help! trying to fiqure out if i should listen to my trainer

jafy23
jafy23 Posts: 59 Member
edited October 18 in Health and Weight Loss
hi there my name is jenn and im 21 now i joined a new gym actually going threw with keeping up with goals my personal trainer told me to only eat salads and stay away from junk food and stop drinking pop and juice only drink water but last time i was trying really hard to not eat any junk last time i tried to lose wait so i stoped drinking any sugar at all and only ate fat free yogurt plain chicken little bit of sauce salad and fruit and veggies trying to get all the bad fat and sugar out of my diet and after a few days i started feeling very week and dizzy all the time, no i was eating 3 times a day and lots of exerices but i passed out all the time and always felt week and like crap i didnt understand why i was eating only good things but i felt so crappy one day i started giving up this diet and ate junk fast food lots of pop and felt fine again now i went to the dr i am not diabettic so i dont understand what happened but i dont want to get that ****ty dizzy feeling again so what do you reccomend? just cut back little bits at a time? and i also find when i dont drink sugar drinks i get very bad headaches and migrains so i dont get it how im suppost to stop drinking it again.

what do you think i should do


thanks

Replies

  • HappilySingle
    HappilySingle Posts: 149 Member
    First of all your trainer seems very extreme! I would start slowly. Definitely get rid of all soda, even diet coke. Also get rid of the juice. Drink water; flavor it with lemon, limes, etc. if you need some flavor. Try to cut all extra sugar out of your diet.

    Once you've gotten used to that then maybe do salads for lunch, but add protein, such as a chicken breast or tuna fish. Be careful of "fat free" or diet dressings. They tend to have lots of added sugar to make up for the missing fat.
  • hollyhunt123
    hollyhunt123 Posts: 19
    I'm no doctor, but I have been struggling with my weight my whole life. My guess is your body is having withdrawals from cutting out all the soda and high fat food you usually consume. You seem to eat alot of Mcdonalds and regular soda. I used to be a caffeine addictive person also. I switched to diet pop first, and now only drink one a day and rest is water and tea. Maybe just meet in middle for your body to adjust. Drink half the amount of sugary drinks, and start cutting out as much of the processed foods and start eating the better ones (salads, fruit etc.). Definitely go to diet, I would rather eat my calories then drink them....good luck!!
  • jafy23
    jafy23 Posts: 59 Member
    I'm no doctor, but I have been struggling with my weight my whole life. My guess is your body is having withdrawals from cutting out all the soda and high fat food you usually consume. You seem to eat alot of Mcdonalds and regular soda. I used to be a caffeine addictive person also. I switched to diet pop first, and now only drink one a day and rest is water and tea. Maybe just meet in middle for your body to adjust. Drink half the amount of sugary drinks, and start cutting out as much of the processed foods and start eating the better ones (salads, fruit etc.). Definitely go to diet, I would rather eat my calories then drink them....good luck!!

    okay ya the reason i ate a lot of mcdonalds is because im a manager there so its not like i get a real break to eat something good from home just eat on the go which usually is horrible lol and im brutal for pop but i bought a case 2 weeks ago and still have half a case so im getting better and having been trying to drink it
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
    Cutting out pop and juice is a good start. Don't worry too much about the rest.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
    Yeah, it sounds to me like your trainer is pushing too far to the wrong extreme. Start by doing small things- make a goal to reach 3 servings of veggies into everyday, or to ween yourself off soda. Here' s a quick hint for someone who loves food: Salads, by and large, are a waste of time. Sometimes you're in the mood, and that's awesome. But forcing yourself to have a salad often leaves you dissatisfied and can even be MORE calories than just a sandwich would have had.

