Chubby Trainers & Nutrionists

jesse1379

I was watching the news this morning, and the commentator did a featured segment on "nutrition." The newscaster interviewed a local nutritionist on the show as she discussed at-length "good, healthy lifestyle choices."

There's no nice way to put this, so I'll just throw it out there... she was chubby. Noticeably chubby. And, I'm not sure exactly why, but this phenomenon bothers me greatly, and has for a while.

Now, before my collective Haters light their own hair on fire and start banging away on their keyboard in retaliation, I'm not "anti-chubby." There are many, many heavyset people at my gym, and anyone who knows me, will affirm that I'm their biggest cheerleader... (though I do look a bit odd in a skirt and pigtails).

I'm also aware that there are many reasons someone may be heavy... So, before you derail the discussion by hopping up on an e-soapbox, championing the rights of the glandularly-challenged, save the effort and try not to exacerbate your ever-developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

That said, image is a part of everything we do. When you see someone for the first time, you don't bask in their inner beauty and depth, until AFTER you get to know them. As mammals, our first impressions of a person fall into three basic categories...

- "Hey, you're attractive. I would like to propagate my genetic code with you and fondle your naughty bits..."
...or
- "You scare and/or intimidate the *kitten* out of me. I need to flee, fight or pee in every corner of the room..."
...or
- "Holy crap, WTF happened to your face? Did you mother breed with a wildebeest?" ...

- Or something in between all of the aforementioned.

Which leads me to my point... Is anyone bothered by "fitness-nutritionist-type-professionals" who clearly do not look the part?

Is it utterly ridiculous to have a "chubby" nutritionist or "flabby" personal trainer?

Or does it fall under the same notion that your heart surgeon doesn't need to have heart disease to be a good cardiologist?

Happy Monday.
Keep being awesome.

As a trained fighter you should know that a lot of the most well respected "trainers" are the older and out of shape ones...especially in boxing. They do not necessarily LOOK the part but the knowleadge they possess is far more valuable than if they have a nice set of guns or not. Look at what Cus D'amato did with Mike Tyson. Another good example would be Roy Nelson, who does not look the part of a elite level fighter at all but is a ranked top 10 heavy weight mma fighter in the UFC.

So yea it does bother a little bit but I know that it could go either way. To me its just an indication of lazyness or lack of motivation rather than a lack of proper training or education. But I can see your point too.

kdeaux1959

Great response Sarah!

crazy4lulu

i have been on both sides of this fence. i was overweight. way overweight due to pregnancy. i got in shape. i got my certification and i practice what i preach. you have to look the part to keep the part. you have to be able to do what your clients do, or there is no sense on being in that occupation!!!

jlapey

My first experience with a gym was Curves. The woman running the place during the day, taking my measurements and showing how to use the equipment, was enormous....

To be fair, it is called "Curves," not "Bunch-O-Lil-Skinny-B!tches" ...(hahaha... sorry, I couldn't pass that one up)

:laugh: valid point

:indifferent: Very funny.

but seriously, she was a wonderful woman and I felt blessed to know her. She was the most kind and caring person I've ever met. We pushed each other towards our goals and made good progress until the location was shut down due to crappy ownership.

korsicash

You don't want the bank manager to look like a street hobo so yeah valid

Kerri_is_so_very

I have always followed the rule...never trust a skinny cook or a fat dietician

I have a similar rule: "Never follow a fat guy into the bathroom."

Mine is close to that "never follow a guy in to the bathroom" lol

x_JT_x

I guess, for me, it boils down to something along the lines of in a field where the end game is based on visual aesthetics, it would be important that they practice what they preach if they want my business.

Is that what hiring a personal trainer or dietician is all about, or is looking better just icing on the cake, so to speak?

Count me among those who say, "it depends on how chubby." Honestly, there are a few personal trainers, both female and male, that look like they could be professional bodybuilders. While I respect the dedication of a person who pushes his or her physique (and who is blessed with good genetics), I don't necessarily believe that such a physique automatically means they know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition or personal training. And, just looking young and fit also doesn't mean all that much. So is being a bit chubby disqualifying? Not necessarily.

I am not a personal trainer, or nutritionist. But having been through this whole weight loss thing a number of times, I might know more than a person who "looks the part" but is, in fact, just blessed with good genetics, and youth. Over the years, I have been in shape, and I have been out of shape. I have spent years eating healthy, and years eating less healthy. The thing is, even when I am in shape, BMI suggests I am still "overweight". True story. Back in the early 90s, I was visiting a old friend and his brother, who was just out of high school. I was fit, but still chubby, probably weighing around 220 or 225. Anyhow, I played tennis with my friend and his brother and to his brother's surprise, ran him ragged on the court. Later, feeling embarrased, the brother challenged me to a push up contest since he didn't believe that I lifted weights 4 to 6 days a week. (He was kind of young, I know) So I said sure. Though he was younger and leaner, I still doubled the number of pushups he did. So though he looked the part, I was actually much fitter.

