Weight Loss Problem - Weight Gain

[jamiedolan]

HI Guys;

This question is for my fieance, I am trying to help her lose weight. First some background, 3 years ago, she quickly lost about 35 pounds using atkins, but we stoped atkins because a dietician I saw at that time told me atkins was so dangers that no one should ever use it. I have learned alot since then, and now feel that being over weight is far more dangerous than any possiable risk (i fell very small) from using a low carb diet.

Earlier this year, she was able to lose about 25 pounds with agressive exercise.

A little over 2 weeks ago, we decided to have her start on low carb again, basically the atkins / low carb protien power diet plan. She has been watching carbs and has not been beyond 30 carbs on her very highest day. Most days she stays at 0 carbs or very close to zero. She is eating mainly pastured organic meats, bision, beef, pork, chicken, etc. So all the meats should be high in omega 3. I have cooked in a few vegetables with her meat, like a few onions, mushrooms, and green peppers for seasoning, but the amount is small enough that it could not be more than a few carbs, and I am counting thoses vegetables as the primary source of carbs she is getting.
Other carbs, some times she gets a little dab of raw honey in her tea, but we switched to stevia for her tea now. She has snacked on a couple ( 5 grams worth) of carrot bites once or twice. She eats some cheese, cheese curds, string cheese, etc. I know the cheese has a bit of carbs, but I have figured that it could not been higher than 5 or 10 grams even if she ate a lot of cheese (the cheese is all labeled as 0 grams of carbs).

Here is the situation; She started a bit over 2 weeks ago at 275 then within 4 days, she went to, 271, now another 10 days or so passed and all of the sudden she is up to 279.

She is fairly active, she works about 60 hours a week doing a combination of hands on nursing and clerical work. She goes on walks with me for a couple miles a couple times a week.

Any ideas as to what could be happening here? What might I be missing? What would cause this weight gain, since we are being so careful with the carbs. She is eating reasonable size portions, but not tiny portions and not huge portions.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much.

Jamie & Karen.

[LisaS]

water? hormones? time in mentrual cycle? gluten-sensitive water gain/bloating?

[jamiedolan]

Do you think that we need to get her in for a medical eval to see if any of water retention / hormone type of issue going on? She is ok depo, so she does not get a regular cycle, however she did bleed for a while when starting low carb (both last time and this time).

Or should we give it more time and see if her weight moves back down in a little while?

[Gaelen]

and...
salt intake?
not getting enough protein?
not really 'moving' enough?
Age?
Other health conditions of which we (and/or she) is not aware?
Not actually eating enough?
Not actually eating only what you think she's eating?

Jamie, there is no 'short' answer to your question, and you haven't given us enough of the right kind of information. But I can spot some things in your post that tell me where there might be issues:

A little over 2 weeks ago, we decided to have her start on low carb again, basically the atkins / low carb protien power diet plan.

There's no such thing as 'basically the atkins/low carb protein power diet plan.' Atkins is a plan. Protein Power is a plan. They are similar, but they are also VERY different in some key ingredients. Atkins pays little or no attention to protein intake, and after two weeks of 20g carbs Induction, asks people to begin increasing carb intake gradually. Protein Power starts Phase I between 30-40g ECC, prescribes adequate recommended protein intake daily, and keeps you in Phase I until health issues improve. Pick one, pick up the book, read it and understand it...and not just you. Your girlfriend needs to understand what she's doing--unless you truly are her only source of food. I've been in a hospital--they have cafeterias and vending machines--so scratch that thought. Your girlfriend could be eating anything.

The other thing I noticed about this statement is that it's great that you're helping your girlfriend and that you're supporting her efforts...but weight loss is something she really has to do FOR HERSELF. You can't do it for her. And in some cases, support can turn into pressure that derails the person trying to make dietary changes. Is that happening? Is there any chance it could be happening?


Earlier this year, she was able to lose about 25 pounds with agressive exercise.

