Trainer said EAT MORE

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For the past 2 weeks I've been working out intensely 6 days a week lifting weights alternating days with HIIT and eating about 1600 calories. I'm 6ft, 277, down from 284.

I met with a trainer yesterday and he said I may have metabolic damage from dieting. He said if I keep doing what I'm doing then I'd stall. He said the answer is to cut out HIIT running, increase daily walking, lift weights 3 days a week , and most puzzling, eat more.

He said I should be able to lose weight at 2100 cal and if I don't then I'd have to increase may daily cal to 2400, 3000 until I lose weight at that level.

He said I need to eat a combination of clean eating and dirty with more rice and potatoes and even bread.

Has anyone followed a plan like this? Does he make sense?
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Replies

  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    I've found that for some, eating more actually helps you to lose more [which is odd]. Yesterday I did my best to eat around 2000 calories [instead of my usual 1500-1600] and I actually lost 3 pounds. I assume most of that was water weight, but still.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    He's right about eating more. And I personally agree with him about the training because that's the way I lose too...moderate to no cardio, heavy weight training. You're not going to "stall though". You will probably just feel like *kitten* really soon if you don't eat more.

    And as far as eating "clean and dirty", he is also kind of right but it's a weird way to say it. Just...eat food. 80% nutritionally dense whole foods, and leave room for somethings you really love or "junk" as people call it.
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
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    I'm your height, weigh about 30lbs more, and am a woman. I lose between 2 and 3 pounds a week by eating up to 2500 calories on my most active days. So yes, you should be eating more.

    The clean/dirty eating part is garbage, though. Just get the macros you need to fuel your health and workouts.
  • mazarasltm
    mazarasltm Posts: 205 Member
    edited July 2016
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    I found eating every 3-4 hours (watch clock) at werk makes a big difference. Im more liberal with Carbs in AM (if your active at werk youll burn it) and skew to more and more protien with subsequent meals. 300 to 500 cal in 3 meals or 300 ish in 5 meals werks well (not that I dont eat the occassional 700, and cut back later). (my wife calls this grazing) This plan is to avoid getting starvingly famished at end of day and breaking the dont eat then sleep on a full stomach rule. If your doing this for your health , speed of weight loss is not important but the goal is to get persistant loss, learn lifestyle change and get discipline at holidays, family parties or other communal binge eating feasts. I aimed for 1/2 to 4 lb weight loss per month and found I had ~ 8 lb/ month. BUT my metobolism kinda crashed. but I can live eating normal portions vs American portions. I can not eat 3 burgers, 3 hotdogs, and try to get some steak at a bbq. A can of nuts is probaby all the calories you need for a day.
    Dont anything more than 100 cal of protien (tuna) within 3-4 hours of sleeping. Ultimately, what werks for me may not werk for you. Dont be afraid to experiment. Rushing it can mean health problems (kidney) and loose skin. Muscle is heavier than fat, dont get obsessed with scale.
    Remember high activity days means eat, Sedentary days: no beer, no chips and dip. One guy I now eats a huge plate of pasta late on friday (gains 6? lbs) but burns it all off Saturday by playing handball all day. Go figure.
    Salad, water and soup/broth is your friend for feeling full. Salad is good late night friend. You should to learn as much about health and diet as your personal trainer. Read various diet books (with a grain of salt).
    The Goal should be health, strenght and endurance (with good bloodwork with your doctor). Scale number is bonus.
    Try your trainers plan, if it fails then try something else. Just do small changes. If your doing 1600 try 1800 and see if you lose weight. LOG everything.
    Good Luck. Im rooting for you.
  • jahnlaw
    jahnlaw Posts: 95 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Trainer said it would take 18 months. I was hoping for a year by my next birthday. We may have different priorities.
  • kate_cross
    kate_cross Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi all, Im 23, female and 64kg. I have recently made a commitment to myself to eat clean food with treats in moderation. I am now trying to allow myself a treat meal once a week which is satisfying my sweet tooth. However, I have been sitting below 1200 calories every day, but I'm scared that if I go up, I will put on weight again. I feel like I'm eating a lot- 3 meals + 4 small snacks a day, (mostly protein and vegetables) and I work out 6 times a week, sometimes I walk on top of my workout. Lately I've been waking up with hunger pains in the middle of the night, sore muscles, headaches and I'm extremely irritable. Does anyone have any advise? Eat more? I'm worried about undoing all my weight loss progress. Thanks:)
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    jahnlaw wrote: »
    Rainbowbow, you asked about my goals I want body fat of 10-15% and pant size of 33-34. Weight loss is mostly secondary. Trainer said it would take 18 months. I was hoping for a year by my next birthday. We may have different priorities.

