!!!

i still think 1k calories is too low. could possibly mess with her thyroid in time.. also once she is off of this 1k calorie diet and goes back to eating a normal amount of food...a healthy amount without adding more exercise throughout will not continue to lose weight.. will prob gain a little. so unless someone is getting ready for a show and needs to lean out for it, i personally think 1k is too low.

i see she is having salads 1-2 times a day.. is she using dressings? if so, what are they? definitely have to watch out there.. wrong dressing, can ruin a healthy salad.

would stick with lean white meats. chicken, tilapia, shrimp..grilled or baked. steak is good just watch out for the fats and eat considerably.

green veggies. spinach is great in my diet.

Ok, found it everyone her diet calories for the day. Just downloaded at work right now the myfitnesspal app for free which is amazing for anyone who doesn't know about it. Uses the internet to find out exactly what your eating right down to the specific brand and amount!

This is her current break down:

Wake up pre-workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with non-fat plain yogurt and granola = 460 calories

Post workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with 2 rice cakes = 230 calories

Lunch: Chicken salad with little dressing = 680 calories (from el pollo loco)

Snack: 1 large banana and 1 nectarine = 164 calories

Dinner: 6 oz New York Strip and 1 cup spinach = 481 calories

Total calories a day = 2013

This program says for her height and weight and goal to get down to 120lbs by losing 2lbs per day she needs to eat 1200 calories each day.

Lol, says if everyday is like this she will weigh 145.2lbs in 5 weeks, yay!

Now when i add in the ellpitical trainer for 60 minutes (mainly what she does her fasted cardio on) it says she burns 579 calories now bringing her total calories for the day down to 1434 still needing to lose 234 more to get to the 1200 calorie bench mark.

At this rate with the added cardio in she will weight 139.4lbs in 5 weeks, still very week!

This is her current eating status and a typical fasted cardio day based on this program/app. I know the diet part is accurate to the T since it breaks it down to the actual portion size and brand of what you're eating. Now for the actual calories burned during cardio of course i'm sure this is a general reading as that depends more on the intensity and heart rate.

 

[wukillabee]

i still think 1k calories is too low. could possibly mess with her thyroid in time.. also once she is off of this 1k calorie diet and goes back to eating a normal amount of food...a healthy amount without adding more exercise throughout will not continue to lose weight.. will prob gain a little. so unless someone is getting ready for a show and needs to lean out for it, i personally think 1k is too low.

i see she is having salads 1-2 times a day.. is she using dressings? if so, what are they? definitely have to watch out there.. wrong dressing, can ruin a healthy salad.

would stick with lean white meats. chicken, tilapia, shrimp..grilled or baked. steak is good just watch out for the fats and eat considerably.

green veggies. spinach is great in my diet.

My gf does love all veggies no problem and spinach as a salad or cooked raw! Dressings she uses is honestly just pure virgin olive oil, that's it. If she's at a restaurant that is what she gets on it or at home and can bring it to work. No added salt, sometimes maybe a little ground pepper.

Well her goal now is just to lose as much fat as possible, get down to maybe 120lbs. Then once down to the shape she then wants to build up the frame to be more tone/musculer like bikini model type. Main goal now is just fat lose though. Thinking then to change her weight lifting routine to more of a circuit style.

Maybe have her do say monday upper body circuit style, tuesday lower body, wednesday cardio only, thursday same as monday, friday same as tuesday, saturday sunday cardio only?

 

[wukillabee]

Ok, found it everyone her diet calories for the day. Just downloaded at work right now the myfitnesspal app for free which is amazing for anyone who doesn't know about it. Uses the internet to find out exactly what your eating right down to the specific brand and amount!

This is her current break down:

Wake up pre-workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with non-fat plain yogurt and granola = 460 caloriesPost workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with 2 rice cakes = 230 calories

Lunch: Chicken salad with little dressing = 680 calories (from el pollo loco)

Snack: 1 large banana and 1 nectarine = 164 calories

Dinner: 6 oz New York Strip and 1 cup spinach = 481 calories

Total calories a day = 2013

This program says for her height and weight and goal to get down to 120lbs by losing 2lbs per day she needs to eat 1200 calories each day.