It really shouldn't take 'aggressive exercise' to lose weight in the early stages of Protein Power, or even well into the plan...especially not if your girlfriend is also seriously overweight. Just regularly moving her body around at a higher activity level than sitting still means she's doing 265 lbs. of resistance exercise 24/7, and that should be enough to trigger her metabolism to kick into a higher gear--if she's actually following all the elements of Protein Power and doesn't have any physical or medical conditions that would interfere with weight loss.


Most days she stays at 0 carbs or very close to zero.

It is very difficult to eat '0 carbs' -- a label can say '0 carbs' if the serving of carbs per gram is under 1 gram. If you're eating vegetables, dairy, or seafood, you're eating carbs. Honey? Carbs. But the thing is...your girlfriend doesn't have to eat '0 carbs' to lose weight on Protein Power. She can eat up to 40g effective carbs--as long as she's getting all of the protein recommended for her size. That's probably around 120g protein per day, but I'm just guessing based on the rough numbers in your post.

Which brings me to the thing that stands out the most in your post. A lot of what you're reporting is in estimates and has phrases like "it could not be more than a few carbs." You also posted that "I am counting thoses vegetables as the primary source of carbs she is getting."

You can't journal food for her; your girlfriend has to journal for HERSELF. Journalling is, for many people, one of the most effective methods of actually figuring out what they're eating. And unless your girlfriend truly absolutely eats nothng but what you provide her, you can't really know what her carb and protein intake looks like--you can only guess. It sounds like it's time for your girlfriend to step up and track her own food intake, at least for a brief time (say, a month) to give her a true picture of what she's eating (and what she isn't.) For that matter, she might not be eating ENOUGH to lose weight. Yes, that can happen with people who are obese and who have dieted repeatedly...it can take awhile for their systems to move into weight-loss mode and their systems have learned to get good at holding out for better options.

So bottom line, we need more information...and if you and your girlfriend don't understand the elements of actually following Protein Power, then you both need to pick up a copy of the book and read it and understand it. And whatever plan your girlfriend chooses to follow, she really needs to embrace ALL of its principles and follow them consistently if she expects to see results that are more than temporary.

Welcome in. :)

[Triskeliongirl]

Why don't you ask your GF to post her food and exercise journals here, and ask for advice herself. I too agree that Atkins and PP are not the same thing, and I personally believe PP is healthier and more scientifically sound, even though both plans rely on much of the same underlying science. I also don't understand why she is going so low in carbs, and I also wonder if she is getting enough protein. I eat all the non-starchy vegetables and lean protein I want (i.e. according to hunger/apetite), being sure to meet my minimal protein requirements for an active person, and I have been consistently losing a pound a week since April.

[jamiedolan]

salt intake?

HI,

Thanks for your response. I do use salt when I cook, but don't really know how much salt it is.

not getting enough protein?

This would be an adverage day;
Breakfast - 2-3 eggs, some times with bacon sasuage or cheese.
Lunch, What is left from the night before, normally a good size portion. Around 10 ounces
Dinner; around 16 - 20 ounces of beef, pork, or chicken, etc.

I need to review that formula in the book that helps tell how much protien you need.

not really 'moving' enough?

Possiably, there are days when she spends a lot of time at a desk.

Age?

27

Other health conditions of which we (and/or she) is not aware?

Nothing we know of (she had her gall bladder removed 8 years ago and her tonsils out), no other health problems that have been diagnosised or detected. Yearly physicals are fine and blood sugar is normal.

Not actually eating enough?
Not actually eating only what you think she's eating?

We almost always eat dinner together, so I see what she eats then. Then I normally prepare / package the left overs for her lunch the next day. I usally see the empty containers come home at night. She said she is not snacking or eating anything else.

I am not trying to be a controal freak or anything, She has been asking me for years to help her lose weight and has been mad about me have her stop atkins several years ago, since that was the only thing that ever worked for her. So now I am trying to help her again.

