You know what would make a trainers life easy?

[shaunmood]

If there was software that enabled you to enter in a caloric value of a client and the macro ratio, and the software generates a meal plan dedicated to that specific input. Like a Meal Plan Calculator.

Example: You decide that 2600 calories for a client with a 2-2-1 macro ratio is sufficient. You enter it in, and it breaks each meal down with food examples according to their training schedule.

I know, Im a bit of an idealist lol.

[Calebrity]

Word! If you create it, I am your first customer

[Lasharm]

Apex BodyBugg

We use this at our gym for private, weight-loss, and athlete clients.

The Bugg is a calorie counter (very accurate), and when plugged into the computer will transmit the data to their program. Their program enables you (or the client) to input their foods and it will show how "balanced" their diet to exercise ratio is, making sure they stay close to their BMR.

The magic really shows when they request a meal plan, and you can choose their macronutrient profile (and it asks about taste, food preferences, etc... so they won't just get a vegetarian diet if they hate veggies) and the program designs a premade meal plan for them based on their preferences.

[X-Mark-X]

I don't think that would work too well, diet plans are too personalized in my opinion. What I mean is every clients eating schedule will vary quite a lot in terms of how many meals/when/where they can eat, as well as food preferences.

I mean I have some general meal templates that I've made for clients and kept but the minute you have a client tell you that they are allergic to peanuts or absolutely will not eat seafood or are lactose intolerant or are a vegetarian etc it all goes out the window. Even little details like whether or not someone has access to a microwave at lunch/breaks can make a big difference.

There's plenty of calorie counting software out there and some of them are pretty good.

[regl8r]

I've heard great things about redpoint fitness dot com

[shaunmood]

I don't think that would work too well, diet plans are too personalized in my opinion. What I mean is every clients eating schedule will vary quite a lot in terms of how many meals/when/where they can eat, as well as food preferences.

I mean I have some general meal templates that I've made for clients and kept but the minute you have a client tell you that they are allergic to peanuts or absolutely will not eat seafood or are lactose intolerant or are a vegetarian etc it all goes out the window. Even little details like whether or not someone has access to a microwave at lunch/breaks can make a big difference.

There's plenty of calorie counting software out there and some of them are pretty good.

Thats what im saying, you can enter in their schedule and you can select foods that they enjoy etc. A complete personalization of their lifestyle. The software would have a complete database of foods courtesy of nutritiondata.com and you would be able to select 10-15 foods of their choosing. Not saying thats exactly what they have to eat, but like you mentioned a personalized template.

[shaunmood]

Apex BodyBugg

We use this at our gym for private, weight-loss, and athlete clients.

The Bugg is a calorie counter (very accurate), and when plugged into the computer will transmit the data to their program. Their program enables you (or the client) to input their foods and it will show how "balanced" their diet to exercise ratio is, making sure they stay close to their BMR.

The magic really shows when they request a meal plan, and you can choose their macronutrient profile (and it asks about taste, food preferences, etc... so they won't just get a vegetarian diet if they hate veggies) and the program designs a premade meal plan for them based on their preferences.

Ah well there you have it. Something like this.

[seabass08]

Why need software? Isn't that what a PT is supposed to already be able to know/do? The PT's brain is the software. After all thats why they are paying you. If not....why wouldn't they just buy the software instead of paying you to?

[Keltron]

I've never heard of anyone actually following a daily diet plan though. It's too much work put into something that won't be used. Most clients won't follow whatever diet you put in. And undersand that for the macros to be right, the clients have to weigh/measure. Most people will tell you to fukk of before they even think of buying a scale.

[KyleAaron]

If there was software that enabled you to enter in a caloric value of a client and the macro ratio, and -.

And now all you need is a degree or diploma in nutrition so that you will be qualified to give people meal plans, rather than exceeding your scope of practice as a trainer and leaving yourself wide open to lawsuits.

And then all you'll need is magic powers to make them actually follow the diet.

Good luck.

