Recent conversation with my trainer
MrsSki38
Posts: 68 Member
So I've been working out with a personal trainer about 4 weeks now. I have been wearing a BMF since early July and trust the results I was getting. I wasn't getting traditional exercise in any sense of the word. My high burn days were around 2100 and low burn days were closer to 1950. My average calorie intake was around 1500 - 1700. I was up and down the same 3 calories from May.
Every Monday I give my trainer the 7 day average report I pull from the BMF site. The first week I met with him I gave him my entire food diary for the week. Last week he wanted to have a conversation with me as he had something difficult to talk to me about. I thought he was dropping me or he wasn't going to train anymore (I was on the wait list for a year).
Mind you, my high burn days increased to almost 2500 calories (30 minute training session and a 5k run) and rest days are around 2100 calories. Average daily calories was still around 1500-1700 and the scale was creeping up.
He basically said that after reviewing everything I was giving him and his knowledge, I needed to eat more and needed to eat differently. He said that I was an endormorph (I thought he was calling me a super hero) and he took the liberty of determining my new macros and calorie goals. He gave me so much knowledge about endomorphs and the science behind it. He told me to consider his suggestions. Because that session was in the morning, I changed my goals on MFP to match his macros and have really been trying to stick to them. I'm consistently going over carbs by about 50% and under 50% with fats and protein. I bought a whey protein shake I really like and started drinking those twice a day to try to get to the protein goal. Fats are kind of hard but I'm sucking it up. Carbs are better but I have a serious attachment to them and the break up has been hard. Today has been the best lower carb day so far.
My trainer said that this week would be the week I would start to see changes. He asked me to not step on the scale for two days because he knows that I live by what the scale says (don't most of us?). I got on the scale today and did a very exciting happy dance. The scale has been hovering around 167 for several weeks. Today it was 162.8. I fully trust everything he's telling me and everything I've read here on EM2WL. It's understanding your body and finding that sweet spot.
I have plenty of jiggly yet and a long way to go. I'm bumping up my training sessions to 3x a week coupled with a 5k (walk/jog) on those days along with 2 other days giving me only one rest day. It's like a drug....I like the way it hurts.....
Every Monday I give my trainer the 7 day average report I pull from the BMF site. The first week I met with him I gave him my entire food diary for the week. Last week he wanted to have a conversation with me as he had something difficult to talk to me about. I thought he was dropping me or he wasn't going to train anymore (I was on the wait list for a year).
Mind you, my high burn days increased to almost 2500 calories (30 minute training session and a 5k run) and rest days are around 2100 calories. Average daily calories was still around 1500-1700 and the scale was creeping up.
He basically said that after reviewing everything I was giving him and his knowledge, I needed to eat more and needed to eat differently. He said that I was an endormorph (I thought he was calling me a super hero) and he took the liberty of determining my new macros and calorie goals. He gave me so much knowledge about endomorphs and the science behind it. He told me to consider his suggestions. Because that session was in the morning, I changed my goals on MFP to match his macros and have really been trying to stick to them. I'm consistently going over carbs by about 50% and under 50% with fats and protein. I bought a whey protein shake I really like and started drinking those twice a day to try to get to the protein goal. Fats are kind of hard but I'm sucking it up. Carbs are better but I have a serious attachment to them and the break up has been hard. Today has been the best lower carb day so far.
My trainer said that this week would be the week I would start to see changes. He asked me to not step on the scale for two days because he knows that I live by what the scale says (don't most of us?). I got on the scale today and did a very exciting happy dance. The scale has been hovering around 167 for several weeks. Today it was 162.8. I fully trust everything he's telling me and everything I've read here on EM2WL. It's understanding your body and finding that sweet spot.
I have plenty of jiggly yet and a long way to go. I'm bumping up my training sessions to 3x a week coupled with a 5k (walk/jog) on those days along with 2 other days giving me only one rest day. It's like a drug....I like the way it hurts.....
