Advice for my girlfriend

[H_T_]

really? because I read a lot about how your metabolism shuts down if you dont eat enough?

Africa disagrees with you.

 

[the-short-one]

She's trying to lose anywhere between 35-40 pounds. She is 5'5, 175. She was down to 155 but then gained it all back. She's been over weight for a while. How can I find out how many calories she should be eating? Right now I don't think she's eatting enough. today she ate a
south beach protein bar (breakfast)
1 apple (snack)
1/2 cup of crab salad (lunch)
grilled chicken wrap (dinner)

What's that 500 calories all day?

In terms of workout I was going to have her try the

she needs to eat a minimum of 10 x her body weight.

 

[H_T_]

i have the most K here, so i am clearly right.

 

[LiftHeavy123]

So that's 10x to maintain...but what about to lose? Just lose through workouts?

 

[the-short-one]

So that's 10x to maintain...but what about to lose? Just lose through workouts?

no. 10 x her body weight to lose. even 12 x to lose. Maintenance depends on activity level, amout of muscle, etc.

she shouldn't drop below 10 x bw.

 

[T-Cake]

A year ago, I was 185 at 5'5" and now I'm down to 165 (though I'm nearly a size 6; I put on 12 lbs at least of muscle last year too).

Anyhow, short1 is right. 10 x her bw is ideal -- the "stop feeding her" shit is just that (Sorry, HT)

I was eating 1600 cals a day and then one day a week I would carb up and eat around 2200 on a cheat day.

My 1600 cals were ratioed to be 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat.

She is NOT eating nearly enough.
She is eating carbs all day long, which is constantly feeding her bloodstream with simpler sugars (even those protein bars, like I was saying earlier) and her insulin levels are working around the clock. She needs to focus her diet on more protein.

Rule of thumb when I started (because I go out to eat a lot too) was to make sure 1/2 of my meal was protein, so if I had 1 c. of chicken diced up... I made sure I only had 1/2 a cup of rice or wheat pasta to go with it. Always make sure your protein out-does your carbs.

She is NOT eating enough. She needs to use fitday to log her foods and read the Stickies.

 

[LiftHeavy123]

Thank you so much for your help