[popupwindow]

I could only see the use of this for someone trying to go sub 12% bf, not sure what benefit specific macros and meal plans would have on the average 15-30% BF client, who would be unlikely to comply with specific recommendations anyway. It's overkill.

[askthetrainer]

If there was software that enabled you to enter in a caloric value of a client and the macro ratio, and the software generates a meal plan dedicated to that specific input. Like a Meal Plan Calculator.

Example: You decide that 2600 calories for a client with a 2-2-1 macro ratio is sufficient. You enter it in, and it breaks each meal down with food examples according to their training schedule.

I know, Im a bit of an idealist lol.

Programs you described are a dime a dozen

WHat happens if they don't work? that's why it pays to have a dietitian/nutritionist...

[Own3r]

It has been created and its called BioEx systems nutrition Maker Plus, been using their whole suite, Managment, Nutrition and exercise and I can tell you I am more then happy and my clients love the reports that I can pull

[Own3r]

I've never heard of anyone actually following a daily diet plan though. It's too much work put into something that won't be used. Most clients won't follow whatever diet you put in. And undersand that for the macros to be right, the clients have to weigh/measure. Most people will tell you to fukk of before they even think of buying a scale.

Not necessarily true, only 2-3 out of all my clients specifically said that they do not want a diet and only to exercise, the rest bought the measuring cups and scales and measure their foods, how I know that they are doing it? First of all weight loss clients submit their grocery bills and I can see that they are losing weight consistently.

[dirtydozen614]

As KyleAaron pointed out, you're not supposed to give in-depth advice and/or meal plans as a PT because it's out of your scope of practice. You can give general advice on nutrition but I'd say nutrient ratios and things of that variety are definitely out of the scope. Most people will benefit more from advice like "cut out junk food from your diet" or learning to read food labels. Again, you'd be surprised how many people don't know information that we think is so very basic.

If you want to be able to design meal plans and keep yourself out of legal trouble with regards to it, pick up a certification in nutrition.

[tentex87]

And now all you need is a degree or diploma in nutrition so that you will be qualified to give people meal plans, rather than exceeding your scope of practice as a trainer and leaving yourself wide open to lawsuits.

And then all you'll need is magic powers to make them actually follow the diet.

Good luck.

The only thing do is make a recommendation on a certain diet and maybe e-mail a client an article or two about it. For example, I will sometimes recommend a 100carb a day diet and send an article about it. Is that "out of the scope of practice?" I don't get detailed at all.

[dirtydozen614]

The only thing do is make a recommendation on a certain diet and maybe e-mail a client an article or two about it. For example, I will sometimes recommend a 100carb a day diet and send an article about it. Is that "out of the scope of practice?" I don't get detailed at all.

Basically, your country of PT practice should have a food guide or some government department of health sponsored material. You should use that as your basis for giving advice. Canada has a food guide that is the basis for a PT's food advice. If you want to give advice on cutting weight for instance you can advise them to cut out the junk, eat whole grains, healthy low-fat meats/chicken/fish and eat smaller portions, etc. Obviously trainers tend to have a lot of information but it all comes down to what you are allowed to instruct under the scope of practice. God forbid you give some advice you think is good and the client has a bad reaction to it, you can get in a lot of trouble.

A better article might be how carbs, proteins and fats work in your body as opposed to a particular diet.

[shaunmood]

And now all you need is a degree or diploma in nutrition so that you will be qualified to give people meal plans, rather than exceeding your scope of practice as a trainer and leaving yourself wide open to lawsuits.

And then all you'll need is magic powers to make them actually follow the diet.

Good luck.

And a certification in performance nutrition is what? Useless? Dunno where recommending dietary mean plans exceeds my or anyones scope. Theres no American law that prevents anyone from recommending foods, just like there is no law that prevents anyone from legally advising someone on a workout routine. Why are people so stuck up and anal?

[shaunmood]

Everyone does realize that you do not need a license to be a nutritionist correct? An RD can do clinical work a nutritionist cant. A nutritionist does not need to have any formal education.