Lol, says if everyday is like this she will weigh 145.2lbs in 5 weeks, yay!

Now when i add in the ellpitical trainer for 60 minutes (mainly what she does her fasted cardio on) it says she burns 579 calories now bringing her total calories for the day down to 1434 still needing to lose 234 more to get to the 1200 calorie bench mark.

At this rate with the added cardio in she will weight 139.4lbs in 5 weeks, still very week!

This is her current eating status and a typical fasted cardio day based on this program/app. I know the diet part is accurate to the T since it breaks it down to the actual portion size and brand of what you're eating. Now for the actual calories burned during cardio of course i'm sure this is a general reading as that depends more on the intensity and heart rate.

Just checked and if i change this first meal from the current above to what was suggested, not much change but change is change.

6oz non fat greek yogurt flavored is 150 calories + 1/4 cup of steel cut oats = 300 calories. Basically they are 150 calories each vs. her original 460 calories.

At least this shaves off 160 calories overall

 

[MarineWifey]

My gf does love all veggies no problem and spinach as a salad or cooked raw! Dressings she uses is honestly just pure virgin olive oil, that's it. If she's at a restaurant that is what she gets on it or at home and can bring it to work. No added salt, sometimes maybe a little ground pepper.

Well her goal now is just to lose as much fat as possible, get down to maybe 120lbs. Then once down to the shape she then wants to build up the frame to be more tone/musculer like bikini model type. Main goal now is just fat lose though. Thinking then to change her weight lifting routine to more of a circuit style.

Maybe have her do say monday upper body circuit style, tuesday lower body, wednesday cardio only, thursday same as monday, friday same as tuesday, saturday sunday cardio only?

glad she has changed her goal to fat loss instead of focusing so much on the scale. looks like you're getting some good info from your research for the calories required for her.

circuit training would be good. just make sure its high intensity with little rest, keep her heart rate up in the fat burning zone. so while doing these circuits with weights she is still getting cardio in.

also just like a few have said, make sure she is drinking plenty of water.. if not she is going to hold more and bloat.. especially with the gh.

i saw somewhere earlier where someone mentioned var for her, that would be good with the gh as well. i'm currently on var now and love it. will help harden her up and lose some fat. basically turning her fat into muscle.

with the adjustments you are making her diet will be on point. watch her macros as well. such as how many grams of protein, carbs, and fats she is having.

 

[wukillabee]

glad she has changed her goal to fat loss instead of focusing so much on the scale. looks like you're getting some good info from your research for the calories required for her.

circuit training would be good. just make sure its high intensity with little rest, keep her heart rate up in the fat burning zone. so while doing these circuits with weights she is still getting cardio in.

also just like a few have said, make sure she is drinking plenty of water.. if not she is going to hold more and bloat.. especially with the gh.

i saw somewhere earlier where someone mentioned var for her, that would be good with the gh as well. i'm currently on var now and love it. will help harden her up and lose some fat. basically turning her fat into muscle.

with the adjustments you are making her diet will be on point. watch her macros as well. such as how many grams of protein, carbs, and fats she is having.

Right now she rests no more then 60sec inbetween sets but obviously the weight routine i have her on now seems to be more muscle size then weight loss geared. Will change that up for her to start Monday.

All she drinks is water, literally. She will have a homemade coffee in the morning just just water all day and i'm sure she drinks enough of it. Always stress to her the importance of water and she does it. We literally never drink soda, even eating out at a restaurant.

Looking to get her some Var to start maybe around May or so. Best i can find is 10mg tabs so figure cut em in half and start her at .5mg/ed and see how that goes. I'm on Var right now and yes it literally does turn fat into muscle! Haven't changed my diet up yet for summer and losing some ab fat just running 80mg/ed of Var myself, only thing that has changed.

