Little Worried About The Wife's Intake Levels

[InternetTuffGuy]

Hey crew. So some of you may have caught that my wife has been working out too. She's actually been going a lot longer than me. She's doing great. So she is eating at a deficit currently and I helped her go through Emma-Leigh's calculations to figure maintenance. My only concern is that she's eating too low. Last she mentioned she's weighing in at 154ish (think she's 5' 9"). Fairly active girl and I believe her maintenance came out to around 2100 kcal/day. With that she was going to shoot for around 1700-1800 kcal/day. She's weighing every meal and tracking everything in her journal. Every time I ask how it's going or what her calories are for the day she seems to be under 1500. Today was slightly under 1300. I don't want to pester her but it seems like that's way too low for her. Are my assumptions correct and is eating this low going to be an issue?

She was around 156-157 for a long time and wasn't losing weight. However this was before she started weighing and tracking meals. She "thought" she was taking in around 1500 per day in the past and I told her she needed to start tracking and that she was probably consuming more than that. She went off the diet for a week and I had her eat at maintenance. Told her not to even worry about tracking a thing, just eat reasonably healthy for that week and take a break. It was hard but she did it. So now she's doing what I mentioned in the first paragraph. She's lost 2-3 lbs. in the last three weeks or so but it seems like she might be too low. What do you think? She seems to get a bit annoyed when I tell her she might need to eat a bit more so I don't want to discourage her but I'm mildly concerned.

[Cass40]

Yes it would be too low...however, if she's eating only 1500, she will lose weight very quickly. If she doesn't with those numbers, she's not tracking correctly.
1500 calories are about my cutting calories and I'm only 5'3.

[acrawlingchaos]

Personally, I believe periods of very low intake can be useful, and I do not think they are particularly dangerous.

FWIW, if she only lost 3 lbs in the last 3 weeks, her deficit is probably only 3-400 calories (assuming some of the weight loss is water). I would wager that she is consuming well over 1500 cals and that her tracking is off.


What is she doing for strength training? What are her exact goals?

[angrypenguin54]

If she has energy and can keep up her workouts, its probably not too low. Just make sure she is getting plenty of protein and she should be fine.

My wife is smaller, but she cuts on 1300 to 1400. I cut on 2000 to 2200. Your wife cutting around 1500 does not sound wrong.

[InternetTuffGuy]

Personally, I believe periods of very low intake can be useful, and I do not think they are particularly dangerous.

FWIW, if she only lost 3 lbs in the last 3 weeks, her deficit is probably only 3-400 calories (assuming some of the weight loss is water). I would wager that she is consuming well over 1500 cals and that her tracking is off.


What is she doing for strength training? What are her exact goals?

She's currently doing the Allpro routine. In addition she walks a mile or two about five times per week with our dog.

Well she has in mind a few builds on other women around her height which visually looks like she will need to be a few pounds lighter with a higher amount if LBM. Last i heard she would like to be around 135 lbs. I let her know that may be a bit light for the look she's going for.She's cutting right now and will most likely bulk after that. The idea scares her a bit but the idea would be to do it slowly.

I'm fairly confident she's tracking calories pretty accurately. She mostly eats meals she prepares and weighs everything on a digital scale. The questions she had on how to track were all researched here. Kimm4 gave her some great info a little while back.

If she has energy and can keep up her workouts, its probably not too low. Just make sure she is getting plenty of protein and she should be fine.

My wife is smaller, but she cuts on 1300 to 1400. I cut on 2000 to 2200. Your wife cutting around 1500 does not sound wrong.

I haven't noticed any declines in energy. She doesn't seem to wear out and rarely complains about being too hungry. She usually eats light during the day which leaves room for a nice sized dinner and snack before bed. Most of her lifts in the gym continue to improve as well.

[discdoggie]

Personally, I believe periods of very low intake can be useful, and I do not think they are particularly dangerous.

FWIW, if she only lost 3 lbs in the last 3 weeks, her deficit is probably only 3-400 calories (assuming some of the weight loss is water). I would wager that she is consuming well over 1500 cals and that h


er tracking is off.


What is she doing for strength training? What are her exact goals?

Yes.


Why are you worried she is eating "too low?" What do you think will happen?


Like Chaos said, someone with fat to lose will do just fine on very low calories on the short term. Hair loss and all that jazz occurs over extended periods with very low calories.


The only "problem" of VLC is difficulty with adherence. If she can stick to it, then there's no problem.


When people DON't lose or stall, they say "it's because I'm not eating enough."

No.

[acrawlingchaos]

She's currently doing the Allpro routine. In addition she walks a mile or two about five times per week with our dog.

Well she has in mind a few builds on other women around her height which visually looks like she will need to be a few pounds lighter with a higher amount if LBM. Last i heard she would like to be around 135 lbs. I let her know that may be a bit light for the look she's going for.She's cutting right now and will most likely bulk after that. The idea scares her a bit but the idea would be to do it slowly.

I'm fairly confident she's tracking calories pretty accurately. She mostly eats meals she prepares and weighs everything on a digital scale. The questions she had on how to track were all researched here. Kimm4 gave her some great info a little while back.

If she is barely losing weight at 1500 calories, than her tracking is off or she will need to eventually drop even lower (1100-1300 calories) to hit a reasonable weight loss rate.