    Try making smaller, healthier changes a little at a time. Your trainer can save that advice for someone more extreme.
  • hollyhunt123
    hollyhunt123 Posts: 19
    I'm sorry, I know your a manager there, I didn't mean to sound rude. Is there a way you can pack a lunch and take it? I work 60 hours a week at my job, and every night before I go to bed, I pack enough food and snacks for the time I will be there to help keep me on track and so I don't buy food I shouldn't eat.
  • Nikstergirl
    Nikstergirl Posts: 1,549 Member
    First off, punctuation is your friend; please use it. Secondly, your trainer is trying to break some bad habits, which is good (you should definitely get off the soda, it's all horrible!), but you need all kinds of food to be healthy. Now, by that I don't mean junk, but you need protein, carbs and veggies, not just salad. Salads can be a great way to get good healthy veggies in there, but make sure you go easy on the dressing and add some good grilled chicken in there. If you work at McDonald's, you're in luck because they do have some grilled chicken salads that are pretty yummy! It can be hard working at a restaurant to not eat their food, but can you bring a baggie of carrot sticks and an apple or yogurt to eat at your break with a salad? Try also to eat protein every time you eat. A stick of string cheese, a small yogurt, that sort of thing. It will give your muscles what they need to recover and repair and also keep you full. I think drastic "salad only" diets are dangerous... so eat when you're hungry, just try to stay away from the burgers and fries!!! Especially the fries... good luck!
  • tecallahan
    tecallahan Posts: 732 Member
    Rather than drying to drastically transition, try drinking diet pop for a while instead of regular. Neither is really good for you, but diet pop will help you get off the sugar. Also, I know McDonalds has salads - you can eat a salad with chicken. It's important not to be hungry -- so you can eat a lot of salad and it's just a little bit of calories!

    It's also important to eat 5 small meals a day if you can. I meal could be a yogurt and some fruit. Fruit can also help you get rid of your sugar craving.

    It's natural for your body to complain with headaches and feeling bad -- it is addicted to these bad foods. But you can help it by gradually eliminating them and replacing them with better choices. You don't have to do it all at once. Just log your food and be honest with yourself. You can't lose weight eating the fattening food at Mickey Dees! :flowerforyou:
  • sharonderr
    sharonderr Posts: 1
    Hi Jenn,
    First I want to tell you congratulations for taking the steps to get healthy!
    From what I understand, you want to know if you should listen to your trainer... he said "only eat salads and stay away from junk food and stop drinking pop and juice only drink water "
    This is really good advice. Limiting yourself to salads IS a bit restrictive. There are plenty of foods you can eat besides salad that are healthy and will fill you up. However, his advice his eliminate junk food, pop and juice is good advice.
    The reason you feel bad when you follow this advice is exactly what hollyhunt123 said, your body is going through sugar wthdrawl!! If you have been eating sugar your whole life and you suddenly take it away, your body will react poorly. Some common reactions are heaaches and feeling sluggish. The GREAT news? If you can stick it out for just a couple weeks, the headaches WILL go away and your body will learn that you aren't going to give it sugar and it will start to use your fat storage for fuel...meaning YOU WILL BURN FAT! YAY! (I've found that drinking unsweet tea or black coffee helps with these initial headaches too)
    In your post, I read that you eat 3 times a day. My guess is that THIS is another reason why you aren't feeling well. You should try eating at least 5-6 small meals a day to improve your metabolism and keep your blood sugar regulated.
    I believe you can do it! It will be hard at first, but anything worth doing usually is! Let me know if you have any questions!
  • hollyhunt123
    hollyhunt123 Posts: 19
    Hi Jenn,
    First I want to tell you congratulations for taking the steps to get healthy!
    From what I understand, you want to know if you should listen to your trainer... he said "only eat salads and stay away from junk food and stop drinking pop and juice only drink water "
    This is really good advice. Limiting yourself to salads IS a bit restrictive. There are plenty of foods you can eat besides salad that are healthy and will fill you up. However, his advice his eliminate junk food, pop and juice is good advice.
    The reason you feel bad when you follow this advice is exactly what hollyhunt123 said, your body is going through sugar wthdrawl!! If you have been eating sugar your whole life and you suddenly take it away, your body will react poorly. Some common reactions are heaaches and feeling sluggish. The GREAT news? If you can stick it out for just a couple weeks, the headaches WILL go away and your body will learn that you aren't going to give it sugar and it will start to use your fat storage for fuel...meaning YOU WILL BURN FAT! YAY! (I've found that drinking unsweet tea or black coffee helps with these initial headaches too)
    In your post, I read that you eat 3 times a day. My guess is that THIS is another reason why you aren't feeling well. You should try eating at least 5-6 small meals a day to improve your metabolism and keep your blood sugar regulated.
    I believe you can do it! It will be hard at first, but anything worth doing usually is! Let me know if you have any questions!