There's no such thing as 'basically the atkins/low carb protein power diet plan.' Atkins is a plan. Protein Power is a plan. They are similar, but they are also VERY different in some key ingredients. Atkins pays little or no attention to protein intake, and after two weeks of 20g carbs Induction, asks people to begin increasing carb intake gradually. Protein Power starts Phase I between 30-40g ECC, prescribes adequate recommended protein intake daily, and keeps you in Phase I until health issues improve. Pick one, pick up the book, read it and understand it...and not just you. Your

It is much more inline with the protien power plan. We didn't really plan to ever move the carbs up much, she cares very little about carbs. I have been attempting to make servings that should have pleanty of protien in them. I am going to read though these parts of the book again, and make sure that I do understand protein power correctly and that we are doing her diet accourding to protien power.

girlfriend needs to understand what she's doing--unless you truly are her only source of food. I've been in a hospital--they have cafeterias and

I supply almost all of her food, she rarely eats food that I don't prepare. She works full time, and I am currently at home full time taking care of household functions and out pets.

vending machines--so scratch that thought. Your girlfriend could be eating anything.

Anything is possiable, she says she is not. She even brings me candy bars that paitents buy for her because she wont eat them. (sometimes I end up eating them)

The other thing I noticed about this statement is that it's great that you're helping your girlfriend and that you're supporting her efforts...but weight loss is something she really has to do FOR HERSELF. You can't do it for her. And in some cases, support can turn into pressure that derails the person trying to make dietary changes. Is that happening? Is there any chance it could be happening?

I don't think so. She is constantly asking me about what I am making and making sure it is low carb. I think she really wants to lose weight because she is seeing the rest of her family die or get very sick from diabeties, heart disease, etc. She currently has normal blood sugar and has never been diagnosised with diabeties, just her grandparrents.

It really shouldn't take 'aggressive exercise' to lose weight in the early stages of Protein Power, or even well into the plan...especially not if your

When she was going to the gym on a precor, she was burning 1000 calories accourding to the machine in one session.

girlfriend is also seriously overweight. Just regularly moving her body

Yes, I would say she is seriously over weight. I would also think that just moving around at her size would make a big difference. I used to weight that much, so I know what it was like.

around at a higher activity level than sitting still means she's doing 265 lbs. of resistance exercise 24/7, and that should be enough to trigger her metabolism to kick into a higher gear--if she's actually following all the elements of Protein Power and doesn't have any physical or medical conditions that would interfere with weight loss.

Maybe she just isn't getting quite enough activity right now.. Maybe just the walking around she does isnt quite enough, even with her weight.


It is very difficult to eat '0 carbs' -- a label can say '0 carbs' if the serving of carbs per gram is under 1 gram. If you're eating vegetables, dairy, or

I prepare a lot of the meals, full chickens, ground meats, roasts, etc.

It looks like a small onion cooked is about 6 grams, I use about half of a medium onion in a entire meal that we both eat, then use for left overs the next day. I use green peppers as well. I see thoses are a bit higher in carbs, but she would never eat more than a half of a green pepper in a day, so 4.5 grams.

She had one class of (10 ounces) raw goats milk this past week, so maybe 25 grams?

She drinks mostly water. Up to a maxium of 2-3 cans of coke zero on some days. Tea a couple times a week. I used honey for her once or twice, then switched over to steiva.

No seafood lately.

Now that I really look at things more, it is possiable that she is getting up into that 40-50 gram area, but I can not possiably see how she is getting any higher than that.

seafood, you're eating carbs. Honey? Carbs. But the thing is...your girlfriend doesn't have to eat '0 carbs' to lose weight on Protein Power. She can eat up to 40g effective carbs--as long as she's getting all of the protein recommended for her size. That's probably around 120g protein per day, but I'm just guessing based on the rough numbers in your post.

It looks like chicken for example should be about 40 grams per 6 ounces, so I would say that she is getting at or a bit over 120 grams a day. And a lot of times we are eating, beef, pork and bision, from what I can tell, it looks like the 1.5 pounds of meat or so she is eating a day should put her in the 120 to 150 grams of protien or more. It looks like the protien content varies with meat depending on how its cooked and such?

