Trainer says to Net 1000 Calories?!
marissabakescakes
Posts: 35 Member
If this was the beginning of my weight loss journey, I would be setting my calories to exactly what this lady told me. Now I'm a little smarter, and less naive. I just want to get some feedback from others that have had similar experiences.
I went for my first session with my trainer, who is amazing and understands that lifting heavy weights is exactly what I need at this point in my journey. However, the nutritional information she gave me seems beyond OFF. We did a body composition analysis and it calculated my BMR at 1520 calories. She then went on to add an estimate of exercise to that number (350 for workouts) to bring me to approx. 1850 on workout days. I was thinking, amazing! This lady knows that you actually have to eat to maintain muscle and not become skinny fat. BUT THEN she proceeds to remove 500 calories from these numbers, to have me losing 1 pound per week. So basically, I would only be eating 1000 calories on my rest days, and 1350 on workout days. WHAT?!
Now I have done sufficient enough research on TDEE % and such to know that this is crazy. How am I supposed to sustain any energy on 1000 NET calories a day on exercise days, and only 1000 period on rest days. Plus the amount of muscle mass I would lose would waste any efforts I have made heavy lifting.
What the heck are they teaching some of these trainers in college? She is knowledgeable when it comes to effective exercise and pushing you to the limit, plus she can monitor my form. But the nutritional advice she gave me has me worried. What do you guys think, should I stick with her for the workouts and ignore her nutritional advice, or keep searching?
Also, when you were getting into lifting, what resources did you find most useful for routines and such? There is so much information out there! Thanks :smooched:
I went for my first session with my trainer, who is amazing and understands that lifting heavy weights is exactly what I need at this point in my journey. However, the nutritional information she gave me seems beyond OFF. We did a body composition analysis and it calculated my BMR at 1520 calories. She then went on to add an estimate of exercise to that number (350 for workouts) to bring me to approx. 1850 on workout days. I was thinking, amazing! This lady knows that you actually have to eat to maintain muscle and not become skinny fat. BUT THEN she proceeds to remove 500 calories from these numbers, to have me losing 1 pound per week. So basically, I would only be eating 1000 calories on my rest days, and 1350 on workout days. WHAT?!
Now I have done sufficient enough research on TDEE % and such to know that this is crazy. How am I supposed to sustain any energy on 1000 NET calories a day on exercise days, and only 1000 period on rest days. Plus the amount of muscle mass I would lose would waste any efforts I have made heavy lifting.
What the heck are they teaching some of these trainers in college? She is knowledgeable when it comes to effective exercise and pushing you to the limit, plus she can monitor my form. But the nutritional advice she gave me has me worried. What do you guys think, should I stick with her for the workouts and ignore her nutritional advice, or keep searching?
Also, when you were getting into lifting, what resources did you find most useful for routines and such? There is so much information out there! Thanks :smooched:
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Replies
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I honestly believe that open minded mfp members, who have been here a while and actually read studies that are posted and participate in groups and such, probably have more knowledge about nutrition than a lot, if not most trainers.0
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She's a physical trainer, not a nutritionist or an M.D.0
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Keep her for the exercise side of it.
The nutrition side of it - do it yourself or find someone else.
She seems to have forgotten the NEAT /SPA and TEF aspects of the energy balance equation....0 -
First off, I don't buy in to the 1200 calorie alarmism.
On my rest days I go for 1400 calories and judging by your pics I'v e got a good bit more mass than you as well as being male. But I do add an extra 1000 calories on weights workout days.
In the past however, I've done similar and done ok.
Hell, I've had 1000 calorie days at 185lbs or so with 0 net calories and not noticed anything bad come from that - I do try and be a little more consistent these days.
I was going t suggest she confused BMR and TDEE - however, that BMR sounds a smidge highwhen matched to your pictures (I don't know your height, age or weight however), I wonder if that could be a sedentary TDEE calculation. (Seems a little low for that.)
If it was TDEE, then the calculation would be correct for 1lb/week loss.0 -
I honestly believe that open minded mfp members, who have been here a while and actually read studies that are posted and participate in groups and such, probably have more knowledge about nutrition than a lot, if not most trainers.
I totally agree.0 -
I somehow doubt you only burn 1520 calories a day before exercise. Anyway, firstly never take what a trainer says verbatim without checking other sources and 1000 cal deficit is generally too agressive.0
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I was going t suggest she confused BMR and TDEE - however, that BMR sounds a smidge highwhen matched to your pictures (I don't know your height, age or weight however), I wonder if that could be a sedentary TDEE calculation.