    This is exactly what I meant to say, she just said it so much better!!! Good luck, you can do this, I feel so much better without all that pop and love water and tea now!!
  • KristinLeAnn252
    KristinLeAnn252 Posts: 136 Member
    My trainer had me cut out all caffeine for an entire week. Needless to say, by the end of the week, I had a raging headache and was ready to kill someone. Also, I didn't lose any weight. I find that doing what you want in moderation will get you results. I know I'm not going to never drink caffeine again so it was unrealistic for me to try.
  • brittanyjeanxo
    brittanyjeanxo Posts: 1,831 Member
    From what I could gather, though it got confusing due to lack of punctuation, it seems like very basic caffeine and sugar withdrawals. I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and say drink diet soda for a while, then ween yourself off of it. Or, if that's too slow, places like Walmart, Stop and Shop, Sam's Club all have flavored bubbly water, it's very good, comes in a variety of different flavors, and is usually very cheap. I wouldn't say that should be the ONLY thing you drink--make sure your drinking enough plain old water, too--but it helps me when I get occasional soda cravings. If you find yourself cranky, lightheaded, or dizzy, try carrying around one or two squares of dark chocolate. Supposedly (though I don't know how true it is) dark chocolate in small amounts is good for you anyway, but aside from that it should have enough caffeine and sugar to satiate you until you don't need it anymore. I hope this helped.
  • DenverKos
    DenverKos Posts: 182
    In addition to what the others said, did you track your calories when you cut "everything" the last time? On such a restricted diet, you may not be eating enough food - couple that with lots of exercise and you're just waiting for dizzy spells and fainting.
  • Ceffy
    Ceffy Posts: 235
    I'm with a trainer at the moment and I think my diet plan is a little more realistic.
    Mine is more around portion size, slowly cutting out the bad things (if you're currently a sugar burner you need to get your body used to burning healthy fats and your "reserves" before you cut sugar out completely or you'll just feel awful)

    I agree you need to be eating more often. As a rough guide of what my PT gave me
    Breakfast - something with slow release energy such as oat based cereal or porridge to stop from snacking
    Three hours later, a snack around 150-200 calories so fruit or 1/2 a protein shake, even a pack of low cal crisps or a cheeky curly wurly (if you're uk)
    Three hours later lunch which should look like a slighly smaller version of evening meal, so palm sized portion of protein, fist sized portion of carbs (from brown rice, sweet potato, wholemeal pasta etc) and some salad or veg
    Three hours later, a snack as in am
    Three hours later, evening meal - as with lunch

    One day a week I get the day "off" but I tend to stick to the above bar the evening meal :happy:

    If you're going for weight loss you need to feed your body to be able to work out - cutting down to water and salad will mean wipe out in the gym! Also, if you don't eat enough your body stores fat for survival so you don't lose weight.

    I hope this helps, I'm not an expert but I've been battling with my weight since I was a teen (25 now) and this is the first time I've managed to get a grip of what to eat, I don't feel the urge to binge any more or eat large unhealthy meals & 2 stone lost in under 6 months (I'm sure it would have been more if not for wine over Christmas!!)
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
    Rather than cutting everything out at once, as others have said, I would advocate weaning yourself gradually over a few weeks - your body has to readjust to changed nutritional levels, and if you drastically change your intake, that's pretty hard graft for the body to cope with all at once. Try gradually replacing most of your sodas with sparkling water (flavoured if necessary, or add 50ml of proper pressed/squeezed fruit juice, or a squeeze of lemon or lime) - one at a time, cutting back further every few days, to give your body a chance to adjust. (Please don't swap to diet sodas - the chemicals are as bad for you as sugar, if not worse). Maybe you could also focus on healthier snacks at the same time. Once you have that under control, start looking at other things you can gradually change. Baby steps will get you there, and won't put your body in meltdown. Good luck.
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