Personal Trainer and Meal Plan: Did I make the right choice?

[madmax79818515]

So i decided to try out a very reputable personal trainer who also does meal planning, all for a good price for one month.

A little about me: male, mid 30s, 5'8, 160 lbs, skinny-ish with bellyfat. Trying to build some muscle and size while shedding any unnecessary fat in process. I spent a year trying this on my own and, thanks to the mass amount of misinformation out there, failed at it. So i thought I'd try out a pro who could create a plan that is custom fit for me particularly.

I've only done one session so far and he knows his stuff as far as workouts go. No debate there. But I've just received my meal plan and it has me scratching my head. Is this for someone building muscle or trying to lose weight?

I will show you the first 3 days only as an example:

DAY 1

Breakfast: rolled oats cooked in low fat milk and little bit of maple syrup.

Snack: 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch: apple and cheddar pita pockets

Snack: cucumber salad

Dinner: vegetable soup

DAY 2

Breakfast: cottage cheese with blueberries and honey and side of almonds

Snack: sliced green bell pepper with humous

Lunch: white bean/avocado toast with mixed greens

Snack: raspberries

Dinner: chicken with mixed greens salad

DAY 3

Breakfast: 1 slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, an apple on the side

Snack: cinnamon pears

Lunch: fig and goat cheese salad

Snack: raspberries

Dinner: vegetable soup

Now there's some things i have to ask him about substituting because im picky eater and dont eat them (cottage cheese, goat cheese, avocado, humous, salad dressings, for example).

But other than that, does this seem like a meal plan for someone who wants to pack on muscle/size and lose bellyfat? It just seems kinda... Light? I don't know. I mean theres not even any mention of smoothie/protein shakes. Wheres all the protein at (egg whites, lean ground turkey, only 1 mention of chicken, no greek yogurt, etc).

I just wanna make sure i didnt just waste my money. Any thoughts?

[rhadam]

L O fukking L

[madmax79818515]

L O fukking L

Lol okay....any thoughts/helpful advice?

It's sounding like you dont approve

[Jcart159]

He gave you a bunch of names of foods to eat. Without any indication to volume and or caloric content.

Without that information you will have absolutely no cue as to whether or not you are making progress towards your goals.

Taking nutrition advice from a personal trainer is like taking financial advice from your foot doctor. They typically have no clue although I am sure there are some financially savvy foot doctors, just as there might actually be some personal trainers with decent nutritional knowledge.

If you are someone who wants to equip yourself with a bit of knowledge so that you can take your nutrition into your own hands, start with the stickies at the top of this forum and come back with any questions. YOu can couple that basic knowledge with a proven workout routine and save yourself the money of having someone else do it for you.

[Paulie1986]

That isn't very sustainable. Super boring and protein is way too low.

I think you'd be better off reading the stickies and working out your own meal plan.

[madmax79818515]

He gave you a bunch of names of foods to eat. Without any indication to volume and or caloric content.

Without that information you will have absolutely no cue as to whether or not you are making progress towards your goals.

Taking nutrition advice from a personal trainer is like taking financial advice from your foot doctor. They typically have no clue although I am sure there are some financially savvy foot doctors, just as there might actually be some personal trainers with decent nutritional knowledge.

If you are someone who wants to equip yourself with a bit of knowledge so that you can take your nutrition into your own hands, start with the stickies at the top of this forum and come back with any questions. YOu can couple that basic knowledge with a proven workout routine and save yourself the money of having someone else do it for you.

Actually he did give me the volume/info for the food i was just too lazy to post it. I was more concerned with the types of food vs the volume. but since you say its a critical element, heres day 1 for starters with details included:

DAY 1

Breakfast: 1/2 cup rolled oats cooked in 1 cup low fat milk and little bit of maple syrup. 1/3 cup blue berries

Snack: 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch: apple and cheddar pita pockets (1 whole wheat pita 6.5 inch, 1 tablespoon mustard, 1 apple sliced, 1/4 cup shred cheese 1 oz, 1 cup mixed leaf salad)

Snack: cucumber salad (1.5 cups slide cucumber, 1 tbsp of lemon juice

Dinner: 3.5 cups vegetable soup (2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 8 tbsp pesto, 2 cups veggie mix)

[madmax79818515]

That isn't very sustainable. Super boring and protein is way too low.

