Personal trainer says not eating enough what do I do

lisa_roberts

I was just wondering if you guys could help? I've been going to a gym I'm having a personal trainer she says I'm holding 47% water which means I got too much salt in my diet when I told are what I've been eating and told her about this app she says I'm eating far too little food and I need to be eating more, but at the same time I don't want to over eating I'm not sure what to do I haven't changed anything on the app since before I started the gym.

I don't suppose any of you know what to do I'm so confuse.

I just don't want to go wrong

When I've done so well so far

TavistockToad

How many cals are you eating?

What are your stats?

nutmegoreo

Height, weight, how much are you eating, how much are you losing, are you eating back exercise calories, are you using a food scale to measure all foods (including prepackaged and single items like apples)?

The answers to these questions will help provide enough information to give you meaningful advice.

kitchel2

Myfitnesspal tells you how much salt you are taking in and how much you are suppose to have. Same with calories. Our bodies are like 70% or 80% water I don't know how someone could tell you're holding 47% water as opposed to 41% or 55% etc. If you are a physique competitor or something it's one thing but if you are just a normal person working out to get fit and healthy you shouldn't have to worry about that to much if you are within reason of the sodium allowances you are suppose to have. If you want to gain weight eat more calories if you want to lose weigh eat less calories.
If you are holding subcutaneous (under the skin) water it will make your muscles look smooth(not toned, lack of lines between them). It may sound wrong but if you drink more water it will work as a natural diuretic and flush more water out of your system. If you are working though be prepared to run to the bathroom more times during the day. Try to eat whole foods not processed

lisa_roberts

I was eating 1330 a day
Weight is 98.6kg
Height is 175.5
Body fat is 37.6
Water retention is 47%

I wasn't eating back what I had exercised and originally I had my profile set at Stationery and I am now going to the gym three times a week

lisa_roberts

I am seeing a trained personal trainer at the gym xx

StealthHealth

How has you trainer determined you're t 47% water and why is she bothered about that figure? I ask because in my experience, trainers who manipulate water for weight loss (often by reducing the carbohydrate in a clients diet) are problematic and I wold generally advise people to avoid them.

Looking at your diary your cals in have a pretty high variance but you're averaging 1400 per day since July 1st, so nothing to be too worried about.

TavistockToad

lisa_roberts wrote: »

I was eating 1330 a day
Weight is 98.6kg
Height is 175.5
Body fat is 37.6
Water retention is 47%

I wasn't eating back what I had exercised and originally I had my profile set at Stationery and I am now going to the gym three times a week

how are you measuring bodyfat and water?

presumably thats to lose 2lb per week? looks fine to me, but you should be eating back exercise cals on gym days.

lisa_roberts

She had is wireless electronic scales which are in the gym and they measure your weight your body fat your water and your BMI it was all done electronically she wasn't bothered so much with the water she was just telling me that my salt intake was probably high which is why I was holding so much water should I change my profile to active as I'm going to the gym three times a week? Xx

TavistockToad

lisa_roberts wrote: »

She had is wireless electronic scales which are in the gym and they measure your weight your body fat your water and your BMI it was all done electronically she wasn't bothered so much with the water she was just telling me that my salt intake was probably high which is why I was holding so much water should I change my profile to active as I'm going to the gym three times a week? Xx

nope, activity level doesn't include exercise.

scales are pretty much useless for bodyfat so i would take what she says with a pinch of salt.

RodaRose

lisa_roberts wrote: »

I was eating 1330 a day
Weight is 98.6kg
Height is 175.5
Body fat is 37.6
Water retention is 47%

I wasn't eating back what I had exercised and originally I had my profile set at Stationery and I am now going to the gym three times a week

Stay at stationary.
Eat back some of the calories on the bike if you want.

Your trainer knows absolutely nothing about food.
She does know about workouts. Let her help you with those.

RedSierra

lisa_roberts wrote: »

I was just wondering if you guys could help? I've been going to a gym I'm having a personal trainer she says I'm holding 47% water which means I got too much salt in my diet when I told are what I've been eating and told her about this app she says I'm eating far too little food and I need to be eating more, but at the same time I don't want to over eating I'm not sure what to do I haven't changed anything on the app since before I started the gym.

