My trainer is upset with this week's 2 lb. weight loss

missan2net

Aloha, I started my "Fat to Fit" journey on July 14. Started off at 262 lbs. Began eating clean (I don't eat red meat, stopped eating white rice/bread and all the other crap I used to eat). I started working out by walking and just doing videos at home. 2 weeks in, I decided to join the gym. I swear I live at the damn gym now. Since then I'd lose about 5 lbs. a week. However today, Day 39, I only lost 2 lbs this week. I now weigh 231.6 lbs. but I know my nutrition is on point (I haven't eaten anything different, in fact at times I think I'm not eating enough cause all I ever eat is oatmeal, eggs, salads, fruit, chicken or fish) - 1200-1500 calories, sometimes less!. It's SUPER hot this summer, so I've been drinking a lot of water. I know I've busted my *kitten* working out this week (I have an Apple watch that shows how much I've burnt with activities and just in general), usually a 3000+ total calorie burn . I can fit smaller clothes now, I feel good, I can RUN now (I used to be a bed potato...totally skipped the damn couch cause I was so lazy!) I'm not sure what else to do. I can't workout more than I already am, and if I eat any less I swear I'm starving. I don't want to beat myself up for the lower number this week, but since he's pissed now I'm starting to get upset. Arrrrrrgh! Thanks for listening, whoever you are. Feel free to add me, I need all the support I can get!

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Maybe get yourself a new trainer that understands weight loss?

jennifer_417

Wait...your trainer is legit pissed off at you for "only" losing 2 lbs? Why would you want to train with someone that volatile and makes you feel so bad?

malibu927

I would ditch the trainer. Two pounds is the most you should be losing per week.

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

You don't pay a trainer in order to deal with his emotional issues. Either he's supporting and inspiring you or he's gone, simple as.

iwearthejumper32

Busting your a** does weird things with the scale sometimes. I did P90x once and the scale did not move for 3 weeks. And then it did. A lot. Don't despair! Take measurements instead/in addition. Pay attention to how good you feel! Also... Two pounds ain't nothin- give yourself permission to feel good about ANY weight loss. Keep going... You're killing it!!!

Sued0nim

5lb a week is too much ..although early weight loss is ok due to water weight

2lb a week is ideal

I'd be slapping your trainer upside the head, how dare he be dispensing advice in a professional capacity when he clearly doesn't know healthy weight loss rates

Weight loss is not linear...you may have weeks when you're doing everything right and your weight stalls, or even increases

Water weight impacts on scale weight with change up in exercise, hormones around ovulation and periods, sodium intake

Start plotting your weight loss in a tend line tracker ...I like trendweight.com it automatically feeds my MFP weights in via my fitbit (you can also set up a free fitbit account without having one and do the same) and gives me lovely graphs that calm me down about ongoing weight

makemybodysing

I agree with everyone else, ditch the trainer, it sounds like he isn't properly qualified. 5lb a week is not healthy and you could be losing muscle as well as fat. 2lb is sustainable long term - but if you're training properly, you should be gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat, and that can even mean you won't lose an ounce some weeks.

999tigger

He's an idiot, Its not linear and he should know that. You could lose 5lbs next week. Tbh 1-2lbs is the normal rate of healthy weight loss sp as pointed out above you have been losing at al most an unhelathy rate.

SeriouslySta

Slow and steady wins the race.

(In general, each 25 pounds of excess weight translates to a half-pound per week reasonable loss... After the initial water weight, a person who is 100 pounds overweight could lose 2 pounds per week without undue stress on his body; the same person with 20 pounds to go should look for 1/2 pound per week.)

Consider your achievements so far an excellent jump start - but do your psyche (not to mention your skin and gallbladder) a favor: Scale back your gym and diet restrictions to a sustainable level.

Going forward, think of it this way: Whatever you do to lose the weight, you should be prepared to do to maintain the weight loss.

oh_happy_day

Ditch the trainer. You're doing great!

Francl27

You don't need such drastic measures to lose weight. There's no such thing as 'clean' eating. Eating too little, restricting food groups and spending your time at the gym is not sustainable.

Please fire your trainer (unless you're some actress or something who needs to get fit for a role and doesn't mind gaining weight back after) and find a SUSTAINABLE weight loss plan.

stephanieasllani

You go girl! Keep up the good work! If you have been working out for 5 weeks now, it's time for you to start gaining muscle, so don't sweat the 2lb loss because that could be -3fat +1muscle.

