Coming to Senses

Question
Dear Dr. Ryan: I am a 5'3 (160cm), 27 year old professionist, and I have
struggled with food ever since I was a teen. When I was 14, I weigh 183
pounds. Fortunately enough I found a nutritionist who safely brought me
down to 132 pound (took me years), and finally, when I was 24 I combined a
low carb diet and exercise, and got 110 pounds and very fit. That was when I
lived in London for my masters and I walked every where. However, when I
got back to Mexico I began to gain some weight and I got scared. I engaged
in lind-of a yo-yo diet, dropping my calorie intake to 600 - 700cals per day
(limiting carbs to fruits, yogurt, and vegetables) during the week (while
exercising a lot) and indulging my self during the week-end. it worked for
around a year and a half. However, this type of diet backfired. I gained 15
pounds in 6 months, and I was not as fit as before. I was eating little and
began to retain liquids. I whent to a nutritionist who told me I was starving
my self, so my body started to store fat, and when I exercised, probably my
body burned muscle, not fat (even if I did not eat carbs). She told me I should
keep going to the gym to build muscle, and that whe was going to introduce
some carbs during 15 days (in breakfast), to see how my body reacted. I want
some advice from you as I want to tone my body up, to eat correctly and to
stop my body to use my muscle! would you give me some advice on my
current diet, exercise program? I go to the gym first thing in the morning,
without eating. I do 1 hour resistance training (stability ball and weights), and
after, 20 - 30 mins of cardiovascular exercise (not going over 80% zone).
After an hour (9:30am) I take my "carb breakfast": 1 cup of corn flakes, 3/4
cup of non fat natural yogurt and a cup of strawberries. Around 2:30pm I will
have for lunch 3.5ounce chicken breast, a big mixed green salad with tbsp of
olive oil as dressing and a cup of broccoli. at 8:30pm I will have a 1 egg
omelette with 2 cups of mushrooms and a sliced tomato. As snacks I can
have a cup of tomato juice and / or a piece of fruit. I usually have the tomato
juice at 12:00pm and at 5:30pm.
My nutricionist says I should bring up my calorie intake very slowly, and
slowly re introduce carbs as well. what do you think? is my metabolism
messed up forever, is this good strategy?

Answer
It sounds like you have found someone that truly understands nutrition and exercise.  Your new exercise program is exactly what I recommend to clients; you need to build muscle to burn fat.  The weightlifting prior to aerobics is also what I typically recommend.

Your diet is also right on track with my program.  Eating small portions (focusing on protein for the muscles) every three hours keeps your metabolism at a constant.  In fact, many international models eat that way to stay slim.  

You're eating carbs in the fruits and vegetables so I guess that the 'evil' carbs are the breads, pastas, and rice.  Stick with 100% whole grain breads, brown rice, and try some spinach pasta as you reintroduce them into your diet.

Overall, you're doing great and this program will work if you stay with it.

Thanks for your question, Alicia.  I hope that my answer helped you.

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