Ladies i need your help **Updated with diet plan**

 I have a friend who is very skinny, basically eats naff all during the week then pigs out a bit at the weekend. She says she wants more energy and to look healthier but won't listen to me when i tell her to do this she needs to put on some weight via muscle mass.
 
she has no ass which she hates and her legs are very skinny so she has knobbly knees which she doens't like.
 
I'm just trying to find articles that are more aimed towards women with regard to diet and nutrition and training, not really from a bodybuilding point of view but more of a health and fitness standpoint.
 
her idea of training at the moment is a cup o soup for lunch and going on the x trainer for half an hr in evening, it seems almost impossible for her to grasp that to look better she need to eat and weigh more
 
help!

she sounds a bit messed up if she says she wants to look healthier, but then starves herself all week
 
If she really wanted to look healthier she would be eating more anyway! A girl joined the gym a while back, who felt too skinny and wanted to look healthier. At first I was sceptical - did she REALLY want to put on weight?? but she was given a 3000 calorie diet and by god she did it!! She took all the advice and started to fill out with some healthy LBM. Your friend sounds like she doesnt really want to change at all
 
if she has an eating disorder whatever you say isnt really going to make any difference.

Does she admire any "body" in particular? Athletes, celebs even? Perhaps go down that route - google articles about that person, what they eat and how they train (obviously this will only work if it's someone who's in the media for their personal training antics!)
 
Very hard to help someone unless they actually want to be helped and want to change - it has to come from her first...
 
Does she get that calories are a unit of energy? Therefore to have this extra energy of which she speaks, she needs to ingest energy first...?

i'm trying to negotiate 2-3 months of deidication next year hopefully from Jan 1st, that'll give me a couple of weeks to try and educate her a little get buy in and knock up a diet and training program.
 
Explaining to her she can eat 3 times as much and look better is hard for her and alot of my female friends to buy into and understandably so to a certain degree. I think its a lot easier for guys to accept a change in diet for women I think it take a big change in mental approach to food altogehter.

oh worth noting i guess that she used to be overweight until her early to mid 20's then slimmd down so she's paranoid that if she eats more she'll get fat again.
 

Dick Dastardly


I have a friend who is very skinny, basically eats naff all during the week then pigs out a bit at the weekend. She says she wants more energy and to look healthier but won't listen to me when i tell her to do this she needs to put on some weight via muscle mass.

she has no ass which she hates and her legs are very skinny so she has knobbly knees which she doens't like.

I'm just trying to find articles that are more aimed towards women with regard to diet and nutrition and training, not really from a bodybuilding point of view but more of a health and fitness standpoint.

her idea of training at the moment is a cup o soup for lunch and going on the x trainer for half an hr in evening, it seems almost impossible for her to grasp that to look better she need to eat and weigh more

help!

She strikes me as having an eating disorder, no amount of advice you give her will make her eat more.
Advise her to see her GP and see her reaction - gut instinct should tell you there is something really wrong in the scenario you have described..... to me it shouts eating disorder.

the only way she will see it works is if she tries it and sounds like you have a bit of persuading to do.   If she is used to dieting then perhaps will understand having short term goals so if you can get her to do 2-3months trial, then hopefully this will give her some proof.     
 
Ive got lots of mates who do the soup / slimfast / lighter life thing with no exercise and then complain about their loose floppy skin and no energy.   I cant persuade em otherwise they are all so bad tempered from hunger...!
 
good luck sounds like shes got a good mate in you

I just think she's scared to be honest and I can understand that.
 
If she's really afraid, just make incremental calorie increases, and then the moment she gets uncomfortable, you can stop where you are.
 
If she doesn't trust in what you're saying, it's unlikely you'll be able to help to be honest.

yeah trust is the issue, i can make sure she's follwing the diet so i need her to buy into it so she will actually do it. I'm hoping if she can be serious about it for 2-3 months she's see the benefit and then the habit of training will take over.
 