[dirtydozen614]

Everyone does realize that you do not need a license to be a nutritionist correct? An RD can do clinical work a nutritionist cant. A nutritionist does not need to have any formal education.

As a PERSONAL TRAINER it is out of your scope of practice to create meal plans or recommend diets to people. Period. Regardless what certification you get, every PT organization has a scope of practice that tells you exactly what you're allowed to do pertaining to nutrition. If you give specific nutrition advice that is out of your scope of practice as a personal trainer and your client reacts negatively to it, you open yourself up to liability.

Is this really that hard to understand? It's not a matter of being stuck up or anal. It's a matter of keeping young/new trainers from getting into trouble. Look at your certification and see what it allows you to do. That said, a lot of trainers still give specific nutrition advice that is out of their scope of practice. Most are just careful about what they say. More often than not, general advice on nutrition(which are you are allowed to give as a PT) helps people quite a bit because the average person's knowledge on proper nutrition is VERY poor.

[KyleAaron]

In our common law we call it a "reasonable duty of care." I have a reasonable duty of care towards my clients. That means that anything I choose to advise them to do, I should have made some effort to educate myself on it, and this effort I should be able to demonstrate I've made - most easily done if I can present a certificate or diploma.

A good example is the Olympic-style lifts. Because they're more technical and explosive than the slow lifts, there's more risk involved with someone performing them. If I teach squat/bench/deadlift, I can demonstrate years of experience doing them, that they were in my PT school textbook, and a certificate from Powerlifting Australia. But I've never done Olympic lifts, nor were they in any course I did.

So if a client injures themselves while performing a lift, if it's a powerlift I can demonstrate that I took all reasonable steps to learn good technique and coaching methods to teach them. But if it's an Olympic-style lift I can't show that.

Thus in practice I'll coach slow lifts but not explosive ones. I stay within my demonstrated expertise. After all, just across the oval from my gym is an Olympic weightlifting club, I can send people there if they're interested.

It's the same with nutrition.

Now, you can choose to ignore this advice and talk about licensing and the rest. That's okay, it's your clients who might get hurt, your career and your house you might lose. And what for? Just so you can give advice clients won't follow anyway? And if they did follow it, they lose 6lbs a month instead of 4lbs a month - as they would following the general government-endorsed advice mentioned earlier? Risk vs benefits, mate. Up to you.

[shaunmood]

Now, you can choose to ignore this advice and talk about licensing and the rest. That's okay, it's your clients who might get hurt, your career and your house you might lose. And what for? Just so you can give advice clients won't follow anyway? And if they did follow it, they lose 6lbs a month instead of 4lbs a month - as they would following the general government-endorsed advice mentioned earlier? Risk vs benefits, mate. Up to you.

It is what it is.

[BRO_RESULTS]

Why need software? Isn't that what a PT is supposed to already be able to know/do? The PT's brain is the software. After all thats why they are paying you. If not....why wouldn't they just buy the software instead of paying you to?

Yes, but saving time is always better because a burnt-out trainer is a bad trainer.

Why take 15 minutes to write all that up when I can input a few values into a calculator and in 2 seconds I could have the entire plan?

[BigJon55]

If there was software that enabled you to enter in a caloric value of a client and the macro ratio, and the software generates a meal plan dedicated to that specific input. Like a Meal Plan Calculator.

Example: You decide that 2600 calories for a client with a 2-2-1 macro ratio is sufficient. You enter it in, and it breaks each meal down with food examples according to their training schedule.

I know, Im a bit of an idealist lol.

The closest thing we have to that is the body bug I would think.

[drive805]

What i do with clients is, suggest they go to a nutritionist. They will help with diet set up of meal plans, correct nutrients, and meal spacings for optimum weight loss/gain as i will help them with workouts for the same, whatever the clients goals are. I tell them its what they do out of the gym that counts for what they do in the gym. If their diets are off then the workout won't be as effective in attaining the goals!