Interesting that you quoted that particular part of my post above, but selectively left out this part of it:

Now, agreed that a thin and apparently fit nutritionist could be eating everything under the sun and just be genetically blessed so in that case, my argument goes out the window.

GorillaEsq

I guess, for me, it boils down to something along the lines of in a field where the end game is based on visual aesthetics, it would be important that they practice what they preach if they want my business.

Is that what hiring a personal trainer or dietician is all about, or is looking better just icing on the cake, so to speak?

Count me among those who say, "it depends on how chubby." Honestly, there are a few personal trainers, both female and male, that look like they could be professional bodybuilders. While I respect the dedication of a person who pushes his or her physique (and who is blessed with good genetics), I don't necessarily believe that such a physique automatically means they know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition or personal training. And, just looking young and fit also doesn't mean all that much. So is being a bit chubby disqualifying? Not necessarily.

I am not a personal trainer, or nutritionist. But having been through this whole weight loss thing a number of times, I might know more than a person who "looks the part" but is, in fact, just blessed with good genetics, and youth. Over the years, I have been in shape, and I have been out of shape. I have spent years eating healthy, and years eating less healthy. The thing is, even when I am in shape, BMI suggests I am still "overweight". True story. Back in the early 90s, I was visiting a old friend and his brother, who was just out of high school. I was fit, but still chubby, probably weighing around 220 or 225. Anyhow, I played tennis with my friend and his brother and to his brother's surprise, ran him ragged on the court. Later, feeling embarrased, the brother challenged me to a push up contest since he didn't believe that I lifted weights 4 to 6 days a week. (He was kind of young, I know) So I said sure. Though he was younger and leaner, I still doubled the number of pushups he did. So though he looked the part, I was actually much fitter.

Interesting that you quoted that particular part of my post above, but selectively left out this part of it:

Now, agreed that a thin and apparently fit nutritionist could be eating everything under the sun and just be genetically blessed so in that case, my argument goes out the window.

CONSPIRACY!

dorothytd

Reading through these, it seems like the biggest difference is "first impression" vs. "knowing." As nice as we want to be, we're ALL struck by first impressions. So if a health professional doesn't fit the ideal mold, he/she is going to have to work harder to make you want to stick. When people meet me, they have no idea I'm a lawyer - I don't fit the mold (although I am pretty conservative). So I've been able to use this many times to my advantage. As for being an exercise instructor (which I realize isn't the same as a trainer), I try very hard to make a good first impression - I hope that my students see something they want to achieve. If I get a chance, I share my story as well, because maybe they don't!

At the end of the day, I want to have kicked a lot of butt - both figuratively and literally! But I'm not perfect and try to keep an open mind - I've been outrun and out-boxed by a lot of folks who weigh more than I do. (And impressed by other women who don't fit the lawyer-look mold, either!) No matter what you look like, I am going to get to know you better before I spend my money, or take what you say on tv (or MFP) as gospel.

LorinaLynn

I'd want a trainer or nutritionalist to be more fit than I am. Just like I'd want someone teaching me how to paint to be a better artist than I am.

That's not to say that there's no room for a somewhat less fit trainer. When I started here, my criteria would have been much lower. Just like my art teacher in grade school showing us how to use crayons wasn't quite the same caliber as the dude teaching oil painting in the style of Old Masters in college.

wildcatnyc

I agree with you completely...there's a great quote that I saw the other day: "Only take advice from people who are where you want to be. Because most people are dangerously stupid."

martintanz

I guess, for me, it boils down to something along the lines of in a field where the end game is based on visual aesthetics, it would be important that they practice what they preach if they want my business.

Is that what hiring a personal trainer or dietician is all about, or is looking better just icing on the cake, so to speak?

Count me among those who say, "it depends on how chubby." Honestly, there are a few personal trainers, both female and male, that look like they could be professional bodybuilders. While I respect the dedication of a person who pushes his or her physique (and who is blessed with good genetics), I don't necessarily believe that such a physique automatically means they know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition or personal training. And, just looking young and fit also doesn't mean all that much. So is being a bit chubby disqualifying? Not necessarily.

I am not a personal trainer, or nutritionist. But having been through this whole weight loss thing a number of times, I might know more than a person who "looks the part" but is, in fact, just blessed with good genetics, and youth. Over the years, I have been in shape, and I have been out of shape. I have spent years eating healthy, and years eating less healthy. The thing is, even when I am in shape, BMI suggests I am still "overweight". True story. Back in the early 90s, I was visiting a old friend and his brother, who was just out of high school. I was fit, but still chubby, probably weighing around 220 or 225. Anyhow, I played tennis with my friend and his brother and to his brother's surprise, ran him ragged on the court. Later, feeling embarrased, the brother challenged me to a push up contest since he didn't believe that I lifted weights 4 to 6 days a week. (He was kind of young, I know) So I said sure. Though he was younger and leaner, I still doubled the number of pushups he did. So though he looked the part, I was actually much fitter.

