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Anonymous
You do know the purpose of calculating BMR, right? Habitually eating less than her body's minimum daily caloric requirement (which is what BMR is essentially) will slow down weight loss, and may adversely affect her metabolism in the long run. She needs to eat at least as many calories a day as the BMR recommends.
She needs to- -Eat whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat breads and pastas, etc.), a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables (frozen is also acceptable, watch for added salt or fat in canned veggies), lean meats and low-fat or fat-free dairies every day. -Limit things that are fried or contain refined sugar to "special occasion" foods, but don't cut them out entirely. A main reason diets fail is because too much depravation will eventually cause the dieter to cheat or give up. Allowing "junk" once in awhile (as in, a few times a month) alleviates the cravings and helps keep dieters on track. -Exercise at least 4 days a week. Get a heart rate monitor to make sure she's working hard enough. Take breaks if she needs to, or start slow with low-intensity stuff, because working so hard you hurt yourself and are unable to exercise the next day is counterproductive. -Visit a doctor to rule out medical causes for her weight. She may have a slow metabolism caused by inadequate thyroid production, or she may be on medications that cause weight gain. -And finally, don't judge weight loss by the number on the scale, and don't compare her own weight loss to others'. In fact, hide the scale if she has one, and don't buy one if she doesn't. Women lose weight much slower than men, and constantly seeing not much progress in terms of number loss can get very discouraging. Increased muscle mass from more exercise, as well as water weight from the menstrual cycle, can skew results. Judge weight loss from how your clothes fit, and how you feel ("I feel less tired after this workout than I did a month ago!").
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