Weight loss not working

[CrispsCrispsCrisps]

My sister is trying to lose weight. She's going to the gym every day and doing a spin class then cardio for an hour.

She's eating porridge for breakfast and salad for lunch and eats nothing for dinner. She isn't losing any weight. I think this is because of the lack of food and frequency.

Any tips anyone?

I think you're right. I dated a gym-rat once and I suspect he'd advise she eat more - a sensible diet, regularly, and alternate one cardio day with one weights day to build up muscle (which will use up calories even when not doing anything). I'd suggest she book a couple of sessions with a personal trainer at the gym and get their advice.

How long has she been doing this for? What kind of salad is she having - it's quite possible to eat a hugely calorific salad - esp when you feel it's the only thing you eat. Also the same for porridge - big bowl with cream and maple syrup (yum!) isnt low calorie.

I would also question her lack of evening meal - is she sneaking in snacks and simply forgetting about them. I'm not convinced her intake is as small as she suggests, am also not convinced that if she is eating a minute amount of calories that she would be able to stick to it for any prolonged period of time especially after doing 2 hours of cardio every day - that amount of exercise makes you hungry!

Hello
Sounds like your sister has put her body into what is call 'starvation mode' or a famine state, whereby a lack of all the essential nutrition is causing her body to protect itself by not letting go of the fat stores.
Exercising is a fantastic way to get healthy and support weight loss, however as fat is converted to muscle which is heavier, you won't see the results on the scales, but you will tone up, look and feel better. The answer is the right amounts of a healthy balanced diet for the body's weight/height and aim to follow the recommended guidelines to lose a healthy 1-2lbs per week.

I've asked her and she isn't snacking. In fact she's hardly eating and is taking Acai berry which is an appetite suppressant. I don't think this is a good idea and she needs small meals more often like suggested.

Starvation mode doesn't sound good. She said her skin has changed and not for the better. My guess is due to the lack of food

speaking as a gym bunny who has look into the scientific basis of "starvation mode"
(a) Starvation mode does not kick in till 4 days of no food at all _ in the western world its a lie

(b) if your sister is doing as she says she is a liar. She's snacking or mis reading her portions ...

Talkingpeace2, so what would you suggest?

I suspect her portion control is cockeyed
OR
that she is getting far more calories from drinks than she realises

a poster on a 5:2 thread realised that she had not calorie counted her six cups of tea a day - each made with full fat milk and three sugars.
a bottle of red wine has 580 calories
and diet drinks actually make your body retain weight because they muck up your insulin system

How long has she been dieting/exercising for? Is she currently overweight?

If it was me, I'd try tracking everything I eat and drink using something like MyFitnessPal for a few days, just to check whether I wasn't getting more calories than I thought I was.

I am a bit sceptical about 'starvation mode' too -- and even allowing for that, you should still lose weight if you are really 'hardly eating' for a prolonged period of time.

shameful health abuse going on. BTW is she really overweight?

throw away the acai berry, it is a scam. If there were magic pills no-one would be fat.
she should eat about 1800 calories a day - and salad in the winter is horrible, as well as a food-miles disaster. How about some decent seasonal veg in a brown bread sandwich?
if she isn't eating anything from lunch until breakfast the next day she must be hell to live with.

she does know that with sensible eating and some exercise (and she's doing lots of that) that she should expect to lose no more than a pound a week, if that?

I hope that she does also know that dieting is a waste of time? That she needs to look at a sustainable lifestyle change, which this isn't?