Help for the Wife!!!

[bgdaddy123]

Hello ladies, I am writting this thread for my wife. My wife is 26 years old and we recently had our 1st child together back in Aug 06. She has always been physically active.. She teaches classes @ the gym ( spin, powerflex, etc.) While being pregnant she got upto 175 lbs. Her normal wt is around 120lbs. Her diet is good ( good be better) and cont to work hard in the gym. Her problem is the she cant seem to loose those last 8-10 lbs.and is frustrated.. She has been doing some research and would like to hear what your opinions are of her using Clen or Albuterol?? Or maybe you have some other suggestions. Thanks for the help.

 

[gymmum]

Hello ladies, I am writting this thread for my wife. My wife is 26 years old and we recently had our 1st child together back in Aug 06. She has always been physically active.. She teaches classes @ the gym ( spin, powerflex, etc.) While being pregnant she got upto 175 lbs. Her normal wt is around 120lbs. Her diet is good ( good be better) and cont to work hard in the gym. Her problem is the she cant seem to loose those last 8-10 lbs.and is frustrated.. She has been doing some research and would like to hear what your opinions are of her using Clen or Albuterol?? Or maybe you have some other suggestions. Thanks for the help.

Is she still breast feeding?

 

[bgdaddy123]

no she is not breastfeeding, stopped after 3 months

 

[the-short-one]

no she is not breastfeeding, stopped after 3 months

clen or albuterol will work short term, but the weight will come right back. meaning that it's good for competitors (if you can stand the sides) who need a short term, low BF for comp. not so good for people who want to keep it off.

could you post her diet and training for us? I bet we could tweak her diet enough (and training too) so that she'd be able to drop those pounds.

 

[bgdaddy123]

Training consist of :

Spin class 2X a wk for 45 min. ( instructs)
Powerflex 3x a wk for an hr ( instructs)
Run 25-30 mile per week

Diet consist of 1400-1500 cals a day.

 

[Gymgurl]

Drop all the cardio and add some weights....also give her a good year for her body to go back to normal after having a baby....Trust me I had three

 

[the-short-one]

Training consist of :

Spin class 2X a wk for 45 min. ( instructs)
Powerflex 3x a wk for an hr ( instructs)
Run 25-30 mile per week

Diet consist of 1400-1500 cals a day.

diet consists of what, exactly?

...and she weighs how much right now?

agree with gymgurl - WAY too much cardio.

 

[bgdaddy123]

She does all the cardio b/c she teaches these classes, and she runs b/c she is training for a marathon.. She is the one frustrated with her wt not me. Currerently she weighs 131.

As far as diet for ex. today she ate:
morning:
1 pack of oatmeal
1 yoplait yogurt

lunch:
healthy choice pizza
pretzels

dinner:
grilled chicken with rice/peppers/pineapple
cheese

drink: diet soda

 

[the-short-one]

She does all the cardio b/c she teaches these classes, and she runs b/c she is training for a marathon.. She is the one frustrated with her wt not me. Currerently she weighs 131.

As far as diet for ex. today she ate:
morning:
1 pack of oatmeal
1 yoplait yogurt

lunch:
healthy choice pizza
pretzels

dinner:
grilled chicken with rice/peppers/pineapple
cheese

drink: diet soda

ok. with all that training, she's not eating enough. good lord - she's burning A LOT of calories and not putting many back in to her body - and her body thinks she's starving, so has gone into survival mode.

she needs to eat 5-6 meals a day - each meal with carbs/protein/fat. Her activity level requires more calories, even to lose weight. the frequent eating will keep her metabolism going, and she'll probably feel better, too. (I'm guessing she feels run down right now.)

 

[the-short-one]

if she can't eat more solid food (feels too full) have her take in 2 protein shakes a day in addition to what she's eating. one of the shakes should be right before bed. have her eat a tbsp of peanut butter with it.

make the shakes out of milk and 1 or 2 scoops of protein powder.

 

[Sassy69]

I was going to say... here's a REALLY good exercise to do -- put that meal plan into a food counts program like www.fitday.com (its free, takes a few minutes to set up but very easy) -- it will show you the total cals, the macronutrient breakdown - %protein, fats & carbs. That really goes a long way to show you what you are eating & where it needs to be tweaked.

