Sport Unsure of Trainers recommendation re: Nutrition, Meal Replacements and Supplements

Sport Fitness
M

Meekone

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Sorry for the large rant in the title guys, I didn't really know where to post this sort of a combination of areas it could have gone.

I met a with a new personal trainer not to long ago, and in addition to his fees for the training sessions he also wants you to invest an additional almost $300 buck for his "recommended" supplement and meal replacement choices.

I have looked up the majority of these supplements and I kinda figured out what they are for. Although I am not currently taking any type of supplements (other than Isopure) or vitamins and I know should be in order to meet my goals and become more healthy, but I am not sure that his recommendation is not overkill for me.

He told me by taking these I could still eat my regular three meals a day and this would take care of my other three (by substituting with the Whey Protein and Egg protein powders). He also told me I could get good "clean" meal Idea's for the three regular meals from the Weight Watchers Cookbook if I was unsure as to how to balance out the meals with the proper carb and protein mix, which sometimes I still am. Any thoughts on this?

Vitalabs Ultra Whey Protein 24
Panacea
Catie's Vitamin C Plus
Life Extension CLA Blend
Life Extension Fiber Food Caps
Udo's Oil Blend
Vitalabs Ultra Egg Protein Powder

Thx
Meek
 
My short and simple answer...Move on from this trainer.

My longwinded answer...

Supplements are just that, to supplement what s missing from your diet from whole foods. There is nothing wrong with using protein powder when you need it or taking good fats through udo's. However there should be more food in your meals then not. You can get the great fatty acids through eating right, you can get all the protein in the world from eating right. You can get all your vitamin needs from eating right. If you are eating to get these things it means they are clean whole foods and your goals are going to move along faster.

Having a meal here or there you substitute with protein powder is fine, but three of your meals constantly being supplemented and then your other meals coming out of a weight watchers cookbook (which also says everything about this trainer) just looks like a recipe for disaster and certainly you not feeling satisfied with your food intake. If I was eating in that manner, I would end up binging. If my clients were eating in that manner, they would give up.

So I would save your money and either put it towards a better trainer or some real food;).
 
You know when I was listening to him tell me about all of these supplements and such it really didn't feel right, but he had all of these pictures of previous clients he was able to assist in meeting their goals so I was a little unsure and said I would do some additional research on my own.

He was one of the trainers I was I guess you can say I was interviewing but his cost was WAY out of the price range of what I could afford. So I went with one of the trainers through LA fitness. I believe he does a good job in assisting me and pushing me in my workouts but he is not a large assistance in the nutritional aspect.

Here is my logic in thinking his weight watchers meal plan could've been okay, and please let me know how this thought process might be wrong as I am trying to learn as much as I can, if the weight watchers cookbook and program has been successful with assisting others in loosing weight, in conjunction with me doing weight training three days a week and cardio five, I guess I am trying to understand why it would not be good. I have tried to compare the nutritional content of those meals against some of the meals I have seen posted in mags like Oxygen and they seem kind comparable?:eek:

I think I might need to go to one of the health stores like GNC or something and maybe find a "clean cooking" cookbook for meal ideas.
 
It could very well be that some of the recipes aren't that bad in the cookbook itself. What concerns me though is I know the low caloric design that weight watchers follows and what I would think your trainer follows.

What most people don't see is the time that follows those after pictures. After their money has been spent and hard work is done when they try to go back to a normal and healthy lifestyle maintaining their new body. Because most of them were in a severe caloric deficit their metabolisms are lowered. When this happens less amounts of food become a surplus. Basically in order to keep that weight off they will have to eat in that manner for life. Not just really strict and "healthy" but low caloric. These people just paid alot of good hard earned money to damage their metabolism. Their bodies will force them to re-feed and when this happens they will gain all that weight back, very quickly and most the time with extra. There is no such thing as long lasting quick results, it just doesn't exist. If you want that fat loss to be permanent it takes time and hard work and smart eating.

However the perk to that is after you are done with it all you can lead a normal life. For example, 3 of my clients wanted to binge over the holidays, they wanted the desserts, the brittle, the egg nog, the alcohol. They didn't want though to lose all the results of what they had done for many months. I told them to be smart, don't go overboard but have at it. When the season was over and we got back to training I took all their stats to see if they had gained from the holidays. ALL of them maintained their weight and now we are back to losing. How is this possible? It's possible because the dietary guidelines I lay out are smart, they aren't extreme, they aren't low in carbs, they aren't full of liquid meals and sugared protein bars. They eat, they eat a lot and they lose the fat (not muscle and water) and because of this they can have some fun and not pay for it later.

So before you jump in to strong know what you should be taking in. Listen to your body, EAT just eat clean and healthy. If someone is giving you a 1200-1400 caloric goal for a day, they are wrong. If someone is trying to tell you these liquid meals and supplements are going to give you long lasting great results, they are wrong.