Thing is if it was a sedentary TDEE calculation that would put the OP's BMR at around 1,250 (1,500 divided by 1.2) which doesn't seem likely to me.
Whilst I agree with you that the whole "zomg 1,200 calories you are going to die" thing is a bit alarmist I think her trainer has just messed up the calculation in truth.0 -
Using Mifflin-St Jeor; a 28 year old 5'2" woman who weighs 129lb would have a TDEE of 1524 as an idea. BMR 12700
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It's not crazy. I've been doing 1000 calories a day - supervised by my doctor - and I've lost fat and gained muscle. Food choices are what makes the difference.0
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Your trainer is a complete idiot. Most trainers require no real certification or training to work at a gym, so don't assume for one second they all know what they are talking about.0
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I'm 5'7 and I burn 2000 cals / day doing absolutely nothing0
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That is low. Perhaps the calculations were for a sedentary lifestyle.It's not crazy. I've been doing 1000 calories a day - supervised by my doctor - and I've lost fat and gained muscle. Food choices are what makes the difference.
^ Correction, either just lost fat, or gained muscle in a caloric surplus/bulking phase. Just keeping the information true here for OP0 -
Using Mifflin-St Jeor; a 28 year old 5'2" woman who weighs 129lb would have a TDEE of 1524 as an idea. BMR 1270
Fair play. I guess without knowing the OP's stats it's guesswork at this stage and maybe the advice isn't as bad as it seems at first glance.0 -
you are a smart woman. the math is correct but the health as you said is crazy. Concentrate not on calories but on making your goal over the next 2 weeks to eat 75% of calories from the fruit and vegetable family. This will fire up your metabolism. Make sure to drinks 3 quarts of water. It take 2 quarts of water just to maintain, the body is 70% water and that water need to be constantly exchanged. Now you may need to start slow by exchanging one item of food with a vegetable or fruit everyday until you get to 75%. If this is the case until you get to that 75% watch your calories but don't go below 1200 a day. AgingWithoutDisease.com0
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Your trainer has confused BMR with TDEE. You're supposed to eat 500 calories per day below your TDEE, not BMR. It's hard to estimate your TDEE, but there are numerous equations out there based on activity level and BMR.
BMR does not take any activity into account. So if you ate 500 calories below your BMR, you'd be losing far more than 1 pound per week, but it wouldn't be in a healthy manner. You'd probably lose muscle along with fat, be pretty grumpy, and just not feel good.0 -
As with most trainer's they think they know about nutrition but in fact are all pretty clueless. Use your trainer for what they actually no and ignore the nonsense0
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You need to expand your information base.you are a smart woman. the math is correct but the health as you said is crazy. Concentrate not on calories but on making your goal over the next 2 weeks to eat 75% of calories from the fruit and vegetable family. This will fire up your metabolism. Make sure to drinks 3 quarts of water. It take 2 quarts of water just to maintain, the body is 70% water and that water need to be constantly exchanged. Now you may need to start slow by exchanging one item of food with a vegetable or fruit everyday until you get to 75%. If this is the case until you get to that 75% watch your calories but don't go below 1200 a day. AgingWithoutDisease.com0 -
Thank you guys for the advice. The BMR actually seems to add up as I am 5'4 and 150 pounds. My goal is to avoid losing as much muscle as possible while sculpting a lean(ish) body through weight lifting. I am not sedentary at all. I work 8 hour shifts on my feet, head to the gym after work and go home and run around after my 17 month old daughter. I am currently eating 1500-1600 calories a day and I still always feeling hungry and grumpy. I can't even imagine a day eating the way this lady has suggested. I would be a ticking bomb by the end of the day. :noway:
I just want to ensure I am doing everything correct. It is hard not to feeling overwhelmed and bombarded my the ridiculous amount of information out there.:laugh:0 -
Thank you guys for the advice. The BMR actually seems to add up as I am 5'4 and 150 pounds. My goal is to avoid losing as much muscle as possible while sculpting a lean(ish) body through weight lifting. I am not sedentary at all. I work 8 hour shifts on my feet, head to the gym after work and go home and run around after my 17 month old daughter. I am currently eating 1500-1600 calories a day and I still always feeling hungry and grumpy. I can't even imagine a day eating the way this lady has suggested. I would be a ticking bomb by the end of the day. :noway:
I just want to ensure I am doing everything correct. It is hard not to feeling overwhelmed and bombarded my the ridiculous amount of information out there.:laugh:
If your goal is to lose the least amount of muscle possible, then I would suggest netting your BMR, or do TDEE - 10 to15%, and make sure you are getting adequate protein (minimum should be 100+ grams).
