Any advice for improving my diet chart?

Question

I am 30 years old woman and weigh 53 kgs.My height is 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m). I have been working out for 5 years now with 1 year gap in between when I gave birth to my girl in 2011 December. I have stared working out again and little close to my pre-pregnancy weight which was 51.5 kgs .The problem is the stomach and love handles, otherwise I have strong and lean limbs with a lean look overall.

I basically do cardio for 20 mins + weight training 4 days a week with long walks on remaining days. I burn 200 cals on a cardio workout in one session. I train all major muscle groups by including squats, pushups and free dumb-bells. Here is my diet chart on most days-

8:00 AM Oats & Milk + Egg white

9:30 AM Lemon Tea/Green Tea w/o sugar or substitute

11:15 AM Sandwich (2 brown bread + sauce/spread)

12:50 PM Lunch - 2 Chapati(Thin wheat bread) + veggies + pulses + salad +rice(optionally)

3:00 PM Apple or Fruit or Juice before/after workout

6:30 PM Tea + Biscuits

9:00 PM Dinner - similar to lunch + curd +salad

11:30 PM Milk

This comes to roughly 1600 calories. Please suggest any improvements in the diet or my routine to knock off last couple of kgs and reduce my tummy and sides.

Answer 1

Your diet needs significantly more protein. Despite what you may think, it won't make you gain body fat. Quite the opposite actually. When body-builders/fitness models are cutting their body fat they tend to increase their protein and fat intake.

• For breakfast you should eat regular eggs along with egg whites. It will help with absorption and digestion while giving you the fatty acids you need. Try 1 boiled egg and 3 egg whites. You should also be eating a small serving of fruit or juice as well.

• Add some sort of meat to your sandwich. Once more protein is essential for fat loss and you don't have any here.

• I would avoid the rice and chapati's as you already ate two slices of wheat bread an hour before and consumed enough fiber. Once again add some meat with your veggies. As far as the rice is concerned, if you are Indian and your goal is fat loss, your carbohydrate tolerance might be pretty bad. Try to avoid rice for a while.

• If you are consuming juice after your workout this is fine as long as you are waiting about 30 minutes but consider a protein supplement and a vitamin. This is the time when your body will truly require it. Personally I would just eat some fruit as opposed to the juice.

• Avoid the sugary biscuits and tea if it has cream and sugar in it. It is fine once in a week or so but not good every day if you are trying to cut bodyfat. Tea would be beneficial at this time assuming there is not cream or sugar.

• You shouldn't be eating carbohydrates very late at night. If you have to eat something, consider eating a very small portion of some almonds, pecans, and a few berries just to prevent hunger. You will consume your essential fats and reduce your caloric intake this way.

• A little milk is fine before bed and should help you get to sleep as well.