Your body reflects your lifestyle - so the easiest place is to tweak the diet. A "clean" or "good" diet is fine but it usually is can be optimized,. That's the essence of competition prep -- optimizing the diet for the goal. Competition diet just means you have a tight schedule to do it on. Competition diet starts when you are down to the final steps of prepping your body - sort of like the last 10 lbs - so to get past that sticking point you need to review your diet & optimize it some.

Since we don't know the portions in the meal plan , can you put it into fitday.com w/ the right portions and post the total cals & macro breakdown? I bet we can come up w/ some easy changes to make the fuel match the energy demands!

 

[bgdaddy123]

In your opinion what would be some good solid food ( ideal meals ) that she should be eating??

 

[gymmum]

Excellent point Sassy & Shorty. Diet is pretty much everything when it come to weight control.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Check out the threads at the top - especially LINKS TO TOP THREADS. It has tons of sample diets for her to look though.

 

[the-short-one]

In your opinion what would be some good solid food ( ideal meals ) that she should be eating??

idealy, less processed foods and more whole foods. I know this can sometimes be hard when a person is on the go all the time, tho.

I see her diet has a lot of simple carbs in it. She could replace those with complex carbs. Sweet potato, brown rice, wheat bread, old fashioned oats, etc. Also - I don't see a whole lot of protein in her diet. She really should get protein with every meal she eats.

examples:

oatmeal + eggs
brown rice + lean steak
wheat bread + lean ground turkey
sweet potato + chicken

add some vegis like a salad, brocolli, etc and you have a winner diet.

she's just trying to lose 10 pounds, right? She's not losing for a competition, so doesn't have to eat a competition diet. She just needs to eat more frequently, eat more protein, and healthier carbs. She'll have more energy and weight will start dropping again. I think the calorie level is a little low. 131 x 12 = 1572 calories. IMO, with her activity level - this is the minimum calories she should be eating per day.

 

[Sassy69]

I was going to say... here's a REALLY good exercise to do -- put that meal plan into a food counts program like www.fitday.com (its free, takes a few minutes to set up but very easy) -- it will show you the total cals, the macronutrient breakdown - %protein, fats & carbs. That really goes a long way to show you what you are eating & where it needs to be tweaked.

Your body reflects your lifestyle - so the easiest place is to tweak the diet. A "clean" or "good" diet is fine but it usually is can be optimized,. That's the essence of competition prep -- optimizing the diet for the goal. Competition diet just means you have a tight schedule to do it on. Competition diet starts when you are down to the final steps of prepping your body - sort of like the last 10 lbs - so to get past that sticking point you need to review your diet & optimize it some.

Since we don't know the portions in the meal plan , can you put it into fitday.com w/ the right portions and post the total cals & macro breakdown? I bet we can come up w/ some easy changes to make the fuel match the energy demands!

BTW I'm not implying an extreme competition diet is needed here - just using that as an example of the power of diet.

 

[T-Cake]

I can add those calories in my head with all my past WeightWatchers, and now FitDay, experiences... it doesn't look like she's eating nearly enough calories for all that activity, and I am totally with the girls: Get protein in there, add some weight training (it'll help her for her marathon too if her legs are stronger, but some runners have a hard time believing that) and that should do it if she can't cut back on cardio.

And I also agree that the diet needs to accomodate the lifestyle -- clean is best but I go out to eat daily so I work that in as well. With some online research to websites of restaurants and take-out places, you can see the nutrition and find the options that best suit the dietary needs you want to fulfill.

Me, I cook every Sunday two huge meals and pack it into containers for the week for both Ulter and myself so we have enough good, clean, healthy, filling food to eat. Works for us.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Me, I cook every Sunday two huge meals and pack it into containers for the week for both Ulter and myself so we have enough good, clean, healthy, filling food to eat. Works for us.

Can I come live with you guys?

 

[bgdaddy123]

I have told her that she does need to eat more protien. Really the only time in the day she gets a good source is dinner, B/c I usually cook it.. It is hard to convince her to cut down on cardio due to the fact that she is trying to train for this marathon. She keeps track of her cals, fats , and points on her weight watchers card ( she used them 4 years ago). Ive told her before that she needs more weigtlifting but she is afraid of being bulky ( why I dont know). Her legs and but are thick mainly due to all the running and dance she has done in the years past. It is hard for her to sitdown and eat 6 meals due to the fact that she is always on the go. Between teaching morning classes at the gym , her job as a school teacher, a 5 month old, and training for this race, she is a busy person. And yes she is run down alot. I hope that she does take your advice on the diet. Lord knows we can all clean our diets up..
Thanks for all the help....