 

[anthrogeekuconn]

Ok, found it everyone her diet calories for the day. Just downloaded at work right now the myfitnesspal app for free which is amazing for anyone who doesn't know about it. Uses the internet to find out exactly what your eating right down to the specific brand and amount!

This is her current break down:

Wake up pre-workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with non-fat plain yogurt and granola = 460 calories

Post workout snack, 1 scoop ON Whey with 2 rice cakes = 230 calories

Lunch: Chicken salad with little dressing = 680 calories (from el pollo loco)

Snack: 1 large banana and 1 nectarine = 164 calories

Dinner: 6 oz New York Strip and 1 cup spinach = 481 calories

Total calories a day = 2013

This program says for her height and weight and goal to get down to 120lbs by losing 2lbs per day she needs to eat 1200 calories each day.

Lol, says if everyday is like this she will weigh 145.2lbs in 5 weeks, yay!

Now when i add in the ellpitical trainer for 60 minutes (mainly what she does her fasted cardio on) it says she burns 579 calories now bringing her total calories for the day down to 1434 still needing to lose 234 more to get to the 1200 calorie bench mark.

At this rate with the added cardio in she will weight 139.4lbs in 5 weeks, still very week!

This is her current eating status and a typical fasted cardio day based on this program/app. I know the diet part is accurate to the T since it breaks it down to the actual portion size and brand of what you're eating. Now for the actual calories burned during cardio of course i'm sure this is a general reading as that depends more on the intensity and heart rate.

Ok, you need to have her total consumed calories be 1200, WITHOUT subtracting cals from cardio! 2000 calories is WAYYY too much for a girl her size trying to lose weight! no wonder she's gaining weight! Geez! Also, the calculations for cals on those machines are not accurate.

Forget Var, forget upping the gh and forget any other supps until she can just nail her diet, lifting and cardio. Geez! Let's not forget the basics guys!
:banghead::banghead:
Have her try eating less, doing more one or two more working sets for her weight training and up the cardio. Also, Post weight training cardio is excellent for fat loss!

 

[anthrogeekuconn]

I was at 1100 the lowest on my last prep with three hours of cardio a day.
I'm wondering if there is an underlying thyroid problem, but got not insurance.

.. so you think due to your low calorie intake of 1100 it might have messed with your thyroid? that is a low amount of calories.

No definitely not, it's a problem I've had since forever!

 

[mikennrg]

Nobody has asked how many reps she's doing. This is from Erik Ledin talking about training figure athletes.


If you train light, you’ll keep enough muscle to be able to continue to train “light.” But given this doesn’t take a lot, from a relative and individual standpoint (ie. it takes more muscle to lift a weight that limits you to 8 reps, than it does to lift a weight that limits you to 20) you’ll keep what you need to accomplish these generally ‘easier’ tasks. The key to a lean, hard body is a nice balance between nutrition, cardio and low rep, heavy weight training. What builds muscle is what keeps muscle.

 

[mikennrg]

Another thing not mentioned is whether she's doing steady state cardio or interval style. Steady state does nothing to increase excess postexercise oxygen consumption(EPOC). So once you're done on the treadmill you're done burning calories. Only interval and resistance training increases EPOC.

Another thing is it looks like you're training her with the idea of not "getting her too bulky". Women just don't have the hormones to get bulky. If she's one of the rares ones that puts mass on easily it's easy to back off. That's like saying I don't want to do sprints, because I don't want to win a 100M gold medal. Joe Dowdell is a trainer in New York that has trained Victoria Secret models and SI Swimsuit Models. He has the girls doing deadlifts and squats, not "innie machine and leg presses". He has them pushing a Prowler sled while most women are on the treadmill.

 

[mikennrg]

Another thing is you have her doing nothing hamstring specific. Women are 4x as likely to tear an ACL than men and strong quads paired weak hamstrings makes it even more of a risk.

