Girlfriend can’t loose belly fat.

[AlexDavis43]

BigTomJ beat me to this by a lot, but I would go even further than him. Protein intake is a huge problem for some females, and I just don't get it. I would set for her an absolute minimum daily of 150 grams of protein.

I got my wife a trophy but had to push her protein up to 200 daily.

150-200 grams of protein day for a female could be almost half of her calories. Good luck adhering to that kind of diet. Hopefully only temporary and hope she doesn't get the protein farts.

 

[notanothersnake]

150-200 grams of protein day for a female could be almost half of her calories. Good luck adhering to that kind of diet. Hopefully only temporary and hope she doesn't get the protein farts.

Oh, I'm sure she's already got them. Bad...

 

[BigTomJ]

I don't know how to figure out protein on a vegetarian diet, sorry. Make sure she is getting all of the essential amino acids she needs

Quinoa is probably one of the best whole food options for vegans/veg for complete protein sources.

Greek yogurts if they don't have some moral issue with dairy products.

Other than that it's gonna be a lot of processed protein supplement.

 

[AlexDavis43]

Quinoa is probably one of the best whole food options for vegans/veg for complete protein sources.

Greek yogurts if they don't have some moral issue with dairy products.

Other than that it's gonna be a lot of processed protein supplement.

Soy products or rice & beans, also good protein sources for veg folks.

Dunno if she's also low carb. Cuz then it's soy and mixed vegan protein powders.

 

[malfeasance]

150-200 grams of protein day for a female could be almost half of her calories. Good luck adhering to that kind of diet. Hopefully only temporary and hope she doesn't get the protein farts.

150 grams of protein is 600 calories.

The 200 was mentioned in the context of me pushing my wife that high for purposes of a trophy, which she won, so, yes, it was temporary, but that is still only 800 calories for that temporary period.

- 4 calories per gram of protein

- 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates

- 9 calories per gram of fat <-- see the issue?

Also, most women (I do not know why) love carbs. Most women have trouble getting sufficient protein. On a vegan diet it is probably a lot tougher.

65 grams of protein daily is simply not high enough if you want to be effective in changing her body composition.

Recall the original post. This is not the beginning of a cut. There is still some stubborn belly fat, and she is stalled. Since she is stalled, something must change. There are some rather obvious nutritional strategies that are not currently being pursued. BigTomJ is a competitor and knows what it takes on the nutrition side to change one's appearance. I would listen to him if you don't listen to me (and there is no particular reason why anybody would want to listen to me, not an expert, not a coach, not even a competitor anymore). I still remember some of these strategies, however, and I believe that a nutritional change is needed if the OP wants to help his wife continue to make progress on her desired goal.

 

[AlexDavis43]

150 grams of protein is 600 calories.

The 200 was mentioned in the context of me pushing my wife that high for purposes of a trophy, which she won, so, yes, it was temporary, but that is still only 800 calories for that temporary period.

- 4 calories per gram of protein

- 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates

- 9 calories per gram of fat <-- see the issue?

Also, most women (I do not know why) love carbs. Most women have trouble getting sufficient protein. On a vegan diet it is probably a lot tougher.

65 grams of protein daily is simply not high enough if you want to be effective in changing her body composition.

Recall the original post. This is not the beginning of a cut. There is still some stubborn belly fat, and she is stalled. Since she is stalled, something must change. There are some rather obvious nutritional strategies that are not currently being pursued. BigTomJ is a competitor and knows what it takes on the nutrition side to change one's appearance. I would listen to him if you don't listen to me (and there is no particular reason why anybody would want to listen to me, not an expert, not a coach, not even a competitor anymore). I still remember some of these strategies, however, and I believe that a nutritional change is needed if the OP wants to help his wife continue to make progress on her desired goal.

600-800 kcals could be almost half of her calories, I don't know. 1400-1800 for a female in a cut doesn't seem unreasonable.

Going from 65 to 150-200 grams of protein is a big difference, especially for the reasons you mentioned. Women & protein... and now we're asking her to more than double it. I'm not against the suggestion, didn't mean to imply that. Just that it might not be very pleasant.

 

[Benf15harp]

Only good going higher protein/fat will do is reduce water weight due to carbs requiring more water than the other two. Might help temporarily.

 

[malfeasance]

600-800 kcals could be almost half of her calories, I don't know. 1400-1800 for a female in a cut doesn't seem unreasonable.

Going from 65 to 150-200 grams of protein is a big difference, especially for the reasons you mentioned. Women & protein... and now we're asking her to more than double it. I'm not against the suggestion, didn't mean to imply that. Just that it might not be very pleasant.

Diet is key for getting a really good physical appearance.

Small adjustments over time work. So maybe shoot for 80 grams of protein for a few days and then 100 grams, and see how things go. She is going to need to pull the fats down.

I realize she is not competing in wellness or anything, so maybe that would be enough to get her "unstuck" and making progress again. When she stalls, maybe an increase to 120 grams is in order.

Remember, too, that 4 calories from one gram of protein isn't really true. While there is that much energy to be unlocked, gaining access to it is metabolically expensive. Your body cannot "burn" protein. It must convert it to something else. Chemistry is expensive in terms of energy, and it takes energy to convert the protein into something that the body can use as energy instead of to use in the body as protein. Eating higher protein actually increases energy expenditure, which is useful when you stall.

Gluconeogenesis and energy expenditure after a high-protein, carbohydrate-free diet - PubMed

Forty-two percent of the increase in energy expenditure after the H diet was explained by the increase in gluconeogenesis. The cost of gluconeogenesis was 33% of the energy content of the produced glucose.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[malfeasance]

Only good going higher protein/fat will do is reduce water weight due to carbs requiring more water than the other two. Might help temporarily.

I don't think anybody recommended going higher fat. In fact, at least two of us recommended lowering fat.

 

[Benf15harp]

I don't think anybody recommended going higher fat. In fact, at least two of us recommended lowering fat.

Never said you did.