 

[Sassy69]

I guess that's the catch - we all are in the state we are in because of our goals, our time constraints, our habits... and then can't figure out why we can't accomplish our goals....

If she is a cardio / aerobics instructor and training for a marathon, then she needs to eat like that's her goal. If she doesn't I can guarantee she won't be prepared for her marathon in the way she could be, she will always be exhausted and will never change her shape if she doesn't change her diet. Period. How do you get around it? Other than change your expectations to match your lifestyle.

Daisy_Girl can speak to the 'how do i do this while teaching & have a baby" -- she does it every day as well. The cardio classes - fine - but fuel for them. The marathon - fine - but then fuel for it. Not to beat the subject to death, but is there any reason that makes it a good enough reason to spend a few minutes figuring out a way to get in an optimal diet if what you are doing isn't working?

That's why I said -- it APPEARS that her diet could use a lot of tweaking - its not bad - its clean, but but its not optimal and obviously she's not getting the results she wants from it. Since we don't know the portion sizes, can you either list the portion sizes for me or load up www.fitday.com w/ that meal plan and run the numbers so we can see REALLY where the diet is right now? Then we can probably help make a few really easy tweaks so she has some options vs getting caught up in the whole "she does this and this and this and this and this and doesn't have time for all that eating". Let's see what she CAN do.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I guess that's the catch - we all are in the state we are in because of our goals, our time constraints, our habits... and then can't figure out why we can't accomplish our goals....

If she is a cardio / aerobics instructor and training for a marathon, then she needs to eat like that's her goal. If she doesn't I can guarantee she won't be prepared for her marathon in the way she could be, she will always be exhausted and will never change her shape if she doesn't change her diet. Period. How do you get around it? Other than change your expectations to match your lifestyle.

Daisy_Girl can speak to the 'how do i do this while teaching & have a baby" -- she does it every day as well. The cardio classes - fine - but fuel for them. The marathon - fine - but then fuel for it. Not to beat the subject to death, but is there any reason that makes it a good enough reason to spend a few minutes figuring out a way to get in an optimal diet if what you are doing isn't working?

That's why I said -- it APPEARS that her diet could use a lot of tweaking - its not bad - its clean, but but its not optimal and obviously she's not getting the results she wants from it. Since we don't know the portion sizes, can you either list the portion sizes for me or load up www.fitday.com w/ that meal plan and run the numbers so we can see REALLY where the diet is right now? Then we can probably help make a few really easy tweaks so she has some options vs getting caught up in the whole "she does this and this and this and this and this and doesn't have time for all that eating". Let's see what she CAN do.

Sassy hit it here.

We are ALL busy people. Kids, no kids, job, no job - doesn't matter. We all have demands on our time, but if losing the weight or reaching a certain goal is important to her (or any of us) then she needs to sit down and PLAN for it.

I bet she did not start training for a marathon without a running plan.

Well, she can't lose the weight without a diet plan.

Planning a good diet will be the cornerstone of losing weight AND reaching her running goals. If she can't find the time to plan and execute a good diet - then she needs to accept the fact that she may never reach her goals. Plain and simple.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

BTW - my post is not meant to sound negative or bitchy. I know exactly what she is going through, with trying to reach goals with a baby. It is tough. Honestly, if she does not have to teach classes at the gym, I would drop those. With all of the things going on, when does she spend relaxing, quality time with the baby and you?

Babies are only babies once. Those extra 10 lbs or aerobics classes can be tackled later. I would rather be fat than miss out on time with my little one.

 

[T-Cake]

A-ha! I knew I smelled a WeightWatcher!

I just read the post from the other day and I can vouch for WWers experience!

I lost 80 lbs with WWers and kept it off for years... but the last 2 years I followed it, NOTHING happened. I didn't lose ANY more weight, and I was eating very simliar to how your wife is losing or not losing now. VERY similar.

I basically had to be dragged into weightlifting by people who were telling me THAT was the change my body was changing. On the other side, I still went to WWer meetings -- though I was eating more protein and eating a little more food than they told me to -- and when I'd talk to WWer women, they said the same thing your wife did: Why are you weightlifting? You'll bulk up! You'll be so big! OMG, you're eating too many points! You'll gain!

