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Especially if she's working out as much as the OP says she is. A daily intake of 1000-1400 calories is starvation and not fueling her body and her workouts. She might need to ask her doctor for a referral to a nutritionist/dietician.
This. OP, she has trained her metabolism to cling to calories. It thinks the body is starving. I don't know how she can live on that, with the level of activity she's doing.
I would suggest a completely different tack. She's taking in carbs, and the wrong kind: white rice, potatoes--they cause an insulin surge, with causes the body to hold onto fat. The peanut butter may metabolize more slowly, but it's still very carby. I would suggest a low-carb diet, while raising her protein intake a little (meat, cheese, cottage cheese are ok), to support the building of lean muscle mass. Building lean muscle mass will help the weight loss. A good book to learn about this is "Protein Power" (only a few dollars from Amazon).
The one caution about this type of diet is, that you can't transition off of it to "normal" eating. You can carefully add some carbs, when you've met your goal, but relative to how most people eat, you need to stay on a modified version of the low-carb diet. (The book guides you on that.) Some people find this to be healthier, and enjoy it, once they've reached their goal weight. If your gf has diabetes in her family, this is a good diet for avoiding that.
Or alternatively, she can try Weight Watchers. They have a different formula, which works pretty well. Doctors recommend it.
Hold on there, Pilgrim.
5'10" and 200 pounds is whole whole lot of woman and maybe she is supposed to weigh 200 pounds. People like that are called mesomorphs and they will never, ever be anything but mesomorphs. Your fiance is the same height and weight of Queen Latifa and there is something about that woman that just turns men on...
This. OP, she has trained her metabolism to cling to calories. It thinks the body is starving. I don't know how she can live on that, with the level of activity she's doing.
I would suggest a completely different tack. She's taking in carbs, and the wrong kind: white rice, potatoes--they cause an insulin surge, with causes the body to hold onto fat. The peanut butter may metabolize more slowly, but it's still very carby. I would suggest a low-carb diet, while raising her protein intake a little (meat, cheese, cottage cheese are ok), to support the building of lean muscle mass. Building lean muscle mass will help the weight loss. A good book to learn about this is "Protein Power" (only a few dollars from Amazon).
The one caution about this type of diet is, that you can't transition off of it to "normal" eating. You can carefully add some carbs, when you've met your goal, but relative to how most people eat, you need to stay on a modified version of the low-carb diet. (The book guides you on that.) Some people find this to be healthier, and enjoy it, once they've reached their goal weight. If your gf has diabetes in her family, this is a good diet for avoiding that.
Or alternatively, she can try Weight Watchers. They have a different formula, which works pretty well. Doctors recommend it.
Two tablespoons of fresh ground unflavored unsweetened peanutbutter has only 5g of carbs. Compare to a single slice of whole wheat bread which runs between 10 and 50g of carbs, depending on the brand and style.
Peanuts aren't "carby." You put those two tablespoons of natural unflavored unsweetened fresh ground peanutbutter in a couple celery stalks, and you have a perfect protein and fiber snack. Pair it with a small side salad with some cherry tomatoes, a little grated cheese and olive oil and vinegar, and a few chunks of watermelon for dessert and you have a filling, healthy nutritious lunch.
80% of your body weight is dependent on the diet you eat. 20% on the amount of energy your burn. While exercise is important for overall fitness, body fat is more about the food one eats than anything.
Has your GF tried eating 3 meals a day of approx 400 c/k each with a few low calorie snacks spread out between meails? She’s literally starving herself and her metabolism is all messed up. If I were her I would be eating more frequently so my body was always working on digestion. And I would track my calories, carbs, fats and protein to make sure I am giving my body the proper nutritional balance. She would benefit by working with a nutritionist.
Ever notice that two families earning the same money can have entirely different economic circumstances? One family may live in a rundown house, have a crappy car, live paycheck to paycheck and have nothing saved for retirement… another family may have a cute house, white picket fence, newer model car, small boat, solid 401k and a decent savings account for emergencies…
The difference between the two families is minor, and over time becomes major. Each day, the first family squanders money on fast food, Starbucks, clothes, consumer goods, but only to the tune of about $50 each day… the other family has a written budget, and they delay instant gratification in order to achieve bigger picture goals. If the only difference between them is how they spend the last $50 - thats $18k each year… over 10 years imagine their circumstances…
It’s that small spending that is akin to many peoples weight problems. They think they’re going well on a healthy eating plan, yet they treat themselves almost daily, if not many times each day. 100 calories here, 100 there…
So you might have two people following the same meal plans, but one adds that extra squirt of oil on the pan, uses a heaped tablespoon rather than a level one, sneaks in a cheeky dash of sugar in their coffee…
There’s literally no physiological way someone can weigh 200lbs and eat 1000 calories per day and NOT lose weight. The bs about “omg ur body is in starvation mode” is literally Harry Potter wizard tier fantasy.
Edit: I bet her 2 meals are both in excess of 1,000 calories, and I bet the cheat meal is close to 2,000+ calories. I bet she sweats at the gym, which gives of an illusion of hard work, when she’s probably not doing much productive work. Like someone else mentioned, calories consumed plays the biggest part in weight loss. It’s much easier to NOT eat 500 calories than to burn off 500 calories.
I agree with Marci above, there is probably a underestimation of calories in the meals she's eating (easily done!) and a big cheat day even if it is once a week can knock back any earnest weight loss efforts for the other six days, sad but true.
