Diet Plan Help! My wife wants to lose and I want to gain

Hello everyone. I have an interesting situation. My wife is trying to lose weight and I am trying to gain weight. I’m just trying to gain about 5 lbs of muscle and she is trying to drop about 40lbs. I’d like you guys to critique our diet plan. The idea is that in order to save time and money, many of our meals will be the same and I will get my extra calories by adding more food or having more servings. We have a week long plan and which we will amend it as we go. We tried this for one week but my wife said she was having trouble between lunch and dinner and ended up cheating (with chips or fast food). Below is our plan which will give you an idea of our entire week. I calculated the plan to be around 1400 cals for her and near 2000 cal for me. If you want me too, I’ll post the whole week. In any case, what can we do to make meals more filling? Any ideas for overall improvement for both of us? Thanks

Sample from Day 1

Breakfast

Instant Oatmeal with 1% milk

Turkey Bacon

Grapes

Lunch

Bacon Wrap (low fat tortilla bread with light ranch, turkey deli, romaine lettuce and swiss cheese)

Salad (Romaine, bacon bits, light ranch, mozzarella and mild cheddar)

100 calorie cheetos snack

Water w/ Crystal light

Snack: Air-popped popcorn

Dinner

Marinated Boneless Skinless chicken Breast

Salad: Romaine Lettuce, 1000 island dressing and shredded cheddar

My additions

Add hardboiled egg to salads

Remove Oatmeal and have Egg Sandwich (egg, American cheese, white bread, turkey bacon)

Drink whole Milk at breakfast and dinner

Switch with Almonds as a snack

Her stats: Weight 240lbs, height 5 ft 6in, low-moderately active lifestyle

My stats: Weight 160lbs, height 5 ft 9in, moderately active lifestyle

Please put yours and your wife's stats in the calorie target in the tools section.  I don't know how old you two are, but your calories should be closer to 2800 per day and your wife's calories should be about 2000 per day.

Again not knowing hpw old you are can make a slight difference, but not to much.

Thanks for the reply!

My wife and I are 24. I was trying to get it so she loses around 3lbs a week. I input her info into calorie count and got this message.

"You should consume about 1,533 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 220 lbs by December 31, 2009."

I input my info into calorie count and got this message

"You should consume about 2,595 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 165 lbs by December 31, 2009."

I guess I need to add more calories to my diet. Any further critiques would be great!

Three pounds a week is a nice idea, but not a good one.  Slow and easy and the weight will not come back on.  If your wife loses to much and feels deprieved she will binge and get discouraged and the yo yo cycle begins.

Does you wife have an account here or are you sharing an account?

Since you're male, moderately active, and 160lbs, my guess is that you'll need a minimum of 2500 calories to gain - quite possibly it'll turn out to be more like 3000.  I don't think it will work for you to eat the same foods as her but larger portions; she'll need to eat a lot of low-density foods (fruits, vegetables, high fiber grains, lean proteins, plus fats), while you'll need high-density foods (less fresh fruit and vegetables, but dried fruit & fruit juice are good, calorie-dense carbohydrates, any protein - lean or not, plus lots of fats).

I think you guys can probably get your own breakfasts & lunches, and when you eat together, you can cook a main dish you both eat; something like chicken or fish, plus a whole grain, plus a vegetable (and include a little fat). That's your wife's meal (plus maybe a piece of fruit), then you add a big glass of whole milk (like you planned), plus something like a bagel with peanut butter or a big serving of trail mix.

Regarding your wife's hunger - definitely don't aim for a 3lb a week loss - that's way too much. 2lb max, and if she's too hungry on that, aim for 1lb a week loss. Better slow & steady. Also, you could swap out the 100-calorie pack for something like an apple, which is bigger, has more fiber, and is much more filling.  And, she should probably add something with protein & fat to the air-popped popcorn for additional satiety - maybe cottage cheese, or a nonfat greek yogurt & a few nuts, a string cheese, beef jerky, edamame or soy nuts, etc.

Spoiled Candy_ We are sharing an account. About the weight loss, we will also be doing workouts to assist in weight loss. I am willing to increase calorie intake though if it helps. But as for the diet itself, what would you guys recommend adding or subtracting?

At first you add things.  You add an extra fruit and veggie.  Try something new, a walk around the block.  As you are doing this as a couple try taking a dance class or some kind of hobby.

When you add things and start good habits the bad just seem to dissappear on their own.

When I started here I was eating a bag of chips a week and lots of deep fried foods.  After a couple of months of eating 2000 calories and adding healthy whoe grains and just in general whole foods my bad eating habits started to go away without my even realizing it,

The other problem with 3lbs a week is that you are likely to lose muscle mass in addition to fat.  Depending on how much weight you have to take off you may find that a much more modest goal of 1-2lbs a week or even less is much more effective.