And one month later... I was 5 lbs smaller, losing inches like crazy like I had in two years... and I was beginning to believe in the FitDay and higher-protein and adding-weights way of life. But that WWer mentality tells you otherwise! That was the flaw in their program -- they have all this emphasis on cardio and cutting calories and avoiding temptation... but they don't stress strength traning nearly as much as they shoudl, which further fuels the "I'll bulk up!" fear women have.

I've been lifting for a year now... I don't look like a man I look more curvy and lovely as ever.

Wow, I just TOTALLY empathize with your wife! I didn't have a baby, so I would listen to Daisy and GG with their comments especially on that... but I KNOW what those WWer points can do to you!

Lastly -- I don't eat 6 meals a day -- I eat 3 main big meals (B, L, D) and an evening snack (all protein and good fats, before bed). On the weekends I'll have a midday snack... but you don't have to eat frequently to get all the fuel.

I'm a school teacher too. I KNOW what the daily timeline can be like!

++++ vibes to your wife. I hope y'all can figure out a convincing plan for her.

 

[the-short-one]

A-ha! I knew I smelled a WeightWatcher!

I just read the post from the other day and I can vouch for WWers experience!

I lost 80 lbs with WWers and kept it off for years... but the last 2 years I followed it, NOTHING happened. I didn't lose ANY more weight, and I was eating very simliar to how your wife is losing or not losing now. VERY similar.

I basically had to be dragged into weightlifting by people who were telling me THAT was the change my body was changing. On the other side, I still went to WWer meetings -- though I was eating more protein and eating a little more food than they told me to -- and when I'd talk to WWer women, they said the same thing your wife did: Why are you weightlifting? You'll bulk up! You'll be so big! OMG, you're eating too many points! You'll gain!

And one month later... I was 5 lbs smaller, losing inches like crazy like I had in two years... and I was beginning to believe in the FitDay and higher-protein and adding-weights way of life. But that WWer mentality tells you otherwise! That was the flaw in their program -- they have all this emphasis on cardio and cutting calories and avoiding temptation... but they don't stress strength traning nearly as much as they shoudl, which further fuels the "I'll bulk up!" fear women have.

I've been lifting for a year now... I don't look like a man I look more curvy and lovely as ever.

Wow, I just TOTALLY empathize with your wife! I didn't have a baby, so I would listen to Daisy and GG with their comments especially on that... but I KNOW what those WWer points can do to you!

Lastly -- I don't eat 6 meals a day -- I eat 3 main big meals (B, L, D) and an evening snack (all protein and good fats, before bed). On the weekends I'll have a midday snack... but you don't have to eat frequently to get all the fuel.

I'm a school teacher too. I KNOW what the daily timeline can be like!

++++ vibes to your wife. I hope y'all can figure out a convincing plan for her.

this is a really good post.


After the birth of my son in 2000, I weighed 180. lolol I'm 5'1, people. fortunately for me, I don't have any pictures of it. I did join WW, tho. within 3 weeks of giving birth. I lost 55 lbs, in 6 months doing the WW thing, breast feeding, and walking.

I'm not knocking WW - their plan does work, but you eventually find yourself in the same situation you do with every diet/weight loss plan. It only works for so long. You have to be smart enough to realize this and make changes.

 

[T-Cake]

this is a really good post.Thank you!


After the birth of my son in 2000, I weighed 180. lolol I'm 5'1, people. FUNNY! fortunately for me, I don't have any pictures of it. I did join WW, tho. within 3 weeks of giving birth. I lost 55 lbs, in 6 months doing the WW thing, breast feeding, and walking.

I'm not knocking WW - their plan does work, but you eventually find yourself in the same situation you do with every diet/weight loss plan. It only works for so long. You have to be smart enough to realize this and make changes.

SO TRUE! You know, when I started with them... I never had a moment where I thought I wouldn't finish what I started. Somehow, I knew I would get to goal because they made me believe I could do it as long as I kept working at it.

9 years later, I'm still working on it -- but I think it WAS smart of them to release the CORE (more like clean-eating) plan a couple year ago, because they realized people were plateuating -- just like you said -- left and right on Flex. It'll only take you so far until you have to 1) change your diet to cleaner foods and less processed foods and/or 2) change your activity level and/or 3) eat MORE.

But regardless -- it's so helpful to have EF and other places to get new ideas because when the body gets tired of what you're doing... it's going to get tired of burning those cals too.

