how can I help
 

I am hoping to get some help for my wife and I think health and fitness is the right forum. My wife is on 3 different tablets (multiples of each) and has been going to gym for 2 years on a regulaar basis (2-3 times a week) She is on 2 types of blood pressure meds and 1 of SSRI antideppressant Now the side effects of all these are weight gain. She hasnt really put on any weight, but she feel bloaty and she hasnt lost any weight either. Now the problem is she really needs these meds and acknowledges that she has bee4b better since taking them but is getting frustrated that all the gym work and wat ching her diet is not giving positive results. Oh and shes not all that big, she had a health scare 2 years ago and decided losing 5-10 kilos would help her health overall. Any suggestions on wha she should concentrate on at the gym, as she is willing to go to the doc but doesnt really want tomess around withthe meds. Hope this made sense and thanks for 'listening'

In order to lose weight a person has to eat less calories than he or she uses. A person can do this by actively eating less calories or by actively burning more calories, or both. If your wife isn't losing weight, then she is eating more calories than she is using, or equally as many. If I was her I would keep track of my diet using fitday.com, and then plan out a diet in which I eat 10% less calories, and stick to that for a while, and then see if I am losing weight, and if I'm not then I would lower my caloric intake by another 10%, and see if that works. The diet would consist of all whole foods, and be divided into 4-6 small meals, spaced evenly throughout the day. The diet would have a 33:33:33 ratio of carbs to fats to protein. I would do all this while continuing to go to the gym with a consistant routine. No sugar. I don't know if that would do anything for being bloaty though. No drinking anything except water.

A really good diet is probably better than losing the weight, anyway.

Here:

Meal 1:
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 banana
.5 cup oats

Meal 2:
Small can of tuna
Spinach
10 almonds
1 cup rice

Meal 3:
1 chicken breast
1 serving green beans
.5 cup chick peas
3 fish oils

Meal 4:
.5 cup cottage cheese
1 Apple
3 fish oils
1 serving broccoli

1579 calories
31% fat
35% carbs
34% protein

Something like that. That might be too few calories for her. I don't know. But for instance, if she's eating that and still not losing weight, just cut a few carbs here and there, like instead of .5 cup oats and 1 cup rice, .25 cup oats and .5 cup rice

For an active woman, that is too few calories.

Depending on her size, a woman should be hitting between AT LEAST 1600-2000 calories.

I highly recommend the DietPower program for keeping track of eating habits and exercise combined. It will let your wife know how nutritious her diet is, how effective her exercise is, and how the two combined will help her lose weight. I found that even with a free two-week trial it was most helpful in getting me on track with my eating habits (I have to eat a low-fat diet for health reasons).

thanks guys i will look into the sites mentioned and together we will draw up a diet/exercise program for her. At least now I have an action plan we can try.

update...my so is concentrating on eating less fuel than she burns she is doing cardio almost everyday and on short cardio days (30min) she is doing toning/weights and on lond cardio days(45+) she is doing more stretching and flexing, and watching what she eats. She is feeling very positive and because she likes the gym, confident that this will work. She is under docs supervision and is used to the gym so this should be a long term goal not a news year resolution Thanks for the advice especially the 33:33:33;diet advice.