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That is so exciting! Congrats on your great progress! Welcome to the great world of feeling full and fueling your workouts with healthy choices - it is a wonderful place to be!0
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Sounds like you have a trainer that knows what he is talking about! SO nice to see:)
Dont expect to change your macros all overnight. Go slowly at it. Concentrate on lowering carbs and increasing your protein and fat. Get rid of any low fat or diet products in your house. Greek yogurt, lean meats, nuts, dairy.. these are great protein sources. For fat.. put some coconut oil into your shakes.. cook with canola or olive oil.. I actually used to put flax seed oil into my morning oatmeal..
Sounds like you are well on your way now!0 -
I could just cry over how awesome Randy is. I wasn't starving before but was eating a lot of fruit or low calorie items and not paying much attention to the other macros. Once I started reading about Endomorphs I kind of got it.
We don't have much low fat/diet food in the house. We are fairly decent eaters. We do buy reduced fat peanut butter but I just about want to throw up when I eat it. I may try almond butter. We are big greek yogurt eaters. Meats generally come from local farms because it's much tastier. I'm learning to be more heavy handed with the olive oil when cooking. I just forget to add it to my food diary. Can you get coconut oil at the grocery or would I need to get it from a health food store? Any particular brand that is better and does it add a coconut flavor?0 -
Just out of curiosity, what are your macro ratios set at now for your endomorph diet?0
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Mmmmm I wish fats were hard for me, they are one of my weaknesses.... coconut, almond butter, guacamole... mmmmmm0
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For a low burn day macros are:
Carbs 25%
Protein - 35%
Fat - 40%
I'm working on meeting these percentages before I even think about doing anything about the percentages for high burn days. Randy has me at 1999 calories per day for a non-workout day. I'm having a hard time getting close to that. He gets that and is super encouraging and gives me so many things to think about.0 -
Love, love, love your story!
Another great success due to eating more to weigh less. Way to go! You are lucky, having such a great Personal Trainer0 -
You have a very smart trainer!!! Keep up the awesome work!!0
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This is really interesting to me. Keep updating with your progress!0
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Nice to hear about a trainer with some commonsense. So used to hearing about ones saying cut,cut,cut!0
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Hw did he determine your body type? I'm curious as to what mine would be and how to eat properly for it
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I fit the typical traits of an endomorph almost to a 'T'. I was giving him daily averages from the 7-day report I can pull from my BMF as well as letting him know what I was doing outside of his training sessions. While he could see I was getting stronger through our sessions, had a deficit each week that should have me losing 1-1.5 lbs a week, my weekly weight submission wasn't budging or was continuosly going up a few ounces. And I admitted to him that I'm a carb junkie, which he could tell from the weekly food diary I had given him.
Check this out:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/body-types-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph.html
Typical traits of an Endomorph:
•Soft and round body
•Gains muscle and fat very easily
•Is generally short and “stocky”
•Round physique
•Finds it hard to lose fat
•Slow metabolism
If you determine based on the article above that you are a classic endormorph, read this:
http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/the-golden-rules-for-every-endomorph
Yes, it's from Men's Fitness but it's a very good read and very informative.
Randy advised me to eat plenty of lean proteins, good fats (nuts, avocados, olive oil, etc) and lots of veggies. As I trend towards fruits, he told me for every serving of fruit I eat, he wants me to try to eat 5 servings of veggies. I told him he was crazy. He said an easy way to do that is to put kale/spinach into a fruit smoothie. I have yet to even think about doing that because I have no patience for a blender (ours is fussy and I HATE cleaning it).