Interesting that you quoted that particular part of my post above, but selectively left out this part of it:

Now, agreed that a thin and apparently fit nutritionist could be eating everything under the sun and just be genetically blessed so in that case, my argument goes out the window.

Just using that quote as a jumping off place to make my points.

GorillaEsq

When people meet me, they have no idea I'm a lawyer - I don't fit the mold...

Hmm. I wouldn't understand this.. at all. Weird.

dorothytd

When people meet me, they have no idea I'm a lawyer - I don't fit the mold...

Hmm. I wouldn't understand this.. at all. Weird.

LOL - and after this weekend, will continue not to tell them. A LOT of requests for free advice for some reason. None of them my practice area, of course... :grumble:

DanaDark

Several things for the OP to consider...

1. Knowing what to do is not the same thing as following through themselves. Their jobs require they KNOW what to do, but does not require that they do it. Many boxing coaches for example could never actually enter the ring themselves.

2. Maybe they simply DON'T CARE anymore. Perhaps they've reached a point in their life where being skinny and in shape is no longer important to them. So, they know what to do, but are happily on the chubbier side.

Insisting that a trainer and/or nutritionist be skinny and in shape in order to have any validity in their profession is the same as insisting all chef's be fat.

sma83

Ive been fat for the last 12 years. I would totally judge a trainer or nutritionist that wasn't in shape. If Im coming to you for a very important need (learning how to get myself back from where I am at today with my health and weight) then I need to have confidence that you are the person to help me out. If you look like me then Im just not gonna feel very confident in the information you are trying to pass on. I agree with you 100% on this topic and applaud you for having the man parts to tell it like it is! :flowerforyou:

99clmsntgr

I'll agree with many of the other replies that this industry, fitness and nutrition, has a strong "judge the book by its cover" aspect to it. Should it? No. Does it? Yes.

"Ugh, that guy's my trainer? How's he going to help me when he clearly has 50 to lose himself?"

I will say, however, that I know this to not always be true. The guy who hosts the monthly poker game I play in weighs 265-275 pounds. He admits this. Why? He power lifts and his only goal is to "pick things up and put them down." True power lifts. He squats 500+ lb and has put up a 300+ lb bench press. In his garage is the evidence of his lifting heavy things -- a bent weight bar (something about putting every piece of round metal with a hole in it in his garage on the bar and having to stop when it started to fold in half), photos and videos of his son doing said 500+ lb squats (his son, a senior in high school is also impressive. Not just the squats, but the fact that he can bench press 225 lbs, one of the key measurables at the NFL combine for linemen, almost 20 times. That's more than a lot of the guys who were drafted in the first day last year). He has more chains than I can shake a stick at and a fridge full of random protein drinks/bars/etc. He eats 4000 calories a day and admits he could "stand to lose the body fat" (which would probably get him down to about 250), but just doesn't want to.

BUT. This guy knows more about working out, beit cardio or weights or whatever, nutrition and general "how a generic body will respond to..." stuff than anyone else I know. He's not certified, doesn't plan on it, it's all things he's gone off and read about (in real, published studies and books, not just random webpages). Some of the better advice on getting my body to recover properly from a 13+ mile run have come from him. If I were to see him walking toward me as my trainer in the gym, all the hair would stand up on the back of my neck and skeptic 99clmsntgr would appear and he wouldn't get a chance. But, because I know him, I know he knows more than I do. And I trust him.

Funny how that works out.

GorillaEsq

I agree with you completely...there's a great quote that I saw the other day: "Only take advice from people who are where you want to be. Because most people are dangerously stupid."

Oddly, I interject that last sentence into every conversation I possibly can.

Example:
Me: "Because most people are dangerously stupid."
Other person: "So, you don't want fries with your Big Mac..or...."

martintanz

When people meet me, they have no idea I'm a lawyer - I don't fit the mold...

Hmm. I wouldn't understand this.. at all. Weird.

LOL - and after this weekend, will continue not to tell them. A LOT of requests for free advice for some reason. None of them my practice area, of course... :grumble:

I get that, too. When someone tells me, I don't seem like a lawyer, I usually take that as a compliment.

beckyboop712

I personally don't judge until I know someone's story....even then I find it hard. A good friend of mine was a personal trainer and for a long time, she was a size 12 like I was at the time (I'm currently at 16/18) because of various injuries that did not enable her to do much more than walk. After she recovered, she probably dropped to a size 6 or 8.