Have her do something functional like single leg romanians.

 

[OneIrishKing]

i only read first page of responses and diet/supps were addressed

not sure if this has all ready been said as i didnt read everyones response but i like to have my female clients rest no longer than 30 seconds between sets

since my female clients are not interested in any noticeable muscle mass gain besides firm/tone muscles i keep rep range in 13-20 range never dipping below 13 reps

sometimes if results have slowed i will have them complete free weight dumbell circuit training where they complete anywhere from 4-6 different exercises non stop turning the weight session into a combo of weights/cardio

i just rotate the bodyparts worked as to not induce too much hypertrophy in any single muscle group for example on upper body day > dumbell flat press, dumbell military press, dumbell bentover row, dumbell alt curls, dumbell skullkrushers < these are done non stop from the presses until the skrushers than she gets 30-40 secs rest and repeats the circuit

every weight session is followed by 30-45 mins of cardio according to how rapid the composition change is occuring or how much i have pushed them the last few days i also like to let them have one rest day a week so their CNS can refresh a bit

with my female clients i like to keep them moving as much as possible with short rest periods since my female clients are not interested in any noticeable muscle gains

 

[plang]

If fat loss is her goal id suggest 3 full body workouts and 4 days of cardio. My fiancé maintains a softer look In the off season eating 3 small meals a day...but for fat loss/pre contest she eats 5....1000-1200 cals max. Lots of cardio. She has the fat girl gene in her...so she always eats clean. But even in the offseason she rarely gets up to 2k cals unless we have a cheat meal .

 

[madmoe2012]

change the diet...

 

[NPCS FINEST]

Ok, you need to have her total consumed calories be 1200, WITHOUT subtracting cals from cardio! 2000 calories is WAYYY too much for a girl her size trying to lose weight! no wonder she's gaining weight! Geez! Also, the calculations for cals on those machines are not accurate.

Forget Var, forget upping the gh and forget any other supps until she can just nail her diet, lifting and cardio. Geez! Let's not forget the basics guys!
:banghead::banghead:
Have her try eating less, doing more one or two more working sets for her weight training and up the cardio. Also, Post weight training cardio is excellent for fat loss!

couldnt have sid it better!! way to many calories...she needs to be around 1200 total..no more....and dont even add var or HGH...she needs a few good months of good diet and cardio and training. I would lower her over all calories right away...no more then 1200 on the high days...no less then 1000 on the low day. 1.5 hours per day of cardio...add in an extra 10-15 min per session each week. Give her a few weeks of this before making any changes. I would keep upping the cardio (2 sessions per day if needed) before I would take her calories any lower then 1000-1200 per day. If she is still not losing after 1.5-2h cardio sessions twice per day...then take her to the doctor cause something is wrong. She will lose fat...it will be slowly tho..but thats the best way of doing it....remember the last few bodyfat %% are going to be the hardest...this is when you can add things like HGH,clen,T-3 or whatever to help with that. But IMO she needs a few months of a good diet with the right amount of carbs,protein,fats and calories first along with some good cardio...I would also change that up too....high intensity one time..next time hit the elip or tredmil....help keep her from getting bored with it. As for her training..that should almost be like a cardio session itself....hardly no rest at all...keep pushing her...doesnt really have to mean high reps low weight...I keep my girl still lifting heavy when dieting and she does a good bit of forced reps with my help on the spot. Keep her heart rate going good.....no more then 20-30 sec between sets....have her workout mapped out ahead of time so you know what to do next as soon as you finish with what your currently working...that way there is no rest or stops taking place between anything. Hope this helps some bro....

oh yeah...WATER....have her always drinking it...very important!! If you have any questions PM me and I can kind of show you what I have my girl do.....she has had some really great results in the past 8-10 months.

 

[plang]

With all die respect to the people suggesting 2ius is too low....i think they are really missing the boat....it would probably cause the scale to go up. The diet is the main problem. 2K cals is wayyyy to much.