What's not been mentioned the once (though if it has, forgive me for I might have missed it) is what she is drinking. People go 'I can't lose weight and all I am eating is vegetables' but forget to account for the various sodas, cups of tea/coffee with milk and sugar and even zero calorie sodas can keep weight on, 'healthy' fruit juices, loading up whey protein shakes with all sorts of goodies (I remember reading one such dieter putting caramel in hers because otherwise it would taste 'bleurgh' but then she was just undoing whatever good work she was doing...) and I have yet to mention alcohol - that will put weight on like nobody's business (though spirits are better than beer).
Obviously, the OP's fiancee is doing good work and has some good habits going on but she is undoing it somewhere along the line because it is a fine line between the scales moving in the right direction and not.
The one thing that worked for me is to start eating more vegetables - find vegetables you like, add things like hummus, tahini etc, develop an excellent spice rack, cook with olive/avocado oil and take it from there - eat it with rice, pasta and whatever meats and fish you want but develop a habit of vegetables with your mealtimes, expect the scale to go up and down, weight loss is not linear and watch what you drink more than what you eat because that's what takes a lot of people down without them realising it.
Exercise, do what you enjoy and what you can stick to long term but do it on a regular basis, you lose weight in the kitchen and not the gym. Good luck!
I'm female and have had to watch my weight my entire life. Whatever anyone's done regarding exercise and diet - I've been there, done that.
What I've learned:
It's how many calories you eat, what kinds of food you eat, and when you eat. Exercise has little to do with it.
Non-processed foods are healthy, but that has no effect on weight.
Measure not just weight, but also measure body fat, and do fat calipers...as well as look in the mirror. You can see if you have too much body fat, particularly around the midsection.
Don't eat from 7 pm until about 11 am next day. It doesn't kill anyone to eat dinner early or even go without dinner entirely. Eating is for energy. If you're not going running, you don't need food at night.
Protein matters.
I recommend the old fashioned way: Weight Watchers. It's a balanced eating program and teaches a person to control portions and make sure you get milk and all the things your body needs. You can eat anything on Weight Watchers. But you can't eat EVERYTHING whenever you want, and eat too-large portions. It's slooooowwwww. That's a good thing because it teaches a person how to eat healthy for life.
My body will go a few weeks without losing anything, then boom, it'll drop several pounds, if you stick to a weight loss eating plan. Many people get discouraged and give up, saying "I can't lose weight."
The body gets a set weight at a certain point, so the natural body weight needs to get re-set. You have to lose weight to a certain point, and not go up, for the body to then recognize "Oh, my natural body set weight is now 180 and not 190."
The focus should be on eating, not exercising. Exercising speeds up metabolism, incl weight workouts, but doesn't use that much in calories, unless a person is a marathon runner. A person can stay in bed for several days and not eat much, and lose weight. It's the food intake that makes the biggest difference.
Hydration is important, to flush the system, particularly flush sodium. Water is best, but also green tea, which is an antioxidant.
It sounds to me as if she's eating healthy, but may be eating too many calories, and maybe in the evening.
She should have her thyroid checked at her next annual exam, to be sure there's nothing wrong there.
The fact is: if she eats fewer calories than her body needs, she will lose weight. But it may take several weeks for her body to catch up with her lower calorie intake. She needs to persevere and trust that her weight will drop. It's very discouraging, but it will happen. Once she re-sets her body weight, she'll be on her way.
What I eat to maintain weight in my 60s, having had to watch my weight my entire life: Baked chicken breasts, salmon & tuna, the superfood broccoli (no sauces on it), low cal high fiber grain bread, eggs, Cheerios with skim milk & artificial sweetener (huge bowl, when I eat it, which is occasionally), sometimes cheese (sparingly), frozen fruit (berries, strawberries, mixed fruit, etc. - no sweeteners), fresh fruit (apples, oranges, mangos), raw veggies (carrots, peppers, any kind of lettuce - all veggies usu. small amts in salads), salad dressing of any kind I want, sometimes leg quarters of baked chicken, sometimes turkey spaghetti dish (whole grain pasta, ground turkey, pasta sauce).
I almost never eat white foods: potatoes, white bread, etc.
For my sweet tooth I'll eat mini-marshmallows by the handful. I've found that I don't gain wt from these, altho they'll stop weight LOSS. I almost never eat sweets of flour mixed with sugars: cake, cookies, etc. When I do treat myself, it's rare, and something I really love, like ice cream. But that's rare. I usually opt for sugar free popsicles, which I love in summer. (I do eat those marshmallows regularly...sometimes I met them in microwave. I love marshmallows. And I do eat cakes/pies for special occasions. I also often buy a favorite candy at lesser holidays, like Easter or Halloween. But I never eat candy like that between holidays. That's a special splurge. If I can't find my favorite, I don't substitute with a different candy. I love those little orange mellow pumpkins at Halloween.)
I almost never eat fast food. I try not to eat out at all, actually, which seems to be a past-time for many Americans. When I do, I'll choose Jason's Deli or similar, for the salad bar. Altho I do splurge on occasion and eat Mexican food at a restaurant.
I eat sometimes around 10 a.m., but usually skip breakfast and eat a big lunch 11 - noon. Then I eat late afternoon/ early evening. I usually don't eat past 7pm. If I snack, I eat fresh or frozen fruit, which I love.
(I've actually tried to gain muscle this past year because I accidentally lost weight and so lost muscle. I haven't been very successful at that because I got sidetracked with other things. But I'm starting back on that.)
I agree with Marci above, there is probably a underestimation of calories in the meals she's eating (easily done!) and a big cheat day even if it is once a week can knock back any earnest weight loss efforts for the other six days, sad but true.
Most dieticians and nutritionists would disagree with this. If you eat well most of the time, a splurge, a holiday, a vacation are not going to ruin anything. Being so wrapped up in diet culture that you can't think of food and nutrition and moving your body outside of weight loss can create anxiety and unhealthy fixations.
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