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Hi all! I don't think this question has been asked/answered before and the internet has thrown up a lot of conflicting advice.

Basically, I'm in the last stages of leaning out. I listened to a Robb Wolf podcast about oestrogen and once of the pieces of advice for women leaning out was to eat more protein. I'm allergic to most dairy so decided to try egg white protein rather than risk an adverse reaction with whey. This is the stuff: http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/egg-white-powder.html

Could the excess calories from this hamper the last stage of my leaning out? I only have a very slight amount of fat left, maybe 0.5 inches off my thighs to go, but that is the first place fat goes on me and the last place it leaves! Should I give up the protein and just eat real food?

I've been taking 30g or so PWO as a shake with goats milk (only dairy I can tolerate) a banana and pure cocoa powder or some frozen berries. I eat dinner maybe 1-2 hours after this.

Background info: I'm a 25 year old female, I've been doing paleo for 8 months, am 5'3" and I've lost 6kg (59kg to 53kg) which I know doesn't say much — my body composition is miles better though. I lift (heavy) free weights for 30-40 min at least 3 times a week, alternating between focus on legs and arms. I also walk around 30 mins or so everyday, more on weekends. I switched over to general low carb in the past month or so, which has accelerated my progress (I have 1-2 medium size bananas a day, one is PWO and my only other carb sources are green veggies which I don't really count)

Typical day's food for me: Breakfast: Coffee with goats milk, scrambled eggs. Snack: banana or coconut chunks. Lunch is leftover dinner from the night before, examples of both: fish, red meat or venison (can't stand poultry) with asparagus, spinach or courgettes and a glass of red wine. I cook with grassfed butter or coconut oil.

Treats like dark chocolate or white rice or a sweet potato are increasingly rare but do happen sometimes, however I haven't found it THAT hard to lose the weight so far or I'd be more strict. I'd just like to accelerate this last part :) Any advice would be appreciated!

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4 Answers

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Don't overthink it! Ditch the processed foods and let your body do the rest. Why eat eggs in a powdered form when the natural form is so good and whole? If you want more protein, eat more fish. As a general rule, I'd recommend avoiding as many liquid calories as possible. For instance, protein powder has its uses, but it also generates a huge insulin response, and it's not that nutrient-dense.

Also, if your goal is to lose weight, try to avoid calorie-dense, low-nutrient density foods, especially bananas. If you must eat fruit, eat the choicest ones, like berries, apples, pears, bell peppers, cherries, plums, etc.

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 I've since this question ditched the protein shakes and bananas (still have some berries as a snack now and again) and my body comp is already improving! I think you're right, whole foods > liquid food :) – Deniz Aug 28 at 8:47
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"Could the excess calories from this hamper the last stage of my leaning out?" Short answer: Yes. If you redistribute those calories by subtracting elsewhere, then you haven't anything to worry about. Can you drink your coffee black? Go without the red wine (don't hurt me)? If so, that might be a quick and easy swap.

On a more meta note, I'm not a big fan of liquid foods for people attempting to lean out. However, if it's working and you're not ravenous, by all means keep going.

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I've only been doing it a couple of weeks, to be honest I'm not sure how much it's helping because I don't use it as a meal replacement — I just know it's difficult to eat the 1g/lb of body weight in whole food and apparently women almost never accomplish this — then again Robb Wolf also doesn't advocate smoothies either. You see what I mean about conflicting advice! – Deniz Aug 10 at 18:20
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If weight loss were my goal, I'd choose a whey protein over an egg white protein because whey is specifically shown to reduce apetite and induce satiety.

Tropical Traditions has a goat milk whey protien pwoder that you could purchase, although, since whey is whey, I'm sure i'd like to bet that it is the cow casein that you're reacting to, and not the whey, so you'd probably be fine supplementing with a high quality whey protein isolate. NOW foods has an unflavored whey protein isolate that I've used. If you don't mind the artificial flavorings, I prefer any of the artifial sweeteners over stevia, so Dymayize Iso-100 has worked great for me in the past and is so incredibly easy to digest. And yeah, soybean oil is on the container as a listed ingredient, but the amount is so miniscule that there is less than .5g PUFA per 25g of protein.

Your diet and exercise routine look decent. For exercise I'd alternate lower body and upper body (delts, back, chest), not lower body and arms.

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Thanks very much! I'll give whey a shot :) And meant to say upper body, I work my delts and back but might need to add in chest too. Thanks again! – Deniz Aug 10 at 18:15
No problemo. Good luck with your composition goals. – foreveryoung Aug 10 at 18:41
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I would eat whole eggs. Yolks have all the good stuff.

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