I'm with ya' sister! HIGH FIVE! (We need an emoticon for that, btw!)

 

[Sassy69]

this is a really good post.


After the birth of my son in 2000, I weighed 180. lolol I'm 5'1, people. fortunately for me, I don't have any pictures of it. I did join WW, tho. within 3 weeks of giving birth. I lost 55 lbs, in 6 months doing the WW thing, breast feeding, and walking.

I'm not knocking WW - their plan does work, but you eventually find yourself in the same situation you do with every diet/weight loss plan. It only works for so long. You have to be smart enough to realize this and make changes.

Double props as well... !

 

[the-short-one]

Double props as well... !

I was a fatty, but not for very long.

 

[Sassy69]

I was a fatty, but not for very long.

Hell girl, you had a kid. I never had that excuse. I've been up near 190 a few times... Nothing like a few 50 lb weight swings every year....

 

[T-Cake]

Hell girl, you had a kid. I never had that excuse. I've been up near 190 a few times... Nothing like a few 50 lb weight swings every year....

Cute!

 

[bgdaddy123]

You gals have made really good posts on this subject... Daisy: she teaches all those classes in the morning ( tues, thurs, and sat) @ 5:30 am. So she doesnt miss time with the baby. However it takes a toll on her time sleeping.
I believe totally what you guys are saying about the Whole cardio/wts.. Me personally I hate cardio ( never do it) but I play competitive sports to replace it.. And I lift my ass of 5 times a wk.. She is so caught up on the wwers mentality of points, and cals in to cals burned mentality.. We had this argument last night... She says how the cardio be soo bad for me??? It is hard for her to believe the drop the cardio and pick up wts is going to work for me, because the cardio has worked so long for her in the past.. She has also read woman say that it takes a year to loose that " baby Fat" thst you got from the pregnancy.. I will have her read the rest of this thread.. I hope
it will sink in. And will have her post on here tonight so she can talk to you gals herself.. Thank you ALL!!!

 

[Sassy69]

You gals have made really good posts on this subject... Daisy: she teaches all those classes in the morning ( tues, thurs, and sat) @ 5:30 am. So she doesnt miss time with the baby. However it takes a toll on her time sleeping.
I believe totally what you guys are saying about the Whole cardio/wts.. Me personally I hate cardio ( never do it) but I play competitive sports to replace it.. And I lift my ass of 5 times a wk.. She is so caught up on the wwers mentality of points, and cals in to cals burned mentality.. We had this argument last night... She says how the cardio be soo bad for me??? It is hard for her to believe the drop the cardio and pick up wts is going to work for me, because the cardio has worked so long for her in the past.. She has also read woman say that it takes a year to loose that " baby Fat" thst you got from the pregnancy.. I will have her read the rest of this thread.. I hope
it will sink in. And will have her post on here tonight so she can talk to you gals herself.. Thank you ALL!!!

Technically she doesn't need to drop the cardio IF SHE FUELS FOR IT. Cardio in & of itself is a fat burner, but will also consume muscle if it needs to get an energy source to burn from somewhere. The lifting is just good - there's no downside to resistance training. But the fueling is the most important part.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

YShe has also read woman say that it takes a year to loose that " baby Fat" thst you got from the pregnancy.. I will have her read the rest of this thread..

Actually, it can take up to 2 years for a body to return to normal - hormonally and physically.

In all honesty, if she does not HAVE to teach the classes (meaning, you do not count on this money to pay your mortgage) then I think she should drop them.

Not only does excess cardio make it hard to lose weight, but the lack of sleep makes for a hostile environment for losing weight also. Cardio can use muscle for energy during workouts - especially in a caloric deficit. Muscle is what fuels our metabolism. Lass muscle = lower metabolism. Lower metabolism = more BF storage.

She doesn't get why TONS of cardio is bad? Here are some links, she needs to really read them.


Why Weight Train Cardio Info
Why sleep?
How women should train

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Technically she doesn't need to drop the cardio IF SHE FUELS FOR IT. Cardio in & of itself is a fat burner, but will also consume muscle if it needs to get an energy source to burn from somewhere. The lifting is just good - there's no downside to resistance training. But the fueling is the most important part.

So true. The problem with doing tons of cardio is that is is MOST OFTEN done in a state of caloric deficit. People (women) think more cardio, less food = lower BF, thin, etc. Not always true.