I think you'd be better off reading the stickies and working out your own meal plan.

Exactly what i was thinking!!

But since I've already invested money in this for 1 month, should i just follow his workout advice and, like you said, follow the stickies for the meal planning?

[Nicksosure1]

Even if this was the perfect meal plan, it won't be as beneficial for you in the long run as learning proper nutrition yourself now.

He gave you a set amount of foods and volume for a set amount of days. What happens when you inevitably get tired of these foods, or life happens and you can't prep these one week and your forced to substitute? This is where a period of personal tracking is incredibly beneficial. By tracking and setting your own nutrition for a period of time, you set yourself up for better success in the long-run than having a personal trainer tell you what to eat each set of 3 days.

Of course, before doing this, it's essential to research and study the basics of proper nutrition. You wouldn't want to place yourself in a bad spot from a nutritional standpoint, even short-term, because you're still new to tracking and setting your own nutrition. Start by reading the stickies in this forum section if you haven't already done so. Download a tracking app like MFP or Cronometer. Use these as tools to learn, but don't become a slave to them.

[air2fakie]

I've only done one session so far and he knows his stuff as far as workouts go. No debate there.

This prob isn't what you want to hear if you paid for a month of sessions in advance, but many trainers know as little about building muscle effectively as they do about nutrition.

You may want to post your program (if there is one) in the Workouts forum to get similar feedback on that side too.

[bLinkMoore]

There's virtually nothing there. That day 1 diet has, what, 15g protein? Optimistically?

I say check the Stickies

[madmax79818515]

Even if this was the perfect meal plan, it won't be as beneficial for you in the long run as learning proper nutrition yourself now.

He gave you a set amount of foods and volume for a set amount of days. What happens when you inevitably get tired of these foods, or life happens and you can't prep these one week and your forced to substitute? This is where a period of personal tracking is incredibly beneficial. By tracking and setting your own nutrition for a period of time, you set yourself up for better success in the long-run than having a personal trainer tell you what to eat each set of 3 days.

Of course, before doing this, it's essential to research and study the basics of proper nutrition. You wouldn't want to place yourself in a bad spot from a nutritional standpoint, even short-term, because you're still new to tracking and setting your own nutrition. Start by reading the stickies in this forum section if you haven't already done so. Download a tracking app like MFP or Cronometer. Use these as tools to learn, but don't become a slave to them.

I understand what you're saying and I had attempted to educate myself way before even considering a trainer. I've been trying to do this on my own since 2018. I also downloaded MFP.

The problem is there's a lot of misinformation online. For instance, you've got a dozen macronutrient calculators that all give you a different response. Oh you should be eating 2600 calories a day, this one says 1800, etc etc etc. Then theres the whole debate of cut first then bulk or same time? These two problems led to me gaining too much in the gut at first (bulk) and then later looking way too skinny (cut) with people asking me why you losing so much weight. Then i tried doing both and its ****ing hard. Eat more protein less fat and carbs, no eat more protein and carbs less fat, no actually eat this much more grams of protein, and so on.

This past september, I got soooo frustrated i said **** it im going to put money aside for a trainer who could also plan meals. I figured what i need is a workout and meal plan customized for me specifically instead of all these body type generalizations online.

But now i see what i got with his meal plan and im like WTF have i got myself into?

[Ghawk21]

I understand what you're saying and I had attempted to educate myself way before even considering a trainer. I've been trying to do this on my own since 2018. I also downloaded MFP.