I don't suppose any of you know what to do I'm so confuse.

I just don't want to go wrong

When I've done so well so far

I can't say anything about the 47 percent etc.

About salt: I have bordeline high blood pressure and am trying to avoid medicine. I found out I eat too much sodium, which causes water retention. I read that 80 percent of the sodium we eat is in processed/packaged food and 20 percent is from the salt shaker.

If you think you have too much salt in your diet, read labels for sodium and choose low sodium or no sodium items. Eat more whole food, fruit and vegetables without added high sodium dressing, seasoning, etc. Use spices to flavor food instead of salt.

Also, if you increase your potassium that will help eliminate some of the sodium. You can find lists of high potassium food online -- like bananas, almonds, avocado, lentils, etc.

Unknown

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jayemes

TavistockToad wrote: »

i would take what she says with a pinch of salt.

I see what you did there

deannalfisher

yeah - I'd take her advice - reason why - your body has both intracellular and extracellular water - during my last body scan, the two of those made up 80lbs of my body weight (lean muscle mass and fat mass being the other weight variables) - which is 53% of my overall body mass....

Katiebear_81

1300 calories seem low to me, but if you are losing weight, you have good energy and your health seems good otherwise, you could likely continue that deficit for a little bit.

I do agree with the others - eat back SOME of your exercise calories.

Francl27

Those scales are not accurate at all and I'm not sure I would trust a trainer that would say otherwise.

But 1330 calories for your stats IS too little (assuming you are accurate in your logging).

jgnatca

Yeah but why worry about water weight? Watching it go up and down will drive you batty.

If you restrict your salt you will see a quick drop on the scales. Then the next time you have a heavy workout session or have more salt or carbs it will shoot up again. Neither result on the scale will mean anything in regards to your overall fitness.

Muscles are great as they help you do more stuff.

A modest amount of fat is helpful to keep our energy levels up. But the chief goal for many of us is to reduce our body fat.

None of these fitness goals have anything to do with water weight.

lemurcat12

RodaRose wrote: »

lisa_roberts wrote: »

I was eating 1330 a day
Weight is 98.6kg
Height is 175.5
Body fat is 37.6
Water retention is 47%

I wasn't eating back what I had exercised and originally I had my profile set at Stationery and I am now going to the gym three times a week

Stay at stationary.
Eat back some of the calories on the bike if you want.

Your trainer knows absolutely nothing about food.
She does know about workouts. Let her help you with those.

Pretty much this. Stay at sedentary and eat back calories from the gym, based on what you do.

Don't worry about those gym measurements, they aren't that accurate and are largely for tracking. Water fluctuates a huge amount for all kinds of reasons.

It's the rare trainer that knows much about nutrition, my old one did all kinds of nutty things and I did my own thing on food and lost weight exactly as I wanted. On the other hand, she was fabulous help in the gym and I loved her (she's my former trainer because she moved back to Michigan, not any other reason).

VeronicaA76

Ask her specifics, or to help you make an eating plan. It might be that you're just not eating enough of the proper foods for your workout plan. This could just me miscommunication combined with limited information.

ninerbuff

Lol, half the trainers out there have no idea what water retention means. What if it's because you're able to store a lot of glycogen? Or what if you're going through muscle recovery?
Disregard the trainers advice on water. Muscle is made of water.
If you're not eating enough calories, just add a few more calorie dense foods like avocados to meet a higher calorie count.

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

HeidiCooksSupper

The average human body is 60% water to begin with. Since fat tissue has less water than muscle, body water percentages go down with increased fat. Arguably, getting your water percentage UP would indicate a leaner body. Here's a good page explaining it: https://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html

deannalfisher

BabyBear76 wrote: »

Ask her specifics, or to help you make an eating plan. It might be that you're just not eating enough of the proper foods for your workout plan. This could just me miscommunication combined with limited information.

not all personal trainers should be giving nutrition advice - in many states they aren't legally allowed to because of the restrictions on their certifications