Between the two options above, I am much more inclined to believe she is not counting accurately. Which could mean anything from misreading labels, simple math errors or turning a blind eye to small calorie sources.




HEY DD!




OH... and I would highly advise against an outright bulk. Most of us have absolutely no issue putting weight on at a slow pace with a regular diet. IMO, once she ends her diet, she should lay off the tracking maintain and concentrate more on her program.

[InternetTuffGuy]

Yes.


Why are you worried she is eating "too low?" What do you think will happen?


Like Chaos said, someone with fat to lose will do just fine on very low calories on the short term. Hair loss and all that jazz occurs over extended periods with very low calories.


The only "problem" of VLC is difficulty with adherence. If she can stick to it, then there's no problem.


When people DON't lose or stall, they say "it's because I'm not eating enough."

No.

Hi DD. The whole diets thing is new to both of us so we're still learning. I think I see other ladies eating more at maintenance or below and was simply comparing apples to oranges thinking it was apples to apples. She's making progress and not wearing down so I probably just need to relax.

If she is barely losing weight at 1500 calories, than her tracking is off or she will need to eventually drop even lower (1100-1300 calories) to hit a reasonable weight loss rate.

Between the two options above, I am much more inclined to believe she is not counting accurately. Which could mean anything from misreading labels, simple math errors or turning a blind eye to small calorie sources.


OH... and I would highly advise against an outright bulk. Most of us have absolutely no issue putting weight on at a slow pace with a regular diet. IMO, once she ends her diet, she should lay off the tracking maintain and concentrate more on her program.

Little clarification on stats. She just weighed herself when she got home a few minutes ago and I heard a squeal from the bathroom. 152.6 lbs. was her weight. I asked how much of a loss that was and it's 4 lbs even since the beginning of the month which is when she said she started tracking. Guess that's a pinch under 1 lb. per week which seems like a healthy progression.

There are no plans for an all out bulk. I think right around maintenance as you suggested sounds like a smart approach. Like I said above, we're both novices when it comes to figuring out how to adjust our diets towards our goals. I'm a bit ignorant but constantly studying up on it.

Greatly appreciate the feedback everyone!

[EjnarKolinkar]

Guess that's a pinch under 1 lb. per week which seems like a healthy progression.

That's cool, sounds like she has found the sweet spot. I think you are safe to just give her a high five.

[acrawlingchaos]

Just throwing this out there, and something I think you should suggest.


Do not diet through the holidays. If she diets right up until Thanksgiving, that will be a good 8 week run on a deficit. Simply make the effort to maintain or minimize weight gain until the new year at least, and then continue with another 10-12 week diet.

It will keep her sane through the holidays, adherence will be easier with well defined start and end times and would put her fat loss goals finished before the spring.

[kconnell]

Yes she should lose weight but it may not be what you think. A constant deficit will trigger starvation mode panic by the brain. Her body will become accustomed to the lower cals and will soon plateau.

Best bet is to vary the calories so she is not under her maintenance more than 2 days in a row. Do some higher and some lower. Higher on workout days, of course.

[discdoggie]

Yes she should lose weight but it may not be what you think. A constant deficit will trigger starvation mode panic by the brain. Her body will become accustomed to the lower cals and will soon plateau.

Best bet is to vary the calories so she is not under her maintenance more than 2 days in a row. Do some higher and some lower. Higher on workout days, of course.

No. If someone stalls it's because they're no longer in deficit. Oftentimes because they fail to recalculate their new TDEE at their new lower weight. Not because the brain triggered starvation mode panic.

[InternetTuffGuy]

Just throwing this out there, and something I think you should suggest.


Do not diet through the holidays. If she diets right up until Thanksgiving, that will be a good 8 week run on a deficit. Simply make the effort to maintain or minimize weight gain until the new year at least, and then continue with another 10-12 week diet.

It will keep her sane through the holidays, adherence will be easier with well defined start and end times and would put her fat loss goals finished before the spring.

Sounds like another solid suggestion ACC. So keep tracking but just sit at maintenance basically. Recharge the mental focus and get back at it after the holidays. I will mention it to her.

No. If someone stalls it's because they're no longer in deficit. Oftentimes because they fail to recalculate their new TDEE at their new lower weight. Not because the brain triggered starvation mode panic.

I had heard before about starvation mode but was pretty sure that was inaccurate. Thanks for clarifying DD.

[mcbourque]

Just throwing this out there, and something I think you should suggest.


Do not diet through the holidays. If she diets right up until Thanksgiving, that will be a good 8 week run on a deficit. Simply make the effort to maintain or minimize weight gain until the new year at least, and then continue with another 10-12 week diet.

It will keep her sane through the holidays, adherence will be easier with well defined start and end times and would put her fat loss goals finished before the spring.

That's great advice chaos! I might try that myself.

Tuffy- she might have to start getting used to losing less than a pound a week as she gets closer to her goal. When your TDEE is lower because you are smaller, it gets really hard to do 500 cal deficit for a long time (for me it's really difficult) so she'll need to start being very patient.

Homeostasis (so call starvation mode or metabolic damage) can happen to girls eating 800 cal a day and doing 3 hrs of cardio for prep over and over for years of competitions - that's not your general population. People run with what Norton is saying without actually trying to make sense of the science of his whole white board thing. He is talking about a very very specific case which people tend to forget because it sounds like a good excuse when in fact people just suffer from the "week-end calories don't count" syndrome.