Also GNC is no better, oxygen magazine is no better. Read around these boards, read some of the sticky posts at the top of each section on nutrition, fat loss, and weight training. Don't pay someone to damage your metabolism. Your goal is very reachable but more importantly it should be keep-able.
 
Hi I really wanted to thank you for taking the time to write all that you did and for the encouragement. What you said makes sense, I will most definately take your advise and work towards being more informed and trying to eat "clean" and on a regular basis.

I really apprieciate the info.
Thanks
Meekone
 
Oh an another thing, I was reading on several of the post and I did the calculators that tell you what your daily caloric intake should be in order to maintain at an "active" activity level and I think I was around 2400 calories a day (I have the actual figures at home). Then they said take away 500 in order to cut so I figured that would put me around 2000 calories a day, 333 per meal. I have been trying to maintain that, but sometimes I still feel a little hungry.

This alone is a drastic change for me, a month and a half ago before I started working out and trying to get healthy I was one of those people who usually only ate once a day. I would generally eat lunch and that would be it. I was not hungry again until the next day. Now I will make sure I have breakfast of at least oatmeal or a egg white omelet with toast...............Protein drink for snack, then for lunch maybe chicken breast, broccoli and skim milk and I am really hungry again before the two hours are up. I would snack again and then another meal with protein drink before I hit the gym and something when I get home from the gym.

I have not lost any weight so I still sort of feel like I am not doing something right, but I can tell you that I feel 100% better and I am sleeping much better than before and I do feel stronger. Not due to do measurements again until 1/20/07. Thanks again for your suggestions.

Meek
 
Meekone said:
Oh an another thing, I was reading on several of the post and I did the calculators that tell you what your daily caloric intake should be in order to maintain at an "active" activity level and I think I was around 2400 calories a day (I have the actual figures at home). Then they said take away 500 in order to cut so I figured that would put me around 2000 calories a day, 333 per meal. I have been trying to maintain that, but sometimes I still feel a little hungry.

This alone is a drastic change for me, a month and a half ago before I started working out and trying to get healthy I was one of those people who usually only ate once a day. I would generally eat lunch and that would be it. I was not hungry again until the next day. Now I will make sure I have breakfast of at least oatmeal or a egg white omelet with toast...............Protein drink for snack, then for lunch maybe chicken breast, broccoli and skim milk and I am really hungry again before the two hours are up. I would snack again and then another meal with protein drink before I hit the gym and something when I get home from the gym.

I have not lost any weight so I still sort of feel like I am not doing something right, but I can tell you that I feel 100% better and I am sleeping much better than before and I do feel stronger. Not due to do measurements again until 1/20/07. Thanks again for your suggestions.

Meek
Click to expand...

I just wanted to let you know that I know how you feel completely changing your eating habits. When I first decided to get into shape and started reading up on health/nutrition it caused a lot of drastic changes. I went from overeating and eating whatever I wanted (think twix and lattes) to having meals like fish and broccoli :eek: When I first started changing my eating habits I made a mistake by doing it too fast and all at once and ended up falling off the wagon a few times. Ease yourself into it and understand why some foods are good for you and some are bad. This time around I did slowly work up to eating correctly and have kept eating well for longer than I ever have (and in the correct calorie range). It takes time to get that weight off like theleip says but it is coming off and I don't have to feel like I'm starving all the time.

~Nicole
 
I'm of the opinion you should be able to get all of your nutrients through a well thought out natural whole food food plan. Though since that's not always feasible or convenient, a good multivitamin I'd think would be a way to plug any gaps. That said - experiment with food and find out what works for you. Cottage cheese may be a really good protein food, but if it makes you sick on sight, that does you little good. I've read it's good to have a protein-carb combination with a little fat thrown in to make you feel fuller longer. For example - a slice of whole wheat with peanut butter - Got carbs? Yup, that's the bread... Got proteins? Yup, that's the peanut butter... Got fats? Yup, the pb's got that too. I think this is why a seemingly small "snack" will keep you satisfied for a longer than you'd anticipate it might.

At any rate - feeling limited is totally normal when starting out - I know I did and still do to a certain extent. But, as you retrain your palate by giving it healthy things to munch on, it will come to accept the healthy things as the norm and you might find the foods you formerly liked are too rich for you now. (If you've ever switched from regular soda to diet soda, then after a while tried drinking a regular soda, you know what I mean.)

Probably the best thing you can do to break out of that limitation is to start cooking for yourself (as opposed to eating out). That way you can have anything you like provided you have the mad skillz to make it (and if you can't the failures often make the best stories). There's many, many different tastes in the world, and many of those can be healthy and fun to try - just take them in moderation. So let the games begin.
 
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