Which brings me to the thing that stands out the most in your post. A lot of what you're reporting is in estimates and has phrases like "it could not be more than a few carbs." You also posted that "I am counting thoses vegetables as the primary source of carbs she is getting."

I may have been counting the onions and green peppers a bit on the low side.

You can't journal food for her; your girlfriend has to journal for HERSELF. Journalling is, for many people, one of the most effective methods of actually figuring out what they're eating. And unless your girlfriend truly absolutely eats nothng but what you provide her, you can't really know what her carb and protein intake looks like--you can only guess. It sounds like it's time for your girlfriend to step up and track her own food intake, at least for a brief time (say, a month) to give her a true picture of what

I will ask her to start keeping a journal of what she is eating and about how much.

she's eating (and what she isn't.) For that matter, she might not be eating ENOUGH to lose weight. Yes, that can happen with people who are obese and who have dieted repeatedly...it can take awhile for their systems to move into weight-loss mode and their systems have learned to get good at holding out for better options.

So bottom line, we need more information...and if you and your girlfriend don't understand the elements of actually following Protein Power, then you both need to pick up a copy of the book and read it and understand it. And whatever plan your girlfriend chooses to follow, she really needs to embrace ALL of its principles and follow them consistently if she expects to see results that are more than temporary.

Thanks again. I applogize for all my confusion with remembering your plan. I spent a lot of time reading about paleo eating and that diet, and it gets hard for me to keep it all stright in my head between the diet plans.

I will share this post with her and talk to her more when she gets home, also I will do some more reading in your book again to try and keep your diet concepts fresh in my mind.

Thank you again,

Jamie

[jamiedolan]

Why don't you ask your GF to post her food and exercise journals here, and ask for advice herself. I too agree that Atkins and PP are not the

I am going to ask her to start keeping exercise and food journals. Then I will have her share them once she tracks things for a little while.

same thing, and I personally believe PP is healthier and more scientifically sound, even though both plans rely on much of the same underlying science. I also don't understand why she is going so low in carbs, and I

She claims to not really care for carbs and says she is just as happy eating meat if that is what I make for her.

also wonder if she is getting enough protein. I eat all the non-starchy vegetables and lean protein I want (i.e. according to hunger/apetite), being sure to meet my minimal protein requirements for an active person, and I have been consistently losing a pound a week since April.

I think we are going to need to watch more closely and have her keep a journal for a while to make sure she is getting enough protien.

Thanks

Jamie

[Gaelen]

Breakfast - 2-3 eggs, some times with bacon sasuage or cheese.
Lunch, What is left from the night before, normally a good size portion. Around 10 ounces
Dinner; around 16 - 20 ounces of beef, pork, or chicken, etc.


Jamie...my first thought is that this might need to be switched up. Try eating MORE for breakfast, MORE for lunch and a LOT less for 'dinner.' I know it helps me to have my main food intake during the day and midday, an to eat a much smaller meal than the typical American traditional 'dinner' late in the day when I'm winding down. I eat late, always have, but now it's a snack-sized portion, not a full meal.

Also, you mentioned 'depo' in another post--if your girlfriend is on depo provera, and not having regular cycles, hormonal issues could definitely be a factor. And the journaling will help.

[maxlharris]

This is going to sound overly harsh. It's really meant to be helpful.

#1- GF has to do this herself. You can help, but if she's not here asking for help, well, I hope the implications of that are clear. Commitment to change is critical. I don't want to suggest she is not committed. I don't know her, except as a character in your story. But it MUST be her hard commitment.

#2- The commitment starts with reading one of the books. Be it Atkins or one of the Protein Powers or something else entirely, the specific knowledge doesn't work without the details. The details are what makes firm commitment.

#3 - Zero carbs. Why so aggressively low? Most of the findings suggest that you get all the benefits of zero carbs at <30. On PP, you get to start at 40 for weight loss. It might even be counter productive to be so low.

