Eating clean, working hard, little results? I'm struggling to keep her focused!

Hi,
 
I’m writing this post on behalf of my Mrs.
 
We both started back up at the gym together on 9^th Jan 2012 (usually new years story), we’ve both been eating really clean but shes having really trouble shedding any weight.
 
Her daily diet:
Breakfast – Porridge
Mid Morning – Banana
Dinner – Vegetable soup
Mid afternoon – Pineapple chunks
Evening – Chicken breast, broccoli, 2 table spoons of cooked rice (small amount)
 
Breakfast – Porridge
Mid Morning – Banana
Dinner – Small ham omelette (no cheese)
Mid afternoon – Pineapple chunks
Evening – Home made beef stew (slow cooker) with more vegetables than you can fit in the thing!
 
Breakfast – Porridge
Mid Morning – Banana
Dinner – Jacket potato (small), half tin of beans or tuna
Mid afternoon – Pineapple chunks
Evening – 1 egg, 3 egg whites, ham omelette (no cheese)
 
Breakfast – Porridge
Mid Morning – Banana
Dinner – Vegetable soup
Mid afternoon – Pineapple chunks
Evening – 1 egg, 3 egg whites, ham omelette (no cheese)
 
Those are the meals we’ve been eating pretty much since we started, obviously varying them each day.
 
We go to the gym 4x a week, she does cardio  (cross trainer 15mins/running machine 30mins/rowing machine 5mins) whereas I do weights 3x a week and tredmill once a week.
 
I was weighing 233lb (16.67st) and I’ve lost 13lb in 3 weeks.  She started off weighing 11st & now shes down to 10.10.5st – So shes lost 3.5lb.
 
Shes massively disappointed with this and its really dishearting for her, especially when shes trying so hard.  I’m trying my upmost to tell her to stick at it, a loss is a loss etc. But I suppose when shes seeing me loosing 4lb, 5lb then 4lb in 3 weeks, she thinks shes doing something wrong.  I know my weight loss will plateau right out very soon & it I’ll start losing a lot less.
 
Any suggestions for her?  Is she doing anything wrong from what I’ve written above.. I’ve tried to capture everything.  But if theres anything you want to know, plz ask & I’ll reply straight away (email notifications)
 
Thanks alot.

It simply looks like you are eating too little.  You actually need to increase you calories to around 300-400 cals below your maintenance levels with cardio on top and you should start burning fat.
 
Also, the diets you are following are very low in protein.  As a result its possible you're body may not have enough protein and may end up attacking your bodies own muscle mass.
 
Whilst this may not bother you to hold muscle, for every extra 1lb of muscle you need 50 cals extra to survive so its worth holding onto.

^ This looks to be on the button.
 
Add to those calories a bit, and try and add it via clean protein (chicken, fish, lean beef, fromage frais, cottage cheese etc).
 
It might also be a good idea for the Mrs to do a few weights. People often think that women will get muscular if they do weights but this isn't the case. They will increase their lean mass (muscle), but they won't end up with big guns and wing-like back muscles unless they train specifically for that (and TBH, in most cases - add steriods). They will get more and more firm, fitter and stronger.
 
The increase lean mas from the weight training (assuming you get the diet sorted) will assist the cardio in matebolising the body, and ultimately utlilising bodyfat as a fuel source.
 
Finally, I know it's difficult but try and get to a stage where the scales are not the measure of success.
 
Try and assess how you feel, look, sleep etc as the indicators. Weight is obviously important, but bear in mind that as you both get fitter you might end up getting heavier as the lean mass replaces the fat.
 
I'm not a fan of the scales, in my experience they make people either unhealthily obsessed, depressed, or both.

Thanks for your replies both, very helpful information there.  I have said to her I think shes not eating enough, but I guess eating more puts her in the mindset of putting on more weight, when its not actually the case...  Lack of knowledge on both our parts is a key factor here as well I think.  I'll rethink the diet and go from there.
 
In my case, I'm drinking 60g protein shakes (100% Gold Standard) every other day so I am getting that little bit extra, but again, I will try and increase that as well.
 
At the moment we're both trying to loose around 1.5 - 2stone.
 
Its expensive trying to be healthy!!! :P

I used to think eating was more expensive but it doesnt have to be. For example, i went to Bolton market on Saturday and got 5kg of chicken for £20. Taste lovely and are massive as well. They also did a massive salmon which equated to about 6 fillets for £5. I went at the end of the day and picked all my fruit and veg for nothing as well.
I get 30 free range eggs from a local farm for £3 and also tuna and soya mince relatively cheaply.
May not all be viable for you dependant on where you live but if anything overall its cheaper if anything.
 
You have good intentions with your diet which just needs tweaking. I help people lose weight and the important thing for your missus is to persevere. So many times I see people not see a result and then give up. Your good intentions will pay off. Not so much about calculating maintenance but keep diet clean and exercise as you are doing. Remember dont  pin all your hopes on scale weight, weigh yourself and monitor once a week. Consider having a cheat meal at some point. I have found with clients, this keeps them motivated and doesnt really have any adverse affects.

You don't have to worry too much about the protein shake. Use it if you want but make diet your priority.
 
As mentioned above, eating clean is not too expensive. I but my veg from the greengrocers and meat from the butcher - the shopping for the whole family comes in at about £35/week like this. Ok, there's extra for cereal, fruit juices etc, and I buy my rice and wholemeal pasta in bulk bags from supermarkets, but it's a pittance really compared to what buying a load of packets, veg in little fancy trays, and supermarket priced meat costs.
 
I use some tinned food (tomato's, beans, sometimes tinned veg if I run out of fresh) and always keep stuff like spinnach and mixed veg in the freezer but generally speaking if it comes in a packet I don't eat it (excpet OATS, which are ace).
 
Eating clean is cheap and MUCH nicer tasting than eating dirty.

I've just got back from Makro.  Purchased 20 portions (2x LARGE breasts per portion) of chicken for £20.99.  Bargain!!

Three things;

1. Percentage weight loss, you are 5.6% your misses is 2.3%

2. Eat stop eat

3. Drink water like a fish

Eating healthy can be a little more expensive but more often than not its just not as convinient so we pick the easy sugary crappy foods. keep up the good work, im 2 days into a cut and all i want is haribo and dairy milk but too focused on my goal of a beach body for may!

Ok 3.5lbs in less than 4 weeks is actually quite good for a female. If you are following the same diet, it's obvious that since you have a higher body mass, are male and likely to have higher muscle mass too - that you are most likely in higher calorie deficit than she is, possibly twice as much.
 
Answer is keep on training, swap a couple of the cardio workouts into full body weight training sessions in for her, add some protein to her diet. Stay consistent and the results will come. I only expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week, 2 is only if I'm really lucky. The slower she takes it, the easier it should be to keep off. Also losing it slowly gives a better chance of retaining skin tone too.