To listen to my trainer or not to listen to my trainer....

yankeedownsouth

Took a look at your pics. You don't want the scale to go down that I can see!! I think you were right on track from the start and your plan was and is a great one!

Absolutely this. I can't imagine why he'd want to decrease your weight; it's obvious that you are at a great weight.

I agree with the poster who said to continue to use the trainer for lifting form only.

Shaybug

Took a look at your pics. You don't want the scale to go down that I can see!! I think you were right on track from the start and your plan was and is a great one!

Thanks for the support mmapags and yankeedownsouth!

bricktowngal

I would go with your gut feeling on this it obviously worked for you in the past.

Shaybug

What's the point of paying for a trainer if you're not going to follow his/her advice?

I'm not paying him. He is a trainer at my gym and my gym gives 3 free lessons/evaluations per 6 months so I thought I'd try it since I am interested in lifting heavy and getting away from VLCD....I needed/wanted somebody to show me how to do the heavy lifts correctly so I wouldn't look like a dumb girl or hurt myself. Since then he has started giving me input and advice when I go and this was his advice this week after asking me if my weight had changed.

Dont' let this guy get to you. He's a "free" trainer and I'm sorry but with an RN you probably know far more about nutrition than he does. Your pictures show a very well proportioned woman and you want to get stronger. He's giving you canned B.S. advice that will work against your goals.

Agreed, Thank you!

psuLemon

I would stick with your original plan, especially if it you haven't been doing this routine very long. Also, if your focus is strength and cutting fat, than 1700 calories is a good target. This puts you in the range where almost every single women I have run numbers for. Cutting calories back to 1300 will just hurt your strength gains and could prevent fat loss. BTW, I ran your numbers in your profile and 1700 calories daily is a good target.

1700 net or 1700 a day gross?

Well originally, this was 1700 gross. You eat the same thing daily. But since I just realized she is an RN, I would say no less than 2000 calories daily. The deficit is baked into the numbers over the week as opposed to a daily deficit. This is based on using the Katch McArdle formula which incorporates lean body mass.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

What exactly is the problem? Do you simply want to be eating more, or are you unhappy with your progress so far?

I thought I was doing great by lifting heavier with each work out and not gaining weight even though I was eating 300-700 calories more than I have in 5 years.

Total of 1300 calories feels like he never listened to my history or goals. If I lose a pound a week for 8 weeks that puts me at 5'4" and 112 pounds. How can I increase my strength by doing that?

I know how to lose weight with low calorie intake- that isn't my goal.

You will increase it and gain the strength you are looking for, he is only trying to decrease your body fat for the next 6 weeks so you can gain the muscle tone you are looking for.

It is only 6-8 pounds of fat. Trust him. Do what he says for the next 6 weeks and if it doesn't work and you don't get results then challenge him. But right now, you should trust him. You gave him goals for your body, you might have to shave off that last 6 pounds of fat to get you where you ultimately want to be when you walk down the isle.

I adamantly disagree. A lot of trainers know very little about human physiology, metabolism, and the repercussions of low calorie diets on the endocrine system. I wouldn't decrease your calories at all as you don't have much weight to lose--if you'd like to reverse the adverse effects of having eating so little for such a long time then you need to keep your calories up.

Oishii

It sounds like you know what you want:

No weight loss
To eat a good amount
To be stronger

The trainer seems to think you just want whatever he thinks everyone else wants!

My one conversation with a trainer at a local gym involved her telling me that I had to do low weight high rep on the machines before moving on to free weights. I said I knew this wasn't true. This conversation proved to me that if I ever use a PT, I'll have to work hard at finding the right one. I think you know his advice goes against your goals, so I wish you all the best in doing it your way.

servilia

I haven't read all the responses but someone already touched on this - strength doesn't always correlate to weight (I say this because you seem to assume that you can't get stronger if you lose weight but I could have misunderstood you). You can get stronger at a lower weight. So his low cal idea won't necessarily hinder you. Perhaps he thinks you'd want to lose some body fat % for those new stronger muscles to show through?

mmapags

It sounds like you know what you want:

No weight loss
To eat a good amount
To be stronger

The trainer seems to think you just want whatever he thinks everyone else wants!

My one conversation with a trainer at a local gym involved her telling me that I had to do low weight high rep on the machines before moving on to free weights. I said I knew this wasn't true. This conversation proved to me that if I ever use a PT, I'll have to work hard at finding the right one. I think you know his advice goes against your goals, so I wish you all the best in doing it your way.

There are some good trainers but they are few and far between. Most are not very good. Searching for the right one is critical.

rml_16

I haven't read all the responses but someone already touched on this - strength doesn't always correlate to weight (I say this because you seem to assume that you can't get stronger if you lose weight but I could have misunderstood you). You can get stronger at a lower weight. So his low cal idea won't necessarily hinder you. Perhaps he thinks you'd want to lose some body fat % for those new stronger muscles to show through?

She's 5'4", 119 pounds and TINY in her photos. She doesn't WANT to lose weight. The trainer isn't listening to her at all.

servilia

I haven't read all the responses but someone already touched on this - strength doesn't always correlate to weight (I say this because you seem to assume that you can't get stronger if you lose weight but I could have misunderstood you). You can get stronger at a lower weight. So his low cal idea won't necessarily hinder you. Perhaps he thinks you'd want to lose some body fat % for those new stronger muscles to show through?

She's 5'4", 119 pounds and TINY in her photos. She doesn't WANT to lose weight. The trainer isn't listening to her at all.

If she's happy with her appearance, then great!
OP, why don't you just come out and ask the PT what he's trying to achieve with the calorie restriction? Tell him you don't want to lose any weight or body fat %, that you just want to gain strength. I'm curious as to his answer..

sarahstrezo

You and I sound like we have very similar goals!
I am 5'5" and started off at about 133-135lbs with 27%BF. My goals were to initially get down to 125. I did that with just diet and running....but I wasn't impressed with what I saw in the mirror. And that's when I realized that I needed to start lifting. I started heavy lifting about 3 months ago and I could not be happier!
Since then, I've had to increase my calories to net 1900...I eat back almost ALL my excersize calories...if I don't, I don't seem to have enough energy the next workout.
My scale has stopped moving down...in fact, it's slowly moving up....and, you know what??? I don't care! Because, according to measurements, my BF% is continually going down and my LBM is continually going up! I love the changes I see in the mirror and I absolutely LOVE how much stronger I feel everyday and at the gym! I no longer care what the scale says and I love food!!!