#4- I'm not gonna say she might be sneaking food. But she might be sneaking food. This goes back to the commitment thing.

#5- Agree with others that she should journal. Fitday is great. But this needs to come after she reads the book and makes the decision.

#6- Reading the book revisited. I had a GF before I had a wife. Both have wanted to lose various amounts of weight, both saw how great I do with LC, and both wanted to try it without reading the book. Predictably, both had some initial success before getting bored and blowing it, and going back to what they were doing before.

#7- Studies show that the longer you stay BF/GF before setting a date for marriage (over a year), the more likely you are to wind up divorced. I know this in unwelcomed, but you might want to examine this stuff. American Demographics magazine shows a pretty steep curve and tells a story around getting set in roles, plateauing, etc. I mentioned a GF before my wife. I dated that GF for nearly 5 years. I met wife, proposed about 12 months later, married 6 after that, and am very happy with it. Just saying.

Good luck to your GF. Don't eat the candy bars. Donate them at food drives. I'm sure the hospital where she works has a kids ward or something.

[jamiedolan]

Jamie...my first thought is that this might need to

Also, you mentioned 'depo' in another post--if your girlfriend is on depo provera, and not having regular cycles, hormonal issues could definitely be a factor. And the journaling will help.

We have wondered if depo could be affecting weight loss, the PI sheets say that it only causes nominal weight gain, but I have know several people on it, and all but one had pretty severe weight issues while on it.

We have also wondered if depo could be causing a decreased libido as well. Not a lot of documentation on the subject, but I have read a lot of reports of this happening and people blame depo.

Do you think it is worth seeing a endo for a work-up or do you think it is just easier to skip a depo shot and see if things get better on there own once she stops getting the chemicals / hormones injected every 3 months?

Yes, we can switch over to more morning meals, It would likely be good for me as well. Since I am at home, I can eat all throughout the day, I snack on cheese, meat, fruit, nuts, throughout the day, I think that helps my metoblosim. I should really try to lose more weight. (down to about 200 from nearly 300 - exercise and cutting carbs, I went from regular soda to gatorade lost tons of weight, gatorade to diet, and the pounds even droped more, plus exercise and protein and it almost feels like it was easy at times).

What items do you suggest she / I (for myself) keep in a journal? Item eaten, when and quanity? Anything else to journal?

I have your hard cover book here, and will start re-reading it again later tonight.

Thanks again,

Jamie

[jamiedolan]

This is going to sound overly harsh. It's really meant to be helpful.

Thats fine. Thank you for helping, comments below;

#1- GF has to do this herself. You can help, but if she's not here asking for help, well, I hope the implications of that are clear. Commitment to change is critical. I don't want to suggest she is not committed. I don't know her, except as a character in your story. But it MUST be her hard commitment.

I belive she is commited to changing, she is the one that really wants to do this. She is quite busy with work (work 60+ hours, taking nursing classes & spends 4 hours a week donating plasma) and just does not have a lot of time to read and come online and figure out what wrong when things are not working. Which is fine, because I can do it. She tells me she is commited, and that she is fine with eating whatever I cook, and that she will follow whatever guidelines she needs to to lose weight.

#2- The commitment starts with reading one of the books. Be it Atkins or one of the Protein Powers or something else entirely, the specific knowledge doesn't work without the details. The details are what makes firm commitment.

I am working on re-reading the protein power hard cover book tonight. I may try and have her read some chapters of the book.

#3 - Zero carbs. Why so aggressively low? Most of the findings suggest that you get all the benefits of zero carbs at <30. On PP, you get to start at 40 for weight loss. It might even be counter productive to be so low.

I think I was overly agressive in my statement about zero carbs. I applogize. Once I did a bit more reading, I realized that from things like green peppers, onions, mushrooms, very limited amount of dairy, etc, that she likely does hit around 30 grams of carbs most days.

