So slowly I'm figuring out how beautifully neurotic my girlfriend is about her diet and training, I was really surprised at the depth and discipline she exhibits on a daily basis. I've never seen anyone be able to turn down food at ever offer for months at a time. It's impressive if not a little annoying. So I got down to the basics with her yesterday after being genuinely frustrated myself after throwing her on a few supps and not getting the results I should have been seeing.

She's 5'6", 120, but I have no idea of her BF. Let me put it like this, if she lost even ten pounds it would look horrible. Frankly I think she looks fine, but w/e. I found out she is eating only 1000-1200 calories daily, 20 grams of fat is a lot to her, and the rest is primarily a protein heavy, carb light split of calories. I know from back in the day you want roughly 15X your body weight, at least for guys, to find your approx maintenance caloric intake number. Does this equation hold true for women? I was hoping to get her up to 1500kcal/day, I think her main problem is sub-par cardio, and over training.

Also she was doing 6 days a week of medium intensity, steady pace cardio for 45 mins. Well I got her to do some HIIT the other day and she loved it, also I've talked her into adding 3 days a week of weights. I think I can handle the training portion, however I want to make sure her diet is in check. She knows enough that if I can point her in the right direction she'll totally run with it.

Anyhow, any pointers, especially around caloric intake would be great. Thnx

Try to get her to eat fattier cuts of proteins. Not necessarily beef, but maybe salmon or even dark meat poultry. Another option is olive oil, nuts, and avocados added in or with her meals. How much produce does she eat per day??

She eats really clean, I've never even been able to get her to eat anything sweet. The diets pretty good, I'm wondering more about daily caloric intake for females. I don't know much about training them

If you think she's undereating, maybe some carb/refeed days?

I used a caloric calculator at bb.com (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm) and here's the results I got for her stats:

Step 1 - BMR Based On Weight

For Women: 0.9 x 54 Kg x 24 = 1176

Step 2 - BMR With Bodyfat Percentage Calculation

Taking your bodyfat percentage into account, your adjusted BMR is 1176 calories per day. This is equal to 49 calories per hour.

Step 3 - Total Daily Calories Burned

Adding in your activity level, we times your BMR by 1.65. This means that your approximate total calories burned each day is 1940.


Does 1900kcal/day seem a good number to work with as a starting point, then subtracting a few hundred calories to create a deficit?

This is something that I have wonder for a while. By all considerations she is undereating, but her weight is stable....remember that big long conversation about dynamic systems and setpoints..it seems the body reaches a a point where it becomes highly efficient at using all nutrients and calories being fed, particularly undereating...It's not really starvation mode, but it saves everything.

From different sources that I have read, it seems, that caloric deficit for a long period is best if the deficit is small. For example instead of 1200 cals (where she is at) or 1900 (maintenance) it could be something along the lines of 1700. Intermittent Fasting is a another possibility, particularly with a strong will like hers.

Now in a big picture kind of way...120 for 5'6" is pretty good for a woman. I would emphasize more weight lifting for a hardening effect. Remember that all the soft parts that we like on women are actually fat....less fat, less boobs, less of an ass, no hourglass....not yummy anymore.

D-Termine, leave your chick alone

Don't get me wrong, she's bangin' and has done some modeling in the past, but gaining 5 pounds for a girl is devastating. I tell her she is fine the way she is, but girls go through this thing in their late teens where their jeans don't fit anymore because they are becoming women and it freaks them out. I find it amusing That said, I think obsessing about bodybuilding, fitness or whatever you'd like to call it is a very good, healthy obsession and helps keep you centered. She's halfway there now, I just need to throw a nootropic or two her way and I'd be in heaven. I think moderating calories is the best way to go, dropping too low on kcal's is never good unless you are on a ton of supps/juice. Just below maintenance is the way to go imho

Good call using the calculator, I find it harder to determine womens phenotypes as opposed to men. If she is comfortable with the amount of activity she is doing now, I would start her work up to 1900 calories, in 300 calorie incriments per week. If she is gaining weight, lower the cals again.

Good luck...chicks are tough

Yeah trying to get her to eat less is like pulling nails. She even said she wanted to see a dietician and double check. I told her she'd have to double check to see if she still had a boyfriend

lol, you meant eat more right? Well let her see the dietician, who will tell he she needs to eat more, which is what you have been telling her all along.

Send me pics and I'll have it ALLLLLLLL figured out for her

Definitely meant eat more And I was going to throw up some pics from her myspace but I realised there are no slutty ones WTF?!?!!? What kind of girl these days doesn't have a good few whore shots? Weird