He also wanted me to eat 5 times a day and spread my calories evenly (1999 cals/day). Breakfast is the hardest meal for me. Randy suggested making a cup of coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. The next morning, add a scoop of vanilla whey protein shake, stir and add ice. Instant iced coffee and getting in protein. I haven't tried it yet because I like my coffee screaming hot. I do eat 2 Eggo Nutrigrain waffles with 2 tbsp nut butter (I eat it like a sandwich because I'm normally eating while walking out the door for work). I was having a banana with that but the carbs a banana has made me drop the banana. I'd prefer to have more carbs at lunch and dinner.
I'm to reserve starchy/sugary carbs only on the days I work out and to eat them immediately after working out.0 -
1)The mesomorph
2)The Endomorph
3)The Ectomorph
The ectomorphs are the lean, skinny types, They are usually very thin and bony, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat.
The mesomorphs are the genetically gifted types who are lean, muscular and naturally athletic.
The endomorphs are the fat retainers. Endomorphs have a round body shape and large joints (they are "big boned") and they often have great difficulty losing body fat.
Very few people are truly one type but its like a triangle and you fit into that triangle somewhere.0 -
This is awesome information - thank you for sharing!0
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Something else I found on the subject, possibly of interest.
Ectomorph: If you're an ectomorph, you're naturally thin with skinny limbs and a high tolerance for carbohydrates. Usually, your metabolic rate is fast. A good starting macronutrient ratio for you would be something like 25% protein, 55% carbs and 20% fat.
Mesomorph: Mesomorphs are naturally muscular and athletic. They have a moderate carbohydrate tolerance and a moderate metabolic rate. Mesomorphs can usually start at a 30% protein, 40% carb, 30% fat macronutrient ratio.
Endomorph: If you're naturally broad and thick, you're probably an endomorph. Endomorphs have a low carbohydrate tolerance and a slow metabolic rate. If you're an endomorph, try a ratio of 35% protein, 25% carbs and 40% fat.
I don't know how reliable this information is, maybe someone else will be able to confirm.
Quite interesting that endomorph is listed as gaining fat easily but it's carbs they suggest lowering and have a higher suggested fat % than the other two.0 -
wfte - The macro ratio for endormorph is what my trainer gave me to follow on a low burn day. I'm seeing him today so I'm going to ask him why the fat percentage is so high. I'll share with you what he says.
He's always given me the science behind what he's talking about and I've researched a couple things to confirm what he's saying and not just throwing stuff out there to make me believe him. I've yet to find anything contradictory/un-true in what he's told me.
I've been following the macros for a full week. The scale is staying consistent at 162.8 (day 3 of this after it fluctuating from 165-167 for weeks) and I feel so much better. While I'm not meeting any of the macros, I haven't gone over carbs by much in the last couple days and my protein is up since starting the whey protein drink 2x a day. I'm under fats by 50% consistently and still not meeting the caloric goal of 1999.0 -
I fit the typical traits of an endomorph almost to a 'T'. I was giving him daily averages from the 7-day report I can pull from my BMF as well as letting him know what I was doing outside of his training sessions. While he could see I was getting stronger through our sessions, had a deficit each week that should have me losing 1-1.5 lbs a week, my weekly weight submission wasn't budging or was continuosly going up a few ounces. And I admitted to him that I'm a carb junkie, which he could tell from the weekly food diary I had given him.
Check this out:
http://www.muscleandstrength.com/articles/body-types-ectomorph-mesomorph-endomorph.html
Typical traits of an Endomorph:
•Soft and round body
•Gains muscle and fat very easily
•Is generally short and “stocky”
•Round physique
•Finds it hard to lose fat
•Slow metabolism
If you determine based on the article above that you are a classic endormorph, read this:
http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/the-golden-rules-for-every-endomorph
Yes, it's from Men's Fitness but it's a very good read and very informative.
Randy advised me to eat plenty of lean proteins, good fats (nuts, avocados, olive oil, etc) and lots of veggies. As I trend towards fruits, he told me for every serving of fruit I eat, he wants me to try to eat 5 servings of veggies. I told him he was crazy. He said an easy way to do that is to put kale/spinach into a fruit smoothie. I have yet to even think about doing that because I have no patience for a blender (ours is fussy and I HATE cleaning it).
