Idiot personal trainer. (rant)

Personal trainers are a mixed bag. Even if they have been properly trained, some people will have their own agenda which will override their education, others may feel awkward about advising people about their eating habits. It's really unfortunate that your friend has got a trainer that doesn't have a good overall aproach (especially since food intake is most of the problem). If you have a personal trainer , or have friends that have one, swap notes with her, maybe she'll think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. When my wife had a personal trainer last year I didn't think some of the things she was doing were good either, but when I criticised her practices (such as making her work out in a heatwave outside) she (my wife) would honk at me and become quite defensive. She has finally swapped trainers (and inspired me to get trained by him as well) and the difference is amazing. Ultimately positive reinforcement is the way to go here.

Say something like "That's interesting - Jillian Michaels is always emphasising that you can't out-exercise a bad diet, workouts alone aren't enough"

I would not want a personal trainer who I hired to help me get fit, giving me unwanted nutrition advise

As for what I said before, her personal trainer may have a very good exercise routine for her, so it may not be wise to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are no easy answers here. First and foremost, your friend must still keep up enthusiasm for a better lifestyle, even if it comes in slow steps (exercise with poor diet being the first one) then improve on that as she gets inspired

Exercising regularly is a jolly good start - hopefully she'll learn more and slowly change her eating habits as she goes (but that's her road to walk, yours as a friend is to support and encourage).

pfffft personal trainers. I never paid anyone a penny to show me how to tie my shoelaces.

You say that her diet is mainly junk food so is there any chance that he did give her some nutritional suggestions but she's not willing to change her eating habits (and chose not to share it with you you got in case you gor on her back about it)?

I feel like the reason her trainer didn't explain to her the importance of nutrition is because he wants her to continue coming to the gym everyday, seeing little to no results and ultimately spending more time and money on his services. Idk, maybe I'm just being cynical.

/endrant

unless you have a foundation for this feeling, then yes, that is being cynical

tell her about how when you started tracking your food, you were shocked at the nutrition content of your choices

Maybe he is starting with "Baby steps" Maybe his exact wording was more like "right now we are going to focus on making exercise a habit".

I'd let it go. Lifestyle changes are hard to do and making too many at once can leave you frustrated and unhappy. Let her do the workouts. If she changes nothing about her eating style and does them she very may well lose weight. I didn't watch my diet for 5 years (except to stop drinking pop) and still lost 20lbs through exercise alone plus got my body into better shape.

When she comes to you later asking for advice on how to lose it faster, point her to MPF.

The key is let her come to you. Unsolicited advice can be unwelcome no matter how correct it is.

Also, be glad that the personal trainer is saying nothing about nutrition. At least he/she isn't tell her to do the wrong thing. Can you imagine if he/she put her on some 200 calorie diet of carrots and water? :noway:

This, if I was you I wouldn't mention anything for now, if she's not losing weight and comes to you for advice point her here and suggest she tracks calories

Have your friend join MFP immediately so she can see the dangers of what she's eating. My sister (both of them!) is the exact same way & doesn't believe me at all that she's going to end up with cardiovascular diseases or disorders from eating too much of bad foods -- one of my sisters just found out that she has CROHN'S because she eats Wendy's everyday, & she STILL eats Wendy's every single day. Please, stop your friend before it's too late & educate her as best as you can. Introduce her to MFP & show her. Tell her that the progress you've made was by eating HEALTHY. Tell her how those things are ruining her body.

I hate situations like this. I'm getting frustrated just thinking of how hard it is to convince my sisters to help themselves. It's going to be hard, but your friend will turn around eventually. Don't give up on her, & try to see if you two can work out together or attend a nutrition class together or something. Good luck!

Right.. because this advice is not going to ruin any and all chances that she has with this friend.

BTW, Chron's disease is not caused by eating Wendy's. Does eating Wendy's aggravate it? Yes, probably, but it is not caused by that.

I suggest you do research before going around making claims that are totally false.

Maybe the personal trainer DID tell her to change her eating habits but she's too stubborn to admit she's doing things the wrong way. And maybe she's making it look like it was the trainer who told her that exercising was enough.
As another poster said, I'd wait until she says she's not happy with her progress. She's already doing somethinggood for her health,even when she's not burning the amount of calories she needs. She started with the wrongfoot,but at least she's giving it a try and she needs to feel she's going in the right direction.
Encourage her to keep on with the exercise and to improve her physical abilities. You'll find the right moment to tell her what you truly think of her trainer.

When I started this battle I joined a weightloss forum and I got so discouraged by those who knewbetter that I left the forum and I left MFP even when MFP didn't have anything to do with the whole thing. I was told I was eating too little (even when I had been put ona diet strictly supervised by my endocrine specialist), I was told I wasn't exercising enough,and that I had to lift more than I could handle at that moment. I felt like i wasn't able to make a single good choice. Those who told me those things were quite right though, but I did better staying away from them, and I felt better.

It might sound weird but I felt I needed to trust those who were in charge of my progress and health checks. The doctors and fitness monitors eventually made me realise the changes I needed to make once they found out what worked for me. And they definitely made me work harder towards my goals once they knew my potential and once my abilities and skills were getting improved.

So my advice is, be her friend,and act like her friend but try to find the moments to say certain things.


Maybe she does know all you want to tell her but she's not interested in changing her eating habits but wants to counteract the bad effect her eating choices make by working out.


BTW, when I first started I decided to start exercising, low impact activities that didn't burn many calories, but activities i knew i could do for life. When i got used to that routine i started watching what i ate and once i got used to cutting junk i started cutting calories. Sometimes slow is the only way to go when you're stubborn and you know it's not going to be an easy road.

Best of luck to you both! She's lucky to have a friend like you

PTs are interesting. I do think most of them have the right intentions in mind. But, it's a really tough business because the barrier to entry is very low. So, sometimes I see trainers that just want to appease their clients and tell them things they want to hear while collecting money and giving them a workout that is appropriate and making the client happy. Over time, if your friend is not getting results, the PT will likely ask her to keep track of her food, he'll take a look, and just say, "cut out some of the snacking, and you should be fine". This will get her some more slow results, and the PT will continue to just peel away slowly. This particular PT may have learned that barraging people with everything all in one fell swoop scares people away.

I wouldn't get distressed that the PT is bad, they are just climatizing the client to a new lifestyle of health. You can't eat an elephant in one bite.

HTH.

Some trainers depending on the gym they work for are not allowed to give diet plans. That being said, they can advise her on good choices vs bad choices and the basics without giving her a diet to follow.

I'd rather see a PT not give advice than give advice they are not qualified to give. She needs to consult with a dietitian.