She has been struggling her whole life with weight, now she has decided it is time to make a change and I fully support her.
We did research and thought we had a good grasp on what was needed. She has been working out for 8 weeks now and has not seen any time of weight loss.
Her stats are as followed: 5'4" 210 pounds. She has completely went to a clean diet. She runs each morning and does weight training each night. She is on a supplement plan of: Whey Protein, Opti-Women, MRM Smart blend, C4, glutamine and BCAA's.
She eats 1,500 calories each day. She never breaks from this routine and diet.
The one question that comes to my mind is: are the calorie counts of the "Whey Protein, Opti-Women, MRM Smart blend, C4, glutamine and BCAA's" included in the 1500 calories, or in addition to? I don't know what any of those items are other than the whey protein, but I do know that my whey protein has 140 calories per scoop. And a scoop could be actually be much larger than 140 calories, depending on how full it is -- which leads to my second question -- is she weighing everything out on a scale or is she eyeballing / using measuring cups? I find that even if something says 1/4 cup has 100 cals, for example, if you go by weight not measure, you get a more accurate count.
Last edited by newleaf123; 07-21-2013 at 04:27 PM.
The one question that comes to my mind is: are the calorie counts of the "Whey Protein, Opti-Women, MRM Smart blend, C4, glutamine and BCAA's" included in the 1500 calories, or in addition to? I don't know what any of those items are other than the whey protein, but I do know that my whey protein has 140 calories per scoop. And a scoop could be actually be much larger than 140 calories, depending on how full it is -- which leads to my second question -- is she weighing everything out on a scale or is she eyeballing / using measuring cups? I find that even if something says 1/4 cup has 100 cals, for example, if you go by weight not measure, you get a more accurate count.
Yes - this!
How much is she running? How long is she doing weight training? How does she figure the calories burned for those activities? On the days she works out harder/longer is she eating more? You don't have to answer directly, but those are things my husband and I look at when we're stuck in a plateau.
Are her clothes getting bigger? Fitting better? Did she take measurements too? For myself, I bloat up like crazy when I start any sort of exercise routine and it takes a few weeks for me to lose that bloat and see a difference on the scale.
She has a digital kitchen scale she uses. Yes the whey protein is 140 a scoop which is part of the 1,500. C4 is the only other supplement that has calories which I believe it is 10.
She has an app on the phone called 5k. It slowly builds you up to a 5k at the moment I believe she is doing 10 minutes walking and 18 minutes running. She does this every other day.
Her workouts are around 45-50 minutes. She does this 5 days a week.
The fitting of her clothes has not changed and yes she took measurements, no change there either.
She has a Polar wrist monitor to gage how many calories she burns.
I completely understand where you are coming from. I wouldn't want to either. It's just at this time it's important. The lack of weight loss has caused her depression to come out. That's why I'm asking for help. I just want my wife back.
Has she thought about not using those supplements and instead relying solely on food for nutrition? If she's relying on counting calories then getting a kitchen scale would be a good idea. She can also download a calorie counting app like MyFitnessPal or LoseIt on her phone.
Has she ever had her thyroid tested? Her vitamin levels (I just read that vitamin D plays a role in weight loss and many people are vitamin D deficient)? Her cortisol, etc.? If she's doing everything that she should be doing to lose weight but isn't losing any, it could be there's a medical reason why. Have her doctor run a few tests for things that might affect weight loss. It's never a bad idea to get a check-up before any weight loss program anyway.
If she's been struggling with her weight for a long time, it's probably thyroid or gluten related... also, with all the supplements you listed... she really should see a PROFESSIONAL dietician, who is likely to check for allergies etc to see what would work for her.
I think it's great that you are so supportive of her goals
If she's new to exercise, she could be retaining water. It should taper off soon.
She's also taking a lot of supplements designed for bodybuilders. I don't know that products like that are necessary for her, and they won't help her weight loss. Naturally I don't know anything about her current body condition, habits, or long term goals. If she's eating a balanced diet with lean protein, she shouldn't need to take anything else. Most successful dieters don't take anything other than a simple multi-vitamin. Some of the ingredients in the products listed worry me.
Have you asked her to join us? Hopefully she'll give our community a try and seek personal support when she needs it. Good luck!