Below 1200 calories?

Well, as he said, he's not a nutritionist. My cousin is in school to be a PT, in his nutrition class they recommend 1200 for women and 1800 for men regardless of stats. I wouldn't take the nutrition advice offered by a personal trainer unless they actually knew something about nutrition.

Rigger

Tell him you are NOT eating that low ... if that is unacceptable to him, Fire him and hire a new trainer. Worst.Advice.From.Trainer.EVER!

I agree with you. 1200 is very low. Trust yourself and your instincts!

Well, he is calling a recomendation...not a rule. So he can make recomendations about your diet all day, but you dont have to take them. Doesn't mean he still won't think you should, but so what?

Unless your personal trainer is also a nutritionist he/she probably knows about as much about nutrition as most Drs do. NOTHING. Drs get about one chapter in their entire schooling on nutrition. Most of them will admit they don't know **** about it. You are right you know your body. Do it your way and if you don't get the results you want then try it his way.

I just hired a personal trainer. My goal isn't as much about losing weight as losing body fat. I told him that, but he's determine to see me eating no more than 1200 calories a day so that I can lose a pound a week. I told him no. When I lost weight a few years ago (175 lbs down to 140 lbs), dieting that much would halt my weight loss. I told him I know my body and it needs at least 1500 to be properly fueled for this. He told me he's not a nutritionist, but his recommendation stands. I eat good foods that are filling and cut out as much processed stuff as possible. I also have a predisposition for binge eating that I also need to contend with.

AMEN

If you struggle with binge eating, it's probably best NOT to eat 1200 calories. If you eat too few calories for what you're burning through exercise and other daily activity, your body will be crying out for more food, which can lead to binges. Since you have experience eating more calories and losing weight, and that works for you, I would ignore your personal trainer's advice.

My goal is 1200 calories per day and I find that totally reasonable. However you need to make sure they are "good" 1200 calories and not total crap.

My trainer likes me to be between 900-1500 calories per day. He doesn't want me to be the same every day as you need to shock your body with food just as much as exercise. On the days I don't work out, I shoot for 900-1000 and on my heaver activity days I'll eat 1200-1500.

For reference I'm 194 lbs have about 60 pounds to loose.

I want to reiterate....they need to be GOOD calories. If I am eating correctly I'm not hungry at 1000 calories. I'm not stuffed, but definitely not starving.

I'd hire a new trainer, you don't want to start out like that with a PT.

There's a new part-time nutritionist at my gym and she's trying to drum up customers by handing out to everyone in group PT/circuit training classes a 14-page packet of "nutrition" and "healthy eating" tips focused almost exclusively on cutting calories and fat, mostly by substituting artificially sweetened, fat-free versions of foods that have little to no micronutrients or fiber (although there was a nod to the idea of getting protein and fiber in your breakfasts). The classes are part of a "lose-it-at-the-gym" program, so I guess I have to acquit her of assuming that everyone is and should be trying to lose weight (as opposed to bulking or having an ED). She also advised eating eating every three to four hours so that your metabolism won't slow down. She really did not make a good impression on me.

It makes me wonder whether there is any field/profession on which you could reasonably rely for nutrition advice, since most medical doctors know nothing about nutrition, many PTs are apparently fonts of bad info, and even nutritionists can sound like they're just regurgitating the bordering-on-pro-ana articles I remember from teens' and women's magazines of decades past (I really don't read those kinds of magazines anymore, so I don't know if they've improved.)

My goal is 1200 calories per day and I find that totally reasonable. However you need to make sure they are "good" 1200 calories and not total crap.

My trainer likes me to be between 900-1500 calories per day. He doesn't want me to be the same every day as you need to shock your body with food just as much as exercise. On the days I don't work out, I shoot for 900-1000 and on my heaver activity days I'll eat 1200-1500.

For reference I'm 194 lbs have about 60 pounds to loose.

I want to reiterate....they need to be GOOD calories. If I am eating correctly I'm not hungry at 1000 calories. I'm not stuffed, but definitely not starving.

Perfect example of bro science!

Tell him you are NOT eating that low ... if that is unacceptable to him, Fire him and hire a new trainer. Worst.Advice.From.Trainer.EVER!

Agree.

I eat rice every meal, being Asian. It's just that I avoid pork and deep fried things, and baked desserts. So my food is like a piece of fish/chicken/beef, a cup of veg, a piece of fruit, and rice or some other natural source of carb. The meat and veg are often cooked in vegetable oil, either lauric or olive, so I didn't think I was low on the "good" kind of fat. Sometimes I take a salad with sesame dressing and cuts of turkey or even black forest ham. Sometimes I eat oatmeal, sometimes I eat whole grain cereal. And I may avoid refined sugar, but I do use honey instead, and I eat a lot of fruit through the day. So I don't think I'm cutting down on sugar either. I also try to drink a cup of low fat milk every day.

And I never skip breakfast. Never. I always have my biggest servings of carb and protein then.

I'm not on some suffocating no-carb, no-fat, no-sugar diet. I'm just really trying to keep an honest-to-goodness nutrition plan. I removed things like donuts and cake and chips and icecream. And when I did, boom. Daily calorie deficit.

I think I need to have more salad, like. Probably eat a salad in between breakfast-and-lunch, and another between lunch-and-dinner. Or something. I don't know. I don't know how to get some ++ healthy, nutritious, non-empty calories.

Help?