    I'm confused. You say weight loss is secondary, yet your main goal is to lose fat. Can you elaborate?
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    kate_cross wrote: »
    Hi all, Im 23, female and 64kg. I have recently made a commitment to myself to eat clean food with treats in moderation. I am now trying to allow myself a treat meal once a week which is satisfying my sweet tooth. However, I have been sitting below 1200 calories every day, but I'm scared that if I go up, I will put on weight again. I feel like I'm eating a lot- 3 meals + 4 small snacks a day, (mostly protein and vegetables) and I work out 6 times a week, sometimes I walk on top of my workout. Lately I've been waking up with hunger pains in the middle of the night, sore muscles, headaches and I'm extremely irritable. Does anyone have any advise? Eat more? I'm worried about undoing all my weight loss progress. Thanks:)

    Uh yeah, working out six days per week, walking, and only eating 1200 calories means you're netting a lot less. Your body is giving you signs to increase your calories. I'm 49kg and I still lose eating 1800 calories per day.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    xvolution wrote: »
    I've found that for some, eating more actually helps you to lose more [which is odd]. Yesterday I did my best to eat around 2000 calories [instead of my usual 1500-1600] and I actually lost 3 pounds. I assume most of that was water weight, but still.

    Yes.....what you're describing is natural weight fluctuation. Eating more and still losing weight only works if you are already eating at a deficit and losing weight. You will just lose slower.

    Eating more is never the answer to trying to lose weight. If it were there would be no fat people.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    6ft and 277? With 6 days exercise

    Hell yes you can eat more and still lose ..

    The rest of his advice should possibly be filed under w for woo

    Aim for 2lb per week max, averaged over 6-8 weeks (possibly as high as 3 in the short term)

    Tjis. It's better to eat more and lose at a slower rate.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    xvolution wrote: »
    I've found that for some, eating more actually helps you to lose more [which is odd]. Yesterday I did my best to eat around 2000 calories [instead of my usual 1500-1600] and I actually lost 3 pounds. I assume most of that was water weight, but still.

    Yes.....what you're describing is natural weight fluctuation. Eating more and still losing weight only works if you are already eating at a deficit and losing weight. You will just lose slower.

    Eating more is never the answer to trying to lose weight. If it were there would be no fat people.

    My TDEE is 2900 calories, so even eating around 2000 calories a day keeps it well below that, so still a loss.
  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
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    I just started working a personal trainer and he told me the same thing except for the bread part your trainer told you. I've been eating at 1,200. I lost 90 pounds and started really slowing down. He said to bump it up to 2,000 calories on workout days and 1,800 on non-workout days. He explained to me like a car can only go so far with limited fuel. When I was a lot bigger I had an abundance of fuel (stored fat). Now that I'm smaller my body doesn't want to let go of the fat because I'm not giving it enough fuel to work with.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
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    Why on earth were you only eating 1600 and working out 6 days a week. I suspect you were using MFP's calculator to lose 1.5-2 lbs a week and not eating any of your exercise calories back.
    jahnlaw wrote: »
    I met with a trainer yesterday and he said I may have metabolic damage from dieting. He said if I keep doing what I'm doing then I'd stall.
    This is wrong, especially in only 2 weeks.
    jahnlaw wrote: »
    and most puzzling, eat more.

    He said I should be able to lose weight at 2100 cal and if I don't then I'd have to increase may daily cal to 2400, 3000 until I lose weight at that level.
    He's correct here. You can easily lose weight at 2100. I'm 6' 2" and lost most of my weight at 2200.
    jahnlaw wrote: »
    He said I need to eat a combination of clean eating and dirty with more rice and potatoes and even bread.
    I don't like classifying food as dirty or clean. Food is fuel, some is more nutritious than others. I think eating a balanced diet of food you like is more sustainable.
    jahnlaw wrote: »
    Has anyone followed a plan like this? Does he make sense?
    Yes

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    jahnlaw wrote: »
    Trainer said it would take 18 months. I was hoping for a year by my next birthday. We may have different priorities.

    18 months to what? Meet your goal? I'd figure on the longer time line too. Probably longer if you have specific physique goals. Most people don't go from obese to goal physique in one clean fell swoop.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    edited July 2016
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    I just started working a personal trainer and he told me the same thing except for the bread part your trainer told you. I've been eating at 1,200. I lost 90 pounds and started really slowing down. He said to bump it up to 2,000 calories on workout days and 1,800 on non-workout days. He explained to me like a car can only go so far with limited fuel. When I was a lot bigger I had an abundance of fuel (stored fat). Now that I'm smaller my body doesn't want to let go of the fat because I'm not giving it enough fuel to work with.

    Nah. The human body just does not work like that.

    The fact that you're now smaller means you need less calories, as you'll be using less to function.

    Assuming calories out remains the same 2000 calories will lose more than 2500, 1250 will lose more than 2000, 73 will lose more than 1250, and so on and so on until death occurs, and your body will quite happily let go of fat and everything else until death does occur.

    The only way eating more works is by properly fueling purposeful exercise, thus increasing the calories out side of the equation, creating a larger deficit.

    Eat more to lose more should really be read as 'eat more to train more to lose more'.