Some advice that I would give to you is to give yourself more calories. You should be supplying your body atleast 1000 cal. Think food-workout=1000+ (not including everyday activities like regular steps and housework,...) You will only lose weight at this pace for 2-3 months until your body goes into reserve mode And your metabolism takes a beating.

I agree with SeriouslySta what you do to lose you should do to maintain. Scale back diet restrictions to teach yourself moderation for success in the long run. I always say "1 small cookie with my lunch didn't make me 325lbs., 10 cookies everyday did!" Give yourself some credit! You are doing awesome!

Also, start keeping a NSV journal! There will be weeks where you don't lose any weight, and being able to look back at all the non weight related accomplishments helps!!

disneyfan85

2 lbs is healthy! That's the max you're supposed to lose well into your weight loss. Otherwise you'll get really sick. Sounds like a meat head.

DanniB423

I hope you are joking.

pootle1972

What an absolute tosser. ......dump his *kitten*.

sheermomentum

How do YOU feel about paying this person to make you feel bad? I would be pretty pissed myself at his attitude. Put him on notice that he needs to change that attitude, or yeah, just fire him and use the extra cash to get some new workout clothes. Not sure what value he is adding to your life anyway.

Bonny132

2lbs is a very healthy and good loss, personally I would find myself another trainer, and IF I were to rely on the PT for nutritional advice, they better have a degree in nutrition. A lot of things influences your losses, TOTM (for us women) carb intake and salt. Keep up the good work girl, and stuff the trainer, he/she should be encouraging and motivating you, not the opposite.

missan2net

Mahalo everyone for the kind words of advice. I'm up early here in Hawaii (4 a.m.) ready to start a new week and continue on with my "beast mode" as I've been doing. I even told him from the beginning, 2 lb. loss weekly is the ideal and he's like nope, you have a lot to lose and can lose more than that. Grrrrr. I know what I'm doing is working, I'm going to follow what MY body tells me, not some guy who I think is too obsessed over only a 2 lb. loss. He even told me to NOT do any weights this week so he can see if I'm really losing any weight. Psssssh. I'm not listening to him this time. I'm going to do my weights as regularly scheduled anyway. :-D Thanks again everyone, and I'm also on IG (with pics of my daily journey!) as Alohagoodies.

barbecuesauce

missan2net wrote: »

Mahalo everyone for the kind words of advice. I'm up early here in Hawaii (4 a.m.) ready to start a new week and continue on with my "beast mode" as I've been doing. I even told him from the beginning, 2 lb. loss weekly is the ideal and he's like nope, you have a lot to lose and can lose more than that. Grrrrr. I know what I'm doing is working, I'm going to follow what MY body tells me, not some guy who I think is too obsessed over only a 2 lb. loss. He even told me to NOT do any weights this week so he can see if I'm really losing any weight. Psssssh. I'm not listening to him this time. I'm going to do my weights as regularly scheduled anyway. :-D Thanks again everyone, and I'm also on IG (with pics of my daily journey!) as Alohagoodies.

What everyone else said. Yikes. Can you get another trainer? This one's got an ego and a poor understanding of your needs.

To address the bolded: Theoretically, you might be able to have a daily deficit of more than 1000 calories. But underfeeding yourself leads to health problems, not to mention it isn't fun. Also, even if you have everything on point, that isn't a guarantee that you're going to lose every week--hormonal fluctuations, exercise water weight (from weights, to give an example), and brief stalls will all hide your loss from the scale. Weight loss isn't linear. There will be weeks when you don't lose at all, no matter what you do.

I can't believe he would advise you to skip weights for this reason and I wonder if he has an ulterior motive, like a contest to see whose clients lose the most each week. If so, this might be a person who tries to push you when you're not physically up to it.

