diet causing me to lose weight but my other half staing the same.

danotroy

I'm 26 male and 5'10, my partner is female and 23 and 5'5. We both went vegetarian about 6 weeks ago and I have lost about 2 inches off my waist and 6kg I am down to 74 kgs. However my girlfriend has not lost a single kg and dare I say it seems to have lost muscle rather than fat.

We live together and are both unemployed so there is no snacking without the other one knowing. We walk at least 7 kms a day. 2 before lunch and 5 at night time after dinner.

I have always been pretty active and I have only been severely over weight once in my life. I lived in the states for 8 months when I was 20 and I got up to 90 kgs. I lost this extra weight over the course of a year without even trying when i returned to home cooked meals in Ireland.

My girlfriend has always been curvy. She went through a period of going to the gym last year and toned up wonderfully. She didn't lose that much weight but gained muscle and looked great.


an example of our diet would be as follows.

Breakfast
Porridge or museli with apples and raisins
1 mug of black coffee



Lunch
wholewheat wrap with kale, quinoa, red kidney beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and spinach. sprinkled with sesame seeds and flak seeds. I have 2 wraps she has 1.
1 cup of herbal tea

Dinner
Home made soup! butternut squash, sweet potato, ginger, vegi stock, carrots with one slice of wholewheat multi seed bread.

snacks throughout the day
1/2 Frozen banana with peanut butter
orange
carrot
kiwi

We drink at weekends so lets say I drink 12 pints a week and she drinks 9 pints.

She has a 750 ml bottle that she takes everywhere with her and she fills it 3 times a day.
I drink at least 3 pints of water a day

I eat more per sitting than her and we do the same amount of exercise. the weight is falling off me but she cant lose a pound. What could the problem be here?

zzxx

That looks like a pretty terrible diet to me. Where is the protein and good fats? Eggs, cottage cheese, nuts? Also, 9 pints a week? That's a big part of the problem right there, I would say. Please read this the Nutrition 101 sticky on this forum

danotroy

zzxx wrote: »

That looks like a pretty terrible diet to me. Where is the protein and good fats? Eggs, cottage cheese, nuts? Also, 9 pints a week? That's a big part of the problem right there, I would say. Please read this the Nutrition 101 sticky on this forum

That was a sample off the top of my head.... we eat plenty of nuts forgot to add them to the snack list. also we manage to go through 12 eggs a week. also have buckwheat with porridge in the morning. Eat lots of beans either at dinner or lunch. She eats cottage cheese I Don't. Getting enough protein and god fats is not the problem we are getting enough protein and good fats we have researched it and gotten help from a friend who is a sport nutritionist. However this person is her friend so I don't feel confident asking her these questions.

I feel alcohol may be the issue as well but how am I losing so much more than her?

Oregano_State

Your GF likely weighs a good 15kg less than you, so her caloric requirements are a lot less than yours. You say she eats less per sitting than you, but almost certainly not enough if she hasn't been able to lose weight.

Download the myfitnesspal app if you have smartphones and put in both your details and goals. Log everything you eat for two weeks and come back here if you still have a problem. There is a computer based version too.

Also, nuts have very dense calories. You could end up eating 500kcal without realising it. I would cut back on the nights out too if you're serious about this. If you got the boozing down to an average of once every 2 weeks it would make a huge difference.

Mellor

Vegetarianism yang a weight loss diet. The fact that you immediately started to lose weight means you are under eating. You GF is smaller so she is managing to hit maintenance.

Todd Toddington III

9 pints is a lot. Thats like 2000 calories. Theres your problem. Would she switch to vodka and soda water (expensive I know)? much lower in calories.

danotroy

Mellor wrote: »

Vegetarianism yang a weight loss diet. The fact that you immediately started to lose weight means you are under eating. You GF is smaller so she is managing to hit maintenance.

I think a big part of my weight loss is the change in diet and time of year. Christmas was a total mess. I arrived back from OZ before xmas and it was catch up time with mates over food and beers. Then came the festive period and all the trimmings. I ate a whole tub of celebrations over the course of 36 hours. I normall dont eat milk chocolate but over dosed this year. I have lost my gut and flabby tits in the last few weeks due to my eating habits and exercise.