The problem is there's a lot of misinformation online. For instance, you've got a dozen macronutrient calculators that all give you a different response. Oh you should be eating 2600 calories a day, this one says 1800, etc etc etc. Then theres the whole debate of cut first then bulk or same time? These two problems led to me gaining too much in the gut at first (bulk) and then later looking way too skinny (cut) with people asking me why you losing so much weight. Then i tried doing both and its ****ing hard. Eat more protein less fat and carbs, no eat more protein and carbs less fat, no actually eat this much more grams of protein, and so on.

This past september, I got soooo frustrated i said **** it im going to put money aside for a trainer who could also plan meals. I figured what i need is a workout and meal plan customized for me specifically instead of all these body type generalizations online.

But now i see what i got with his meal plan and im like WTF have i got myself into?

Read the stickies on calculating TDEE and macros. It has science based recommendations for macro and a calculator to use as a starting point for calories. The reality is nailing total calories takes some trial and error and ongoing adjustments as you gain/lose weight. Start with a target, be consistent for 2 weeks and see what happens then adjust accordingly. Your trainers meal plan is legitimately one of the worst ones I've ever seen posted on here and that is an accomplishment that no one should be proud of. If his meal planning is any kind of reflection of his training plan I can only imagine how bad that is too. Feel free to post it in the workout program section and we can have a look at that too.

[faithbrah]

Even if this was the perfect meal plan, it won't be as beneficial for you in the long run as learning proper nutrition yourself now.

He gave you a set amount of foods and volume for a set amount of days. What happens when you inevitably get tired of these foods, or life happens and you can't prep these one week and your forced to substitute? This is where a period of personal tracking is incredibly beneficial. By tracking and setting your own nutrition for a period of time, you set yourself up for better success in the long-run than having a personal trainer tell you what to eat each set of 3 days.

Of course, before doing this, it's essential to research and study the basics of proper nutrition. You wouldn't want to place yourself in a bad spot from a nutritional standpoint, even short-term, because you're still new to tracking and setting your own nutrition. Start by reading the stickies in this forum section if you haven't already done so. Download a tracking app like MFP or Cronometer. Use these as tools to learn, but don't become a slave to them.

reps still on spread but 100% agree with this. i can't imagine eating certain amounts of certain foods every day, where's the flexibility in that? what if you end up burning an extra 300 calories one day? are you still supposed to eat the same amount of food? besides, everyone's metabolism is different and the PT doesn't know your daily caloric needs

i would personally use those PT sessions to make sure my form is right

[madmax79818515]

Read the stickies on calculating TDEE and macros. It has science based recommendations for macro and a calculator to use as a starting point for calories. The reality is nailing total calories takes some trial and error and ongoing adjustments as you gain/lose weight. Start with a target, be consistent for 2 weeks and see what happens then adjust accordingly. Your trainers meal plan is legitimately one of the worst ones I've ever seen posted on here and that is an accomplishment that no one should be proud of. If his meal planning is any kind of reflection of his training plan I can only imagine how bad that is too. Feel free to post it in the workout program section and we can have a look at that too.

For anyone interested i just posted his workout plan in the workout section under "Critique personal trainer's workout plan for me". I would post direct link but this site won't let me because i have only 27 posts, sorry

[Nicksosure1]

I understand what you're saying and I had attempted to educate myself way before even considering a trainer. I've been trying to do this on my own since 2018. I also downloaded MFP.

The problem is there's a lot of misinformation online. For instance, you've got a dozen macronutrient calculators that all give you a different response. Oh you should be eating 2600 calories a day, this one says 1800, etc etc etc. Then theres the whole debate of cut first then bulk or same time? These two problems led to me gaining too much in the gut at first (bulk) and then later looking way too skinny (cut) with people asking me why you losing so much weight. Then i tried doing both and its ****ing hard. Eat more protein less fat and carbs, no eat more protein and carbs less fat, no actually eat this much more grams of protein, and so on.