#4- I'm not gonna say she might be sneaking food. But she might be sneaking food. This goes back to the commitment thing.

She swears that she is not sneaking non-protien foods. She snacks on brats (that I have cooked up) durring her break. The brats always say "0 carbs (less than 1 carb)" on the package, so I assume there is a bit of carb to them, but I assume it is not much.

#5- Agree with others that she should journal. Fitday is great. But this needs to come after she reads the book and makes the decision.

I am going to encourage her to atleast read parts of the book and I am going to re-read it. I looked at fitday, do you like the program or the online version better?

#6- Reading the book revisited. I had a GF before I had a wife. Both have wanted to lose various amounts of weight, both saw how great I do with LC, and both wanted to try it without reading the book. Predictably, both had some initial success before getting bored and blowing it, and going back to what they were doing before.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will encourage her to read as much of the book as she can.

#7- Studies show that the longer you stay BF/GF before setting a date for marriage (over a year), the more likely you are to wind up divorced. I know this in unwelcomed, but you might want to examine this stuff. American Demographics magazine shows a pretty steep curve and tells a story around getting set in roles, plateauing, etc. I mentioned a GF before my wife. I dated that GF for nearly 5 years. I met wife, proposed about 12 months later, married 6 after that, and am very happy with it. Just saying.

We pretty much treat eachother like husband and wife.

Now this is a sad story. It is hard for me to admit, but here is the real reason that we are not married and have not set a date. 4 Years ago, I started to get sick, I gained tons of weight, got up to about 300 pounds, muscle pain, developed arthritis, anxiety, depression, etc. Tons and tons of problems. I have been slowly recovering. However, I am still on a number of medications, and have somewhat frequent checkups and lab tests that are very expensive. Not to mention physical thearpy (which has been a very good thing for me). Well, the issue is simply that the way my insruance program works, we can not afford to be married. It would cost me about $800 to $1000 a month if we were married. On top of all of that, from when I was sick, I ended up incuring very significant debt that happened after my bankruptcy, so it is still outstanding. If we are married, they will come after her for that money.

So it is a hard situation. Untill when and if I can get my health to the point where I don't need any medicaitons, or very few, and I can afford to ditch my insurance, I am kind of stuck with the situation I am in.

Thanks for the advice, I wish there were better options. I have gone over and over the situation and talked to a number of people for assistance and problem solving and there are no simple solutions at all to the problem.

Good luck to your GF. Don't eat the candy bars. Donate them at food drives. I'm sure the hospital where she works has a kids ward or something.

It doesn't happen very often, we gave the last one to her mom.

Thanks again,

Jamie

[Gaelen]

Jamie, I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on the 'net, so I'm not going to speak to what your girlfriend should do about her next depo provera shot. But I do work in preclinical drug safety, and I can speak to how to find drug side effect information. There's a lot more information out there than the PI sheets. Go to Pfizer's website, or just type 'depo provera' into any search engine.

What I found in five minutes, not even looking very hard:

Depo provera affects weight and metabolism, either directly as an endocrine response, or indirectly by affecting metabolism which then affects endocrine response. Even Pfizer cites numbers as high as 70% for weight gain.
Reduced libido is a known side effect, as well as increased risk of osteoporosis, even in young women. That's not even buried in the 'fine print;' it's right on Pfizer's website.
Women using it gain weight, and continue to gain weight throughout and after the period of use, as well as experiencing other side effects for as long as 6-12 months after discontinuing the shots.
Depo leads to increased risk for osteoporosis, especially in young women and when used longer than 1 year.
It's not recommended for long-term (more than 2 years) use unless no other form of birth control is available or effective.


Depo may be right for your girlfriend, but personally, I'd look at other options. Meanwhile, BC is a mutual responsibility ... ;)


What items do you suggest she / I (for myself) keep in a journal? Item eaten, when and quanity? Anything else to journal?