He also wanted me to eat 5 times a day and spread my calories evenly (1999 cals/day). Breakfast is the hardest meal for me. Randy suggested making a cup of coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. The next morning, add a scoop of vanilla whey protein shake, stir and add ice. Instant iced coffee and getting in protein. I haven't tried it yet because I like my coffee screaming hot. I do eat 2 Eggo Nutrigrain waffles with 2 tbsp nut butter (I eat it like a sandwich because I'm normally eating while walking out the door for work). I was having a banana with that but the carbs a banana has made me drop the banana. I'd prefer to have more carbs at lunch and dinner.
I'm to reserve starchy/sugary carbs only on the days I work out and to eat them immediately after working out.
Well, I have no idea what I "naturally" am. If you looked at me in person I am a tiny person, very lean and boney, but still very athletic body type (I have muscles ;p ), but I workout VERY hard to look like this. It is in no way natural.
Maybe I am naturally fat? I used to be VERY overweight (even with ever so slight activity), but I also didn't watch my food intake so I know a lot of it was that as well. . .?????0 -
OK, so I talked to Randy about why the grams of Fat were so high. He basically said that because the carbs are being lowered, the Fats step in to help burn energy. You don't want to have those both be so low that your body starts to burn through proteins and go all cannibal on itself.
He said that when people think of higher fats, they freak out. They think of fat like it's bad fats.
I personally feel much better having lowered my carbs. Granted today I'm already over and I'm feeling rather awful. However wanted to experiment since my macros on high burn days are much higher (I worked out with Randy today and am running later). I've already decided I'm not getting anywhere near them. I've blown the carbs already and will just suck it up. I want to take back lunch in the worst way and have a do-over....ugh.0 -
I like what your trainer has to say. My train says to eat 1200 calories, which I CANNOT do.0
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Thanks MrsSki. Might look at shaking my macros up a bit. Def somewhere between endomorph and mesomorph but more towards the endomorph end of the scale.
I know I won't be able to hit 35P/25C/40F straight away. I'm usually closer to 25/45/30. But I'm gonna try to aim for 30/30/40 and see how it goes. Really don't know how I'm gonna drop the carbs but willing to try.
Currently sat at work with 2 sheets of paper with all my regular foods listed with cals, carbs, fat (+ sat fat) and proteins listed next to them so I can survey them easily. Like some other people have said of themselves, I'm a very science/figures kind of guy so even get a weird enjoyment from doing it. :-P0 -
I did some reading in (not exactly scientific like I prefer
) but it appears that I may be a mesomorph. Maybe a tad endomorph, but I really think its more classic meso. I'm considering looking into this more because I don't want to just follow some "fad" 0 -
Well the endo/meso/ecto idea certainly isn't a fad. It was created in the 1940s by a guy called William Sheldon. (BAZINGA!)
I remember learning it at school.0 -
I mean more along the nutrition lines like eating for your body type. Not that I am able to find much for meso/endo lol0
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Great info! Thanks for sharing!0
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I love your story! I was talking with a trainer several years ago and complaining that even though I was in the gym 3-4 times a week doing strength training, and hiking and biking also, I was not loosing weight. I was eating a mostly paleo diet (at his recommendation) and still not loosing weight. He gave me the whole "but dont use the scale, use your clothes, blah blah. I wanted to do this but I felt like my clothes were not fitting any differently)
Anyway, he got sick of me blubbering or something and just blurted out that it was because I was an endomorph, he said it in such a hurtful way I actually went home and cried. I felt like I was diagnosed with "fat body" We ended up talking about it later (he was and still is a friend, not just my trainer) and I continued to go to the gym until I had an injury. I look back at pics of me from that time and damn him for being right, I had muscle tone and looked fit.
