Worried about personal trainer philosophy

You can't rush the weight loss. Losing 2 lbs a week is hard to do and not easy on your body either. He is going for the slow and steady lifestyle change. You don't have to only workout with him either. If you feel the need to do some cardio then do it.

You don't need to restrict foods to lose weight, and a female at your age....1600 doesn't sound like a lot/too much...at all.

Calories in vs Calories out.

Without knowing your current height and weight, 1lb a week could be perfectly fine and anything over that could be pretty aggressive.

Not sure why the trainer would only have you working out 2 days a week though.

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a few sessions with a personal trainer, but I am not entirely sure they are worth it. The amount of weight he wants me to lose per week is only one pound, and all he has me do is the 2 sessions per week I do with him. He has not told me I should do cardio or other workouts outside of what I do with him. This is concerning to me. He also is having me eat 1600+ calories a day! with no restrictions on what type of food I eat. It has been a little over two weeks and I am not seeing any results. I want to lose a significant amount of weight (40 lbs) by May and I am worried I will be so far from that weight by May if I keep training with him. I am not sure it is worth the money to continue when I am so frustrated so far. I feel like he is making me lose at such a slow rate so that I have to keep going to him longer. I'm not sure what to do.

If you drop 500 calories from your current diet, you could loose upto 1lbs a week.
IF you workout / burn 500 calories in addition to your diet you could loose upto 2lbs a week.

How many clients has your PT have.
How many have them been successfull?
How long has he been a PT?

Hallelujah that there are still personal trainers out there that know the correct way to lose weight is slowly, and that starving your body isn't the answer.
I'd suggest, just from the info in this post, stick with this guy. When you get tired of paying him, do what he has said to do without him there. (Also, did you ASK about additional workouts? Most trainers want you to do cardio on your own time).
If you want to lose 5 lbs a week and then gain it all right back again, starve yourself, don't build muscle, and you'll be right there.

A pound a week in fine.
Especially since you only have 40 pounds to lose. (which isn't a significant amount of weight really)

Why are you setting a date on your weight loss?
Typically a recipe for failure.

And to lose weight, you shouldn't have restrictions on the food you eat anyway.
If you do, it's another recipe for failure.

The pace he has you training at isn't really a concern. Sounds like he is also trying to get some accountability and discipline instilled in you by only doing 2 sessions per week, but asking you to do the rest on your own.

The part that concerns me is the diet (or lack of) guidance. I have been working with a GREAT trainer for a year now, and the VERY first thing he told me is that nutrition is 70% of the battle. If I didn't take care of that on my own, I wouldn't see any results from working with him. 2 pounds per week shouldn't be difficult, but it is going to happen because of your diet (not just calories, but the quality of those calories), not just because of your exercise regimen.

I was frustrated with my trainer for the first few weeks because what I envisioned was lifting a bunch of weights (I'm a guy) straight off. As it turned out, we did 4 solid weeks of core and balance. Not what I was expecting. When I complained about it, he took me over the the Smith machine, set it up for standing military press and told me to go for it. The very first thing that happened when I went to lift the weight was my core completely engaged. Historically, I would have been all arched back and awful posture. The core / balance work was critical for doing anything else.

I'd challenge him on the diet stuff, and anything else you feel isn't working out. It's his job to explain what's going on (education), hold you to the program (accountability), and keep you on track (encouragement). If you are just blindly lifting weights with no guidance or education, it doesn't sound like you have a very good trainer.

Hope this helps,
Tim

I entered this thread to see what sort of nonsense this trainer put forth.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the plan he has you on seems pretty sound. Obviously, I don't know the exact details of your workout, but since everything else seems reasonable, I'm going to assume your overall workout plan is fine.

I'm surprised he doesn't want you doing more than your sessions with him, though. I have four thoughts on this matter. A) He doesn't want you to think you can do this without him, so you keep paying him; You're so new to exercise and so uncoordinated that maybe he feels you need someone to make sure you don't hurt yourself; C) You're new to exercise, so he's trying to break you in slowly, so that you don't overdo it and become discouraged; D) You've misunderstood - only 2x/week of "hard" exercise, with whatever low-stress exercise (such as walking) the rest of the week.

In any case, ask him exactly why he doesn't want you doing more than your 2x/week exercise. And follow his plan, I'd say.

C) You're new to exercise, so he's trying to break you in slowly, so that you don't overdo it and become discouraged.

this was my assumption. building up over time is the smart way to go about it.

It is about fitness, not just dieting. If you are out of shape and lack muscle tone then you need to start there, and you can't build tone by starving yourself. It is really about lifestyle change and it takes time and dedication.

As someone at a similar height/weight, I would agree that 2 workouts per week at 1600 calories is not going to do it for you. I have recently switched trainers (my old one moved to Wyoming), and I've come across a trainer now who doesn't believe in calories in/calories out, it seems, and only has us working out 3 x per week and says NO CARDIO between sessions, and he's expecting me to lose 20 lbs in 6 weeks. I think he's friggin out of his mind if he thinks that's going to work! Anyway, everyone's body is different. Eat lean meats and non starchy veggies, as someone else said, do your own math when it comes to your calorie intake goals, and start working up toward moving 5 days a week. Some male trainers just don't get that female bodies don't drop weight/gain muscle like male bodies. I would find a trainer whose philosophy you can get behind, because having a trainer who you TRUST is really key when it comes to your attitude going forward. I don't plan to stick with the guy I've got once this six week session is over. Honestly, even a one pound a week weight loss isn't realistic depending upon your daily activity level. If you've got an office job and sit all day, 2 workouts and 1600 calories isn't going to get you there.

I actually think his plan sounds pretty good!
In fact, I recently spoke to a trainer who basically told me to do the opposite of what your trainer said. I thought it sounded ridiculous, and I did not hire him.

I'm sure you could do more workouts on your own time as long as you fuel your body properly, but at 156 pounds, you probably shouldn't aim to lose much more than a pound a week. As someone else mentioned, it sounds like your trainer is trying to work you into a steady and sustainable lifestyle so that you can have long-term success.

You can ask him for a specific calorie goal, but 1600 calories sounds very reasonable to me. I eat 1700 calories (of whatever I want, as long as I'm fulfilling my nutritional requirements), and it works out fine. If he's a good trainer with lots of successful clients, you should stick to his plan for a few weeks and then re-evaluate how you're feeling.

This is sound advice to keep you successful toward your goals.

At 5'4" 156 you will likely lose weight at 1600 calories with no exercise. It would be slow weight loss, but you would lose.

I think your PT is on the right track. Ask about adding a couple days of cardio if you want to.

One hundred and sixteen pounds may be too low for you--please don't focus on a number as your goal, focus more on inches lost.

Your trainer sounds like a keeper. Trying to lose more than a pound a week is HARD. You'll either have to work yourself to exhaustion, starve yourself to the point you'll end up binging, or both. He has you on a sensible plan that fuels your workouts--your car won't run without gas, and your body can't work out hard without fuel.

There's nothing that says you can't be active on the days you're not training--get in 30-60 minutes of walking and you'll burn calories just fine.