In short I think I mainly lost festive weight.

Todd Toddington III

danotroy wrote: »

I think a big part of my weight loss is the change in diet and time of year. Christmas was a total mess. I arrived back from OZ before xmas and it was catch up time with mates over food and beers. Then came the festive period and all the trimmings. I ate a whole tub of celebrations over the course of 36 hours. I normall dont eat milk chocolate but over dosed this year. I have lost my gut and flabby tits in the last few weeks due to my eating habits and exercise.

In short I think I mainly lost festive weight.

If your both serious about weight loss then you really have to count calories, booze included :-) unfortunately thats the best most consistant way to achieve your goals. And set goals! find out online what your calorie intake is to maintain your present weight then knock a couple of hundred off that for each days intake for healthy weight loss. Its best to average this out over the week. And theres nothing like a good hour long run to burn off all those booze calories (700 roughly per hour at a nice easy pace), saves you feeling guilty!

Edit. Make sure its a balanced diet, fats, proteins n carbs in the correct quantities. and exercise, cardio and weight training to build those muscles. Theres a lot of info out the, its hard to know who to believe. Youtube is great for info, omar isuf, athlean x, scooby, lee hayward, hodge twins (for the comedy if nothing else), Elliot hulse are pretty good places to start

Mellor

danotroy wrote: »

In short I think I mainly lost festive weight.

But if you are losing weight, any weight it means undereating. Obviously this is the goal, but vegetarianism is about weight loss. If thats your reason for switching its a bit silly, but maybe its not.

It really looks like you are lacking protein, now at breakfast or dinner. Muscle loss would back that up. What are you aiming for a day? Just because somebody is a nutritionist, doesn't mean they give good advice always. I'd be looking at more protein for you both, and less starch food (good choices there, just too many of them). Being ovo-lacto-veg makes it easier for you.

You GF also needs to increase the difference in your meals. As a rough guide, they sould be proportional to your difference in weight. If she is 60kg and you are 75kg, ALL your meals need to be 25% bigger than hers. This isn't always possible, or can be frustrating at times for her, so its often easier for you to make up the excess with extra snacking.

danotroy

Mellor wrote: »

But if you are losing weight, any weight it means undereating. Obviously this is the goal, but vegetarianism is about weight loss. If thats your reason for switching its a bit silly, but maybe its not.

I would strongly disagree with the bold part. For the 2 months prior to the change in diet my food intake was somewhere in excess of 3500 calories with a lot of bad foods, booze and treats in there. Now its down to about 2400 calories. I think its safe to say returning to a calorie intact that is nearer to my ideal calorie intake in addition to the physical exercise I regularly partake in has caused my weight loss. Instead of having a ham and cheese sandwich at mid night as I would of done before I am eating a carrot. I know I should eat late at night but I have to stay up till 2 am tonight for a conference call to oz.

I've not turned vegetarian to lose weight and my partner has most definitely not. As explained in another thread It happen somewhat by accident, I has been mulling it over for a while and it happened due to shopping habits and a desire to get healthy.

I eat about 50% more than her at dinner lunch and time. At breakfast we eat the same and we snack on the same. Its just become noticeable to other people that I've lost weight and they ask what i'm doing to lose this weight. When I tell them its been a change in diet and a cut down in alcohol consumption a part of me feels a little sorry for my partner who, although is not in it for weight loss, has lost no weight at all. She is talking about joining the gym together. I hate the gym. I'd much rather ride my bike go for a run or go to the climbing wall rather than go to the gym.

Mellor

danotroy wrote: »

I would strongly disagree with the bold part. For the 2 months prior to the change in diet my food intake was somewhere in excess of 3500 calories with a lot of bad foods, booze and treats in there. Now its down to about 2400 calories. I think its safe to say returning to a calorie intact that is nearer to my ideal calorie intake in addition to the physical exercise I regularly partake in has caused my weight loss.

You can strongly to disagree if you want, but to be blunt, you are wrong.
The basic requirement for losing weight, ie your body turning to fat stores for energy, is that you consume less energy than your daily needs. There's no other way.