People can get nuts about journaling...I know I can. ;) So I usually suggest people start small, and keep it simple. For those who are more paper and pencil people, get a little 3x5 notebook that is easy to keep handy, and just write down EVERYTHING YOU PUT IN YOUR MOUTH. No numbers, except amounts...you can total things up later. Write down how much water you drink, and how often and what kind of exercise you do (1 page per day, food starts at the top, exercise a line at the bottom.) Don't write down totals as you go if that's going to stop the process--look them up at the end of each day and total it up. Just keep a record for a week, totalling at the end of the day, to get an idea and get yourself in the habit of being responsible to yourself.

If the person is more techno oriented, try www.fitday.com where you can journal online (it will 'total' for you as you go along). There, you can track water, exercise and food. Or you can download it and then just type in the numbers on your own PC. Or you can get something like Nutricounter or Diet Assistant for your PDA. There are a lot of ways to do it. There are other programs beside Fitday (Diet Power, eDiets, you name it.) There are counter books out there.

Myself, I prefer the convenience of things like Fitday and Nutricounter for my PDA...journaling on paper makes me nuts. I like picking something off a food list, typing in the amount I ate, and then seeing without having to look it up what the nutrient info is for what I just put in my mouth. I journal only food intake and exercise because I know, after five years, when I'm getting enough water. But the journaling that is most effective is the one that works. And in your girlfriend's case, I really think that if she'll just make the commitment to be responsible enough to write down what she eats and drinks and when/how much she moves for a week, without totals, that will be an eye-opener that will motivate her to be even more responsible. And then totalling things up will be something she *wants* to do, and she'll have created a new positive, self-reinforcing habit.

[maxlharris]

Jamie:

Re: Fitday. I like the online. It's portable. Have internet, will log. It's also free. However, it's an individual thing. The download has features the online doesn't. Some seem attractive. Some seem very attractive.

Re: The book. IF she's not going to read the whole thing, she MUST read the chapter at the start, the chapter on actually doing it.

Re: Marriage. Sorry to hear about your situation. FWIW, insurance sucks, even mine that I get through the fed gov. It's better than not having, but yeah. Debt sucks too. Do what you gotta.

[WakefieldWendy]

Jamie,

You are to be congratulated for trying so hard to help your GF and to provide healthy food for her. And she is to be congratulated for wanting to eat correctly, and for her commitment (based on her telling you that she doesn't eat foods except what you make her).

I am going to echo some of the comments of other posters, but I don't go quite so far.

It sounds to me like you have a working arrangement in your life that works for the two of you. You take care of the home stuff, and she works long hours. That's a model that worked for a lot of people years ago (with sexes reversed of course) and I don't see why it can't work for you. (I'm a feminist of the "everybody should do what they want, without reference to sex" school. I don't have a problem with "traditional" roles, or any other roles, so long as it works for the people involved and isn't forced upon them).

So, I don't think it is a problem if you cook her breakfast, lunch and dinner, and if you do the food journalling. She must buy into the program enough to not eat additional foods besides what you provide her (or, in the alternative, to learn enough about what is a healthy snack so that she can go to the cafeteria and choose it, and then tell you about it later so you can journal it).

I think that zero carbs undersells what she has been eating (and I think you are realizing that), but from what you describe, I would say she is getting nowhere near 30 ecc (effective carbohydrate count, which means the total carbs less the fiber) per day. I would recommend that after you journal this, you consider increasing her carbs a bit using healthy carbs (veggies, low-carb fruits, dairy carbs etc.).

With respect to exercise, if the precor says she is burning 1000 calories, she is overworking. It usually tells me that I've burned something less than 200. For someone who works as long as she does, I think you need to have a goal of efficient exercise. If a work-out is well designed, it can be hard and short and do lots of good (more than longer slower session). Weight loss is amplified by weight lifting, which builds muscle mass which in turn consumes calories while working and at rest. Three short weight sessions per week, plus 1-2 High Intensity Interval Trainings (do a search) can be very effective. However, focus on sorting out the food stuff first.

Best of luck to you!