Needing Advice

[Jaimbo]

I am 45 years old, female, 5'3" and weigh 145 pounds. I exercise moderately (work out with a trainer 2 days a week & jog or bike 2 days a week)  I did a Whole 30 perfectly and lost 9 pounds.  I felt so great and didn't miss much of the foods I cut out, so I continued to practice the Whole 30 way of eating. With the exception of adding in alcohol on occasion & one dessert in 65 days I have stuck to the plan.  

 

I have not lost any more weight (in fact I gained 3 pounds from where I was after the original Whole30) and I am really needing to lose about 20 pounds in order to be at a good weight for my body type & height.  

 

I thought I might be taking in too many calories (2200-2500?) so I am now trying to keep my daily intake below 1200 calories.  

 

My question is….From the Whole 30 foods I eat, how many grams of good fat, carbs & protein should I be intaking to best lose weight?

 

Thanks in advance for any good advice!

[missmary]

 5'3" and 145 pounds. 

 

Jaimbo- Congratulations on your whole30! It sounds like it went great. 5'-3" and 145 is actually not an unhealthy weight, necessarily, depending on how much muscle mass you carry. 125lbs could be healthy or it could be too low for your frame. How do you feel? If you feel good, it might make sense to take some time working on your headspace about weight--is 125 a goal because you think that number seems right? or it was what you weighed as a teenager? or because the media often tells us women shouldn't weigh more than that? The media lies about celebrity weights and athlete's weights and often gives us a false impression of what is healthy.

 

If you don't feel good, or you are not satisfied with your muscle tone or anything else, I would encourage you to stop counting and restricting calories (1200 IS NOT ENOUGH!) and instead to keep as close to the meal template as you can, continuing to work out moderately and try to be patient. Rushing things by restricting calories or working out too much will just backfire. Gauge your activities and your food intake by what makes you healthy and keeps you healthy. The aesthetic changes will come naturally from that.

[Jaimbo]

Thanks for your encouragement Melissa!  It isn't that I am set on 125, it just that when I have been around that weight in the past (5 years, not high school) and I looked a lot better and therefore felt a lot better.  I certainly do not want to look like the air brushed celebs, but wouldn't mind the personal chefs some of them have.  HaHa! 

 

I currently don't feel bad, health wise, but I am not completely happy with the way I look either.  I don't think I am severely overweight but I am also not trim & fit looking.  I feel too heavy. My clothes don't fit like I would like & I don't have the muscle tone I would like either (will continue to work out). 

 

I just wondered if I was eating too many nuts and fats or if there was a good ratio of fats/carbs/protein that I could use to gauge my food. 

[missmary]

many people overdo it with nuts. You can leave them out completely if you wish.

 

The meal template does a great job of setting up a good protein/fat/carb ratio as well as food quantity (much better than counting calories or macros). If you haven't been using that, I would take a look:

 

http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

 

Starchy carbs are one specific thing that varies a lot from person to person. Make sure you include them as part of your vegetable intake, and how much or how often depending on how you feel.

[Jaimbo]

Thanks again!  I thought I had been sticking to the template pretty well.  I will try to take it easy on the nuts!  Hopefully that will help & with some good workouts I can get to where I want to be.  Going to Maui in July and want to be Maui-Wowie!  Ha!

[Robin Strathdee]

Just a note to say I'm moving this to Troubleshooting

Carry on!