Nutrition and Diet

Question
I am a 5' tall female who currently weighs about 104 pounds.  I am 28 years old, and I lost about 40 pounds about a year or so ago.  I'm now moving into a maintenance phase, but I am struggling a little bit.  

I'm trying to maintain and not be too scared to gain the weight back, but I'm feeling constantly hungry.  Right now I'm exercising quite a bit.  Yesterday, for example, I did about 60 minutes of aerobics.  Later I took a leisurely walk for about another 60 minutes.  Thursdays are also our bowling league nights, so I did that for about 2 hours.  I only got around 1500 calories, but I felt hungry all day.  I would think I should need more than that, but I'm not losing weight.  About once or twice a week I'll splurge and get about 1800 to 2000 calories.  

Am I getting too little that I'm short changing my metabolism?  Am I eating too much at night and not enough in the morning?  Or do I just have a slow metabolism.

I have a body fat scale, and I would estimate that to be around 19 or 20 % according to it and my measurements.  Can you help me?

Thanks
Sarah

Answer
Hi,

40 pounds of what did you lose, fat, water, tissue. And what kind of weight do you want to gain back. These are the questions you need to ask yourself.

So as it is fat you are trying to lose here, not muscle, tissue or water, you need to have a scientific basis to start with and to prove actually fat loss.

You also need to get your body fat % done at a gym by a personal trainer using the 4 or 8 site skin fold test to get an accurate %. The body fat scales can be inaccurate. But 19% is good for a female, men are around 10- 15 %, woman anything up to mid 20's % wise.

The problem with working-out a lot is that you will be hungry and want to consume more, so you need to eat often throughout the day, 6-7 meals. Your metabolism will be based on your fat %, so I don抰 think you have a low one.

Also calorie wise you can probably go lower, but make sure your diet is split 60% protein, 30 % complex carbs and 10% fat ( certain vitamins like A,D,K,E are fat soluble).

Try to consume foods low in fat, low in cholesterol, low in salt and low in added sugars. Include lots of complex carbohydrates (such as whole-grain breads, cereals and pasta), fruits and vegetables. This type of diet will help you control your blood sugar level, as well as your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. For the liquids she needs to consume sports drinks that have a high amount of a complex carbs like Maltodextrin.

You need to east lean protein like chicken, turkey, pork and lean beef. Also you will need energy in the form of complex cars, like whole meal pasta, cereal, and grains. Also any sports drink that has maltodextrin and where 70% or more of the carb content is not sugars. For the liquids she needs to consume sports drinks that have a high amount of a complex carbs like Maltodextrin.

Have realistic weight loss goals around losing 5 ?10 pounds initially and try to keep it off for a long time. In a well organized training program you can lose 1-2 pounds a week successfully, and over a period of months that makes good weight loss. Keep a log of what you eat and when.

Try to keep the records for a few months to see your progress in regards to weight loss. Put everything down on the log, even a cup of Tea or a small sweet, and describe it so you can see all calories consumed and what type they are. Also log your exercise routine; your trainer can help you there.

Thanks.

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