Weight Gain

[Shak]

I need some advice from you all. I was in Arizona over the weekend visiting a friend. About a year ago, she had a miscarriage. At this time, she was 115 pounds. In 6 months, she put on 55 pounds. She has lost a little weight, but she is still 150 at only 5'3". She recently joined a gym and her trainer has her lifting once a week and doing cardio 3x per week. He also has her eating 2300/day - 20% protein, 65%carbs and 15% fat!!

She's been to the doctor to have her thyroid tested and all tests have come back normal. She doesn't know what has caused this insane weight gain.

Her goals are to get back to her normal weight of 115. What advice should I offer her? How many calories would you suggest she eat a day?

Thanks

 

[makedah]

I had a friend who put on a lot of weight after a miscarriage. I think it was hormones + eating from depression.

Have her visit this site.

 

[BrickGirl]

Her diet is screwed up, her workouts are screwed up, her cardio is screwed up, have her join here, she will learn a lot

 

[Shak]

thanks makedah - although, there was no site attached. could you repost.

thanks!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Brickgirl was talking about joining HERE - EliteFitness!

Her "trainer" sucks. None of that makes any sense. She needs to drop the trainer and come to Elite and get some info. If she still needs a trainer to help her, get a new one.

 

[makedah]

shak - I meant elitefitness!!!

But this is also a great site for women who are just starting to lift: www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

 

[Shak]

duh -

thanks - i thought you might be referring to something on miscarriage and depression.

i told her to check out this site. hopefully, she will. i feel really bad for her and i know she needs help.

 

[witkowsd]

I take in 2300 calories a day but I'm bulking - if she is trying to loose that seems to be way too many calories for her - IMHO

 

[Realgains]

You have to do what you CAN DO for the rest of your life more or less.

SO>>>>forget about diets of any kind. They work initially but they do not teach one how to eat proprerly so when you go off the diet you will gain EVERY BIT OF WEIGHT BACK plus more (for the next famine).

ALSO>>>there is no need to count calories.

This is what you do........eat three meals per day and eat until you are full. Limit the intake of refined foods of all kind and make that a part of your life forever. It is okay to get junk food from time to time but not daily.
Don't eat before bed except PERHAPS for 30 grams of whey protein in water.

As far as carbs, fats and protein are concerned...DON'T count them. Simply eat a well rounded diet but limit saturated fats(animal fats). Plenty of protein will be had from a well rounded diet ,PLENTY.
Carbs needs to be fairly high in a well balanced diet and especially when doing a lot of training be it aerobic or anaerobic work. A low carb diet or lifestyle lifestyle IS STUPID and UNHEALTHY!

So more carbs are needed than protein WAY MORE, and more protein is needed than fat, also WAY MORE.

One needs to be sure that one is getting plenty of omega 3 and 6 oils so include cold water fish in the diet and plenty of vegetables. A flax seed oil supplement is a good idea as most people don't get enough omega 3 oil.

Avoid all store bought oils, except cold presses olive oil, as they have been super heated and are toxic. Avoid partially hydrogenated oils( vegetable oil shortening) as they are toxic. Margarine is one of the WORST foods you can eat as it is loaded with partially hydrogenated fat.

get the book "Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill" by Udo Erasmus



CARDIO IS CRITICAL!

It has to be a part of your life ALWAYS. At a minimum one needs three thirty minutes cardio sessions per week. When trying to loose weight more quickly cardio should be done 5-6 days per week for 45-60 minutes a session. Two of those sessions should have ones heart rate near the anaerobic threshold at about 85-87% of ones maximum heart rate for a thirty minute workout ie: this is about as fast as you can run for 30 minutes without stopping. The others sessions should have the heart rate at about 70-75 %of max. Any form of cardio is good but when in the gym try steep, fast incline walking on the tread mill. Set the mill at a 13 degree incline and walk fast at 3.5 mph.



WEIGHT TRAINING

Train as a smart natural. DO NOT read the BS in the glossy magazines as this advice is for steroid using genetically gifted people.
Train heavy and strict with the compound movements for the most part. FOCUS on adding small amounts to the bars every week or two. Deep strict Squats and some form of deadlift are a must. MUSCLE burns CALORIES big time.
Read my sticky on proper steroid free training above.

Good luck.

RG