I guess this is a long way of saying that it does work. The results came slow and really hard to measure. After my injury I couldnt exercise and lost the definition at a fast rate. Damn! I have learned that eating is very important and you cant just rely on exercise to make it happen. Im back to exercising now and really working on the eating part.
Keep us posted on your progress. FYI, i just started to EMTWL and after only 1 week of upping my calories by an extra 500, I have lost a pound, the first one I've lost in 7 weeks of eating at a lower calorie level.0 -
Hi, great story!
Just one question, doesn't MFP count veggies as carbs? I've noticed that on days when I don't eat (traditional) carbs, bread/pasta/rice they're still a relevant part of my intake...
Anyway, I'll definitely try to do that for a week or two to see how I feel with that type of diet!0 -
Great information! I want to read more about this. Just based on the brief description you gave here I might be a mesomorph. I have always been naturally athletic but then I ate and drank more than I should had and stopped doing physical activities for various years that my weight kept going up n up n up.
That could explain why once I put my mind to it I was able to lose the weight fairly quickly and put on muscle mass.
great story n keep up the good work!!0 -
nevaeh - my trainer told me to only eat starchy/sugary carbs (bread, pasta, rice, etc.) only on days I work out and immediately after as my body is in burn mode and would burn through those carbs much quicker than a non-workout day. I can ask Randy about the carbs in veggies and if those are burned any differently than carbs in starchy/sugary foods. In my mind, a carb is a carb is a carb regardless of where it comes from, but maybe not.
A reason why I must break my relationship with the scale.....Friday morning it still said 162.8 (day 3 of it being this low). I had a great workout with Randy and then was able to get in a really good run later on Friday. The longest I've been able to run constantly without having to walk a bit and then run again. Saturday morning the scale said 165.6. I'm chalking it up to water retention since i worked out/ran on Friday. I did a 2 hour yoga workshop (having never done yoga before) and it was wonderful. I totally suggest it if you've never done yoga and are looking for some variation. Randy attended it as well because he wants to start incorporating some yoga into his sessions. He also mentioned some TRX training in a few weeks. Has anyone ever done that before?
Today I must drink lots of water since I didn't really drink as much yesterday as I normally do, get my 2 protein drinks in and with any luck, I'll be able to get a run in. The scale was 166.8 today and I'm really cheesed off about it because now I don't know if that 162.8 all time low was a result of the scale being moved slightly or if it was really true and this scale fluctuation is from water retention (I'm really hoping this is the case).
I meet with Randy 2-3x a week and am happy to take questions to him if you have any.0 -
I meet with Randy 2-3x a week and am happy to take questions to him if you have any.
I am so happy you say this.
May I ask where he finds reliable sources for information? I apparently don't have the google skills to do it myself 0 -
Some websites from my trainer:
www.nal.usda.gov/FNIC/foodcomp/search This website gives the nutrient information in foods.
www.nutritiondata.com Kind of a fun site to peruse and also gives the nutrient breakdown in foods.
While the scale went back up for a couple days and is slowly making it's way down, I am noticing other changes. I'm sleeping WAY better than I was before. Last night was the first time in a long time my lower back didn't hurt regardless of the position I was in and wasn't cranky this morning. Some slacks that fit a smidge snug in July are needing the occasional tug up. I've been trying to walk/jog on the days I don't see Randy and last night I jogged 15 minutes straight. Mind you, some people walk faster than I jog, however, I wasn't gasping for air and probably could have gone further if I didn't have a deep muscle bruise on my left thigh thanks to the corner of the couch (hence the slower than usual jog).
I'm better about my food choices these days (at least I think so). I've also started hiding veggies in my food or eating them raw with whatever lean meat we are having. I'm not a lover of veggies but I'm eating more than I was before. 3pm is generally my witching hour when I'm wanting a snack and lately I've noticed I'm not having that.
amonkey - I owe you an answer on reliable websites. I'm meeting with Randy tonight and will ask him.0