It sounds like you have the right attitude towards your loss, and I'm sure you will see a lot of success in the future.

zoeysasha37

Two pound is fine. Your trainer is an idiot . find a new one.
You shouldn't expect 5 lb losses all the time , initially its okay but 2 lbs is a lot better. He should know all this

Bonny132

His attitude to you, his paying customer really does worry me, go with your gut feeling. Yes of course we can all loose more than 2lbs per week. CAN, is it healthy? No, is it sustainable? No, will it make you keep with the programme? Most likely No. By starving yourself you are more likely to break and go back to your habits. I myself have been there and done it. Slow and steady wins the race, although I would argue at 2lbs a week, it is not slow at all, 104lbs a year, just think about it. Besides weight training will help you tone up and loose inches, and at the end of the day the inch loss is more important than the scales. I am amazed he has not taken your measurements compares those regularly.

cwolfman13

ditch the trainer...

on a side note, I was not aware that red meat was dirty...

ninerbuff

I had one of my previous clients lose 100lbs in a year with just sessions with me (cardio on his own) and calorie counting with no restrictions on what to eat. That's about 2lbs a week.
You're trainer is a bit overzealous in your training. Are you both in a contest for weight loss? I've been in those against peers for contests and it can get maddening because it shouldn't be a race.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MKEgal

+1 to "fire the trainer".

You probably don't need to have someone there with you all the time anyway. Just hire someone (with credentials)
to help you set up & learn an exercise program, one that you can increase the intensity as you get stronger & lighter,
and has enough variety so you don't get bored & stop working out.
That should take maybe 3 visits.
Then you might want to check in every couple months for a tune-up on technique, or to learn something more advanced.

Here's where you can search for people in your area who are certified by the American College of Sports Medicine:
http://members.acsm.org/source/custom/Online_locator/OnlineLocator.cfm

BTW, someone who is only a personal trainer is (almost always) not qualified to advise on nutrition.
It's not in their scope of practice.
So unless he has a degree he hasn't told you about...
And his certifying body (if any) might be interested in knowing about him, his attitude, and his advice.

He should not be berating you for a perfectly healthy & reasonable amount of loss in a week. Yes, there will be
some when you'll lose more, and some when you lose less, esp. as you get closer to a healthy weight. But you're
doing FINE right now. Making small sustained changes, and building on them, has better long-term results than
what he's trying to do.



Read these, especially sexypants.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819925/the-basics-dont-complicate-it/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/872212/youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

MKEgal

BTW, your dietary restrictions (not eating certain foods because you think it's healthier) don't have a thing to do
with losing weight. That's all CICO. You might be eating less because you're stuck with the same foods & are bored.
That's real. That's why buffets cause people to overeat. We like variety.
And "clean" is a meaningless term w/r/t food, unless it refers to washing produce.
Eating fewer processed foods and more whole foods is healthier in several ways, and will give you more volume
for the same calories.

tiredofthisbelly

Maybe he was working at the 7-11 before the gym...

ninerbuff

tiredofthisbelly wrote: »

Maybe he was working at the 7-11 before the gym...

Is that implying that people working at 7-11 are unintelligent?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

azulvioleta6

Francl27 wrote: »

You don't need such drastic measures to lose weight. There's no such thing as 'clean' eating. Eating too little, restricting food groups and spending your time at the gym is not sustainable.

Please fire your trainer (unless you're some actress or something who needs to get fit for a role and doesn't mind gaining weight back after) and find a SUSTAINABLE weight loss plan.

Eating a reasonable amount of good food and working out regularly is not drastic.

Keep up the good work...your trainer needs to chill.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

makemybodysing wrote: »

I agree with everyone else, ditch the trainer, it sounds like he isn't properly qualified. 5lb a week is not healthy and you could be losing muscle as well as fat. 2lb is sustainable long term - but if you're training properly, you should be gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat, and that can even mean you won't lose an ounce some weeks.

no,and no to the info I put a line through. I agree with ditching the trainer though.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

stephanieasllani wrote: »

You go girl! Keep up the good work! If you have been working out for 5 weeks now, it's time for you to start gaining muscle, so don't sweat the 2lb loss because that could be -3fat +1muscle.

Some advice that I would give to you is to give yourself more calories. You should be supplying your body atleast 1000 cal. Think food-workout=1000+ (not including everyday activities like regular steps and housework,...) You will only lose weight at this pace for 2-3 months until your body goes into reserve mode And your metabolism takes a beating.

I agree with SeriouslySta what you do to lose you should do to maintain. Scale back diet restrictions to teach yourself moderation for success in the long run. I always say "1 small cookie with my lunch didn't make me 325lbs., 10 cookies everyday did!" Give yourself some credit! You are doing awesome!

Also, start keeping a NSV journal! There will be weeks where you don't lose any weight, and being able to look back at all the non weight related accomplishments helps!!

its not recommended to go below 1200 calories,not to mention you dont gain muscle in a deficit except for maybe slight newbie gains and it wont be enough to show on the scale. That will also taper off as well.