Any plan that is not sustainable is not likely to work.  Try adding in some snacks for your wife of tiny cherry tomatos, celery, carrots, bell peppers, or whatever veggies or fruits she likes, maybe some sliced chicken or turkey breast and a handful of almonds if she's feeling hungrier.  For you, double the nuts and use a bit of dressing to dip the veggies or a cream cheese spread with some crackers.

It is highly advisable to use two accounts since you are two different people.  It's much easier to use the tracking tools for nutrition and weight if you're entering one person for each account and don't have to guesstimate differences.

Hi there, I thought I would chime in. I am at 1400 calories a day and my fiance about 2000. The trick we have both found is to break up our meals into mini meals.

I eat my breakfast at several different times throughout the morning. I eat my first part at 830ish, then 10ish and a small snack about 1130. I normally eat lunch about 1 and also break that up.

I have found that if I eat 3 items at once or 1 item I am still hungry within a few hours. I have found flavored rice cakes and fruit to be my saving grace for snack. I pack a full lunch box full of things for the day but it is within 600 calories for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Which leaves me 600-800 for dinner and an evening snack.

The key is to be prepared so you dont have to turn to fast food. I have been doing 1400 calories for over a year now and feel very satisfied with it. I have lost 65 pounds with the 1400 calories and my workouts.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

So weird this is the same situation me ad my boyfriend have. I need/want to lose weight and he needs/ wants to gain weight.

It is odd but that is why I thought I would say something. 1400 calories has worked very well for me for over a year now. My fiance is actually trying to loose about 60 pounds and he is suppose to eat 1985 a day so maybe your boyfriend needs to up his some to actually gain?

I have found that having a power smoothie- a protein source (1-2 tsp peanutbutter, whey, 1/4c yogurt or 1/2 c. skim milk (you can use chocolate too), frozen fruit and some ground flax- works great in the AM to get me started- I have some in the morning and then some in the afternoon around slump time.

Also snacks about 2 hours before meals help... string cheese and veggie juice, toast and pb, nuts and yogurt, oatmeal, veggies and hummus, you get it :) 6th meal is dessert- something small, but yummy :) (fat free pound cake with berries or something)

Meals- combo of protein, veggies and whole grains

that gets me around 1500-1800 calories a day and keeps me from cheating...  but I am just starting this eating pattern, so I don't have results as proof of this working, but it feels good so far :)

Here's my 2 cents.

My husband is not trying to lose or gain but I am trying to lose. Typically, I save a large portion of calories for supper so I can cook something that is higher calories. Then I just have a smaller portion of it. It works for both of us. As far as snacks. Your wife should probably up her calories since I am on 1400 (ish) calories at 135lbs working out 5 times a week to lose. Also for an afternoon snack I like watermelon. It's a lower carb fruit that's also low in calories and because of the high water content it is super filling.

I would second most of the advice already, but would add that you would both benefit from more whole grains (she would need to limit to about 1/2 cup servings).  They are very satisfying, and provide a lot of good nutrition.  Bulgar in particular is quick to fix, and very satisfying either hot (like a pilaf) or cold (like tabbouli salad).  Also, beans like kidney or garbanzos might be good for both of you.  I think she would be much more satisfied at 1700 to 1800 calories per day, and aiming for more than 25 grams of fiber a day.  This would allow her to lose about 1 pound a week, and if she could commit to moving an additional 30-45 minutes per day, she could lose about 1.5 pounds a week.  I know that sounds slow, but it will be much easier on her, and probably easier to maintain if she goes more slowly.  And really, what is the hurry?  You have your whole lives in front of you.

I would also second the idea that she should open her own account.  She will have a lot more success if she feels as if she "owns" the process.  It is great that you are supporting her, but ultimately, she will only succeed if she is doing it "her" way.

Your wife is about my size (started at 242 in August, now 232) 5'6" and I'm 27 and sedentary.

I find I'm getting much better results and less desire to "cheat" on 1800 calories than my previous attempt that was at 1400-1500.  3 lbs a week is probably not realistic past the first week or 2.  I'm losing about .5 - 1 lb a week, but I feel like I could keep at 1800 calories forever if I need to unlike my previous attempts at 1200 and 1500 cals that have failed because I couldn't stick to them long-term.  Calorie Count gave me calorie goals that were too low for me, and I've had better results using a calculator I saw others here recommend on the forums: http://www.phord.com/cc/

To make your meals more filling, add vegetables.  Add cucumber, shredded carrot, spinach, onions, red and green pepper to your salads.  Add some cooked vegetables to your dinner.  It helps to add fiber and avoid too much sodium in your foods.

A suggestion for you  would be to look into peri workout nutrition. ( just google it to research it ). It will help you gain muscle mass faster, along with other benefits.