Fat stores have no memory. It doesn't matter what you ate yesterday or last month, switching to your ideal calorie goal - based on weight and activity - will cause no change in weight unless there is a calories deficit. Case in point, your GF, probably getting in a good amount of cals, from healthy food. But isn't creating a calorie deficit. Based on your loss, 6kg in 6 weeks, you've had a decent deficit going.

I've not turned vegetarian to lose weight and my partner has most definitely not. As explained in another thread It happen somewhat by accident, I has been mulling it over for a while and it happened due to shopping habits and a desire to get healthy.

If weight loss isn't the goal, thats perfectly fine.
But this idea that vegetarian diet is automatically healthier is flawed. It can be perfectly healthy of course, and is certainly better than eating junk all the time. But compared to the full range of food available to omnivores, a vegetarian needs to take greater care that they aren't underrating (when not trying to lose weight) or lacking nutrients. Protein, B12, Vit D etc.

I eat about 50% more than her at dinner lunch and time. At breakfast we eat the same and we snack on the same. Its just become noticeable to other people that I've lost weight and they ask what i'm doing to lose this weight. When I tell them its been a change in diet and a cut down in alcohol consumption a part of me feels a little sorry for my partner who, although is not in it for weight loss, has lost no weight at all. She is talking about joining the gym together. I hate the gym. I'd much rather ride my bike go for a run or go to the climbing wall rather than go to the gym.

Activity plays a big part of it.
Her options to lsoe weight are basically eat less, or move more.

runawaybishop

danotroy wrote: »

Breakfast
Porridge or museli with apples and raisins
1 mug of black coffee



Lunch
wholewheat wrap with kale, quinoa, red kidney beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and spinach. sprinkled with sesame seeds and flak seeds. I have 2 wraps she has 1.
1 cup of herbal tea

Dinner
Home made soup! butternut squash, sweet potato, ginger, vegi stock, carrots with one slice of wholewheat multi seed bread.

snacks throughout the day
1/2 Frozen banana with peanut butter
orange
carrot
kiwi

We drink at weekends so lets say I drink 12 pints a week and she drinks 9 pints.

She has a 750 ml bottle that she takes everywhere with her and she fills it 3 times a day.
I drink at least 3 pints of water a day

I eat more per sitting than her and we do the same amount of exercise. the weight is falling off me but she cant lose a pound. What could the problem be here?

No where near enough protein in that. You need to look at increasing your protein taken in dramatically. The booze isn't going to be as big a deal as people think, i wouldn't worry about it. If you want switch to clear spirits and a diet mixer.

She needs to eat less is all, or move around a lot more. Eating less will be more effective though. Just ensure you don't go to extremes and you get enough protein and good fats into you.

danotroy

danotroy wrote: »

However my girlfriend has not lost a single kg and dare I say it seems to have lost muscle rather than fat.

Well of course that would happen if she's not eating any protein

She needs to eat more protein, maybe eat fewer calories overall too

danotroy

I should of made a clearer diet plan. I will update when i get the chance. Plenty of protein in our diets. Eggs, nuts, seeds, tofu, avos, greens, quinoa etc

runawaybishop

danotroy wrote: »

I should of made a clearer diet plan. I will update when i get the chance. Plenty of protein in our diets. Eggs, nuts, seeds, tofu, avos, greens, quinoa etc

Fair enough, it doesnt look like there is though.

Mellor

danotroy wrote: »

I should of made a clearer diet plan. I will update when i get the chance. Plenty of protein in our diets. Eggs, nuts, seeds, tofu, avos, greens, quinoa etc

Post it up again, list everything.
But FYI, there's virtually no protein in avocado or greens. Nut and seeds have some, but are generally fat sources. And quinoa despite touted as a protein packed grain, is mostly carbohydrate (70% carbs, 15% each fat and protein)

danotroy

Mellor wrote: »

Post it up again, list everything.
But FYI, there's virtually no protein in avocado or greens. Nut and seeds have some, but are generally fat sources. And quinoa despite touted as a protein packed grain, is mostly carbohydrate (70% carbs, 15% each fat and protein)

Ill go through my LIDL receipts tomorrow and Ive been keeping a food diary since this has happened in order to be clear about what we are eating.