Most trainers are not trained in nutrition, so if you think their advice may be off, then don't follow it.0 -
Your BMR is what your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day sleeping. If you get up and pee or brush your teeth, you burn above your BMR. Walk to the living room, cook a meal, do a load of laundry, all of that is above and beyond your BMR.0
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Thank you guys for the advice. The BMR actually seems to add up as I am 5'4 and 150 pounds. My goal is to avoid losing as much muscle as possible while sculpting a lean(ish) body through weight lifting. I am not sedentary at all. I work 8 hour shifts on my feet, head to the gym after work and go home and run around after my 17 month old daughter. I am currently eating 1500-1600 calories a day and I still always feeling hungry and grumpy. I can't even imagine a day eating the way this lady has suggested. I would be a ticking bomb by the end of the day. :noway:
I just want to ensure I am doing everything correct. It is hard not to feeling overwhelmed and bombarded my the ridiculous amount of information out there.:laugh:
That's because....just took a shot at age of 25...a woman age 25, 150, who's on their feet as much as you are has a TDEE -20% of ~2200 calories.0 -
It's not crazy. I've been doing 1000 calories a day - supervised by my doctor - and I've lost fat and gained muscle. Food choices are what makes the difference.
You didn't gain muscle.
OP - I took training with CanFitPro. We spent an hour on nutrition. That's it. A PT is there for the exercise. A nutritionist is there for nutrition. If you like the exercise side of it, keep her, just do what you know is good for nutrition0 -
That is way too low. Take her advice about exercise...but she don't know much about nutrition.0
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I currently eat at least 150 grams of protein a day in hopes that this will help me maintain LBM. I don't even care about the scale anymore, the number doesn't matter. I just care about the physique and the strength I can gain.0
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I currently eat at least 150 grams of protein a day in hopes that this will help me maintain LBM. I don't even care about the scale anymore, the number doesn't matter. I just care about the physique and the strength I can gain.
Sounds perfectly adequate for your goals. But I would eat BMR Net or TDEE -10-15%, not 1000 Net0 -
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Thank you guys for the advice. The BMR actually seems to add up as I am 5'4 and 150 pounds. My goal is to avoid losing as much muscle as possible while sculpting a lean(ish) body through weight lifting. I am not sedentary at all. I work 8 hour shifts on my feet, head to the gym after work and go home and run around after my 17 month old daughter. I am currently eating 1500-1600 calories a day and I still always feeling hungry and grumpy. I can't even imagine a day eating the way this lady has suggested. I would be a ticking bomb by the end of the day. :noway:
I just want to ensure I am doing everything correct. It is hard not to feeling overwhelmed and bombarded my the ridiculous amount of information out there.:laugh:
That's because....just took a shot at age of 25...a woman age 25, 150, who's on their feet as much as you are has a TDEE -20% of ~2200 calories.
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Wow thats definitely a lot more than I am eating now. Maybe I should increase my calories for a few weeks and see if it makes a noticeable difference.
This trainer was also saying in a few months we would do carb loading (whatever that is). And 2 days a week I would eat 650 calories. This lady obviously doesn't know the wrath of me everyone would be dealing with if I ate that. It all just seems so gimmicky and crazy. Oy :noway:
When it comes to exercise, I will listen to her. When it comes to nutrition, I'll come to you guys :smooched: Thank you!0 -
Carb loading? For what event?0
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Carb loading is what you do before a long cardio race - running, cycling or swimming. There's no value to it unless you're doing a half-marathon or more.This trainer was also saying in a few months we would do carb loading (whatever that is). And 2 days a week I would eat 650 calories. This lady obviously doesn't know the wrath of me everyone would be dealing with if I ate that. It all just seems so gimmicky and crazy. Oy :noway:
When it comes to exercise, I will listen to her. When it comes to nutrition, I'll come to you guys :smooched: Thank you!
Two days a week at 600 calories would be a version of 5:2 diet under which you should be eating your 2200 TDEE on the other five days.
Ditch your trainer.0 -
Carb loading is what you do before a long cardio race - running, cycling or swimming. There's no value to it unless you're doing a half-marathon or more.
Of course there is no way to know, but the trainer might have been suggesting something more along the lines of Carb Back-loading, which is just a fancy name for having a high carb post workout meal.0
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