Thing that concerns me is i've never really written a diet plan for a girl so looking to start at around 2500 cals per day and slowly work up

I used to eat in a similar fashion at the beginning of my bulimia, I'm not saying she has an eating disorder but she is mirroring how I was.
 
She needs to eat more regularly, that way she'll also not feel the need to binge so much at the weekend.

well she's adamant she's going to give me the time in the new year and that she'll stick to the diet and training. guess i'll just have to wait and see

i'm looking at starting on weights only, 3x a week focused around the complunds not too heavy at 8-10 rep range.
 
diet wise i'll be looking to start around 1200 cals a day and move up 150-200 cals every week or so, very low I know but thats roughly what she's eating now,

ok this is the starting point i have atm diet wise, bearing in mind this girl eats very little usually
 
Meal 1
8.00
 
Oatmeal
Whey Protein Powder
 
1/2 cup
1 scoops
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meal 2
12 PM
Chicken or Fish
Green or Mixed Salad  (with non-fat dressing)
 
250g
1 1/2 cup
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meal 4
7PM
Chicken or Fish
Potato or Sweet Potato (cooked weight) 
Green vegetable (raw or cooked)
 
250g
150g
1 cup
 
 

What's meal 3?
 
You said she eats v little normally - those portion sizes actually look quite large (just going on what I eat when dieting, which is more like 120g chicken, and 130-150g *raw* weight potato). I'm just wondering if the size of those meals might freak her out? I've no idea - just thinking aloud. Will she not eat more frequently than that?
 
Good for you for helping her out, I hope she starts feeling better about everything soon. 

sorry thats meant to say meal 3 not 4. I agree on the amount of chicken etc, i'm aiming for a diet of around 1200 cals and work from there. I'll just bring the meat portions down a bit and cut off a lil potato, was considering lowering the oatmeal slightly.
 
I wanted to keep the carbs low ish to start with and move up gradually every week or two

Am I reading that right - 250g Chicken a meal? Raw or cooked weight that's A LOT of protein for the body to be able to process in one time...
 
Could you not give her a bit of variety/interesting stuff too? This is very basic and if it's too bland and she's not really into it, she may not want to stick to it
 
Either way, good for you for persvering with it, that's a great support

yeah bit of a mong there and left in the protein that i'm taking in, thinking 100g of chicken with the meals or tin of tuna at lunch for the fish.
 
Problem i'm having with variety is she doens't like rice or pasta (where this is genuine or a mental thing as they are carbs i'm not sure) so not go a lot or room to work with initially.  Plus if its simple she'll remember it easier then i can try and wein her into brown rice and pasta lol

Well, if it helps, I don't like rice or pasta either and haven't eaten either one for ages. Different scenario, as I'm not trying to gain weight whereas she is but just saying, there are plenty of other carbs. I get my carbs from potato, sweet potato, sometimes rice cakes for a bit of crunch, fruit, and lots of veg - all sorts including starchy stuff. Hopefully as time goes on and she grows to like eating, she'll start finding the things she really enjoys. There's so much out there to try, even just in terms of veggies! :)
 
PS How about some red meat and/or oily fish from time to time? Would she do that? 

wow ok need to re-asses as she's told me her weight is actually 49kg at 5ft 7in which is nothing.
 
I 'm having real difficulty trying to judge the level of carbs to put in and calories for that matter although i think 12-1300 is about right. New diet below
 
Meal 1
8.00
 
Oatmeal
Whey Protein Powder
 
 ½ cup
1 scoops
 
 
 
 
Meal 2
12 PM
Chicken or Fish
Green or Mixed Salad  (with non-fat dressing)
Banana
 
100g
1 cup
 
 
 
 
 
 
Meal 3
7PM
Chicken or Fish
Potato or Sweet Potato (cooked weight) 
Green vegetable (raw or cooked)
 
100g
150g
1 cup

Think you're doing the right thing, start low and increase slow.