MFP vs Personal trainer

mandijo

So I just joined a gym and have had a couple complimentary personal training sessions to go along with my membership. I've been talking to my trainer about my habits and what I've been doing and he had asked me how many calories I was consuming. I told him about MFP and that their goal for me was 1460 calories per day. His mouth about dropped to the floor. He said it was far too little calories for me and that I should be consuming no less than 1800 calories per day, 2200 if I'm strength training. He also told me I had to eat my exercise calories. He said I needed to boost my metabolism and 1460 was too low of a number to do that. I've been on MFP since January and have done my fair share of hopping off the wagon. I'll exercise well for a week but then not eat so well and the next week I'll eat great but never exercise so I really couldn't tell you how well 1460 worked for me other than I lost 11 pounds towards the beginning of the year. Since i've slacked off quite a bit, I've gained almost all of it back and haven't been on the program consistently.

I'm curious if any of you have had this same issue with a trainer/doctor/nutritionist telling you that you were eating too few. Did the new number help your weight loss or hinder it? Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you!

mymelody_78

My trainer told me 1400-1500 vs what MFP told me (1200). I am eating my exercise calories based on what a lot of posts on here are saying. I have been doing pretty well without my trainer (they get pretty expensive) and I definitely go over a little bit all the time. In order to get a really good read, you may need to get a body bug.

megsta21

My Doctor told me to eat 1000-1200 cals only and not my exercise cals.... I was on 1600 a day (lose 1lb option)....

I didnt wanna go that low so i reduced it to (lose 1.5lb per month) 1370 cals a day....

AlexTCasas

Hmmm, a fellow Iowan here at MFP...I think it is the first time it happens..

I can only talk about my experience. I am at 148 and I stand 5 8 1/2 and my calorie goal for MFP is 1710. I exercise 3 time a week, where I burn like 900 cals. I eat between 500-700 of them. In these conditions, I loose about 1/2 a pound per week. When I go over 1900 cal/day. my weight is stable or upwards. I know these for a fact because I have been here for almost three months logging every single meal. I do not know your height and weight (and this is crucial here), but I 1400 calories for a woman seems quite right if you want to loose weight and exercise regularly. I am pretty sure that at 2200 cal, (assuming you eat your exercise calories) you will gain weight..

Hope it helps.

LuckyLeprechaun

a personal trainer may not realize that MFP has already built in the deficit, and may also not realize that MFP is designed so that you DO eat your exercise calories. It's important to describe the calories you're eating as NET calories. Perhaps that is the source of the confusion...?

binary_jester

Check out this thread...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

bluestareyes

I don't have much experience with trainers, I did swim competitively for 8 years where I ate like a horse while never gaining a pound though. The thing is, calories are really just energy.
It makes sense that if you are working out more (or burning more calories in general) that you will have to eat more so your body has what it needs to function. Working out also speeds up your metabolism just as eating more frequently but smaller meals does because it is making your body work. Working too much and burning all of your calories could lead your body to think you are starving (so it stores up fat) or just becoming malnourished in general.
The site has a way of changing your plan that you can adjust to fit what your trainer tells you or if you are doing more than their custom settings.
Key point is: Your body needs energy and something to work off of. Muscles don't appear out of no where and if fallowing what your trainer tells you doesn't work out than you can always go back to the old way. Just make sure your calories are from healthy food not extra chocolate bars!

mzenzer

I eat at least half but sometimes nearly all of my exercise calories and I still lose weight. In what MFP tells you, are you including the exercise calories that you log? That's probably why the trainer freaked out, because you are already eating under what your BMR is, probably, and then you exercise. I don't know about 2200 I eat around 2400 but net about 2800 a day with exercise and I'm a 208 pound man. It would be different for you but yes it sounds a little low if you are not including your exercise calories.

Amarillo_NDN

every one has their own ways of thinking what is best. MFP tells you the more you work out, the more you eat. Others say don't do it. Even my dietian thinks I shouldn't eat my excersise calories.

Personally I think the best judge is your body. It will tell you what you need. if you work hard it will need food, if you don't work hard it won't.

As for your trainer, you are paying him, so personally, I would listen to him.

binary_jester

I am trying to stick to the link I just posted. I consumed 2132 calories, but (using a HRM) burned 1190 calories working out, leaving me a net of 942 calories for the day.

izobel

Sorry not a direct answer to your question but is calorie consumption under 1500 a day maintainable for life? I'm tall (180cm, 5'11"), and maybe it is not the same for shorter females, but I need (like!) food. I put myself on 1600 calories a day and then eat every single exercise calorie which is usually over 600 a day. It is great motivation to get those running shoes on for a quick 40 minutes and having well over 2000 calories at my disposal gives me great food choices. At 1600 I keep non-exercise days to a minimum (once a week) because it is such a measly miserable amount to eat.

I guess my point is most people are trying to make a lifestyle change rather than just lose weight, up the calories and put it all back on and I honestly don't see less than 1500 calories being sustainable. IMHO.

Anyway good luck with the trainer. Must be very motivating :-)

mandijo

Thanks for all the advice! I'll look into that link. I'm not paying him because these are just complimentary sessions, and I have a feeling he's giving me a generalized plan and not one catered to my size and heighth. I told him about the calorie deficit and eating back the calories, but he seemed to brush it off a little bit. He's pretty passionate about www.mypyramid.gov which is great but when I browsed it, the site gave me a calorie intake of 2200 without asking a single question about my body. I'm not too thrilled with it. He said I needed to boost my metabolism with that many calories. Forgive my "stupidity" but what exactly does that mean? How long does it take to do this? and can I go back to the normal calories after I've been boosted? Thanks again you guys! I appreciate the advice!

LuckyLeprechaun

every one has their own ways of thinking what is best. MFP tells you the more you work out, the more you eat. Others say don't do it. Even my dietian thinks I shouldn't eat my excersise calories.

Personally I think the best judge is your body. It will tell you what you need. if you work hard it will need food, if you don't work hard it won't.

As for your trainer, you are paying him, so personally, I would listen to him.

it doesn't take much to be a personal trainer. You have to look physically fit, be reasonably attractive, and be able to tell people how to work the machines. That doesn't make them experts. IMHO.