This past september, I got soooo frustrated i said **** it im going to put money aside for a trainer who could also plan meals. I figured what i need is a workout and meal plan customized for me specifically instead of all these body type generalizations online.

But now i see what i got with his meal plan and im like WTF have i got myself into?

No calculator, trainer, or online resource will be able to tell you how many calories to eat a day. I wish it were that easy.

You HAVE to do this to get it dialed in:

Pick a set amount
Stick to that amount for a period (2-3 weeks)
Weigh every morning under the same circumstances
Take the weekly average and compare the 3 weeks
See how much you've gained using WEEKLY AVERAGES
Adjust up or down based on your goal

It's all trial and error man. Gotta do it. Re-read the stickies then re-read them again. Tomorrow morning, wake up and read them again. I'm not saying that in a negative sense. Read them multiple times and make the knowledge stick.

For macros, hit your minimums for protein and fats, and fill in the rest of your calories however you choose. Ideally you want to make this mix of remaining calories work with you in terms of your goal (gym performance, satiety, loss, gain, etc).

[1MANU]

Fire your trainer. Today. ASAP.

Once that is done read the stickies at the top of this forum.

[Nicksosure1]

I understand what you're saying and I had attempted to educate myself way before even considering a trainer. I've been trying to do this on my own since 2018. I also downloaded MFP.

The problem is there's a lot of misinformation online. For instance, you've got a dozen macronutrient calculators that all give you a different response. Oh you should be eating 2600 calories a day, this one says 1800, etc etc etc. Then theres the whole debate of cut first then bulk or same time? These two problems led to me gaining too much in the gut at first (bulk) and then later looking way too skinny (cut) with people asking me why you losing so much weight. Then i tried doing both and its ****ing hard. Eat more protein less fat and carbs, no eat more protein and carbs less fat, no actually eat this much more grams of protein, and so on.

This past september, I got soooo frustrated i said **** it im going to put money aside for a trainer who could also plan meals. I figured what i need is a workout and meal plan customized for me specifically instead of all these body type generalizations online.

But now i see what i got with his meal plan and im like WTF have i got myself into?

Also, I agree. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet. But, learn to distinguish misinformation from personal variance. One thing that works perfectly for the author of what you read may be factually correct, but it also may be the wrong thing for you to do.

This is another reason to continue to educate yourself on these topics AND how your body responds to the practices of what you learn.

It’s all a learning game with multiple periods of trial and error to find out what YOU need to be doing to get the needle moving in the right direction in terms of your goal.

[rhadam]

Lol okay....any thoughts/helpful advice?

It's sounding like you dont approve

Hey man i legit thought this was a troll post and didn't expect you to reply. Glad to see you've been really open to advice so far.. you've had some great responses. Didn't mean to come of like a dick, my apologies. I'd not continue with the nutritional aspect, but maybe stick with the workout program your trainer has provided. Otherwise i will echo the need to read the stickies here, find your TDEE, create a diet through IIFYM and DCA, and work that until you find the sweet spot.

[sitsonCHROME]

I'm still hung up on the apple and cheddar pita pockets... is that a thing?

[snailsrus]

It looks like a crash diet out of a cosmo or the magazine 17, you’ll starve, lose 10 pounds mostly water, then fail and binge / gain it back.

Read the stickies

[madmax79818515]

A little update...


So i email him about fixing the meal plan and he said he will get back to me with an update but also said something i found odd:

"You have a lot of vegetal proteins in your meal plan. Meat are not the best protein source."

Huh???

[boo99]

So i decided to try out a very reputable personal trainer who also does meal planning, all for a good price for one month.

A little about me: male, mid 30s, 5'8, 160 lbs, skinny-ish with bellyfat. Trying to build some muscle and size while shedding any unnecessary fat in process. I spent a year trying this on my own and, thanks to the mass amount of misinformation out there, failed at it. So i thought I'd try out a pro who could create a plan that is custom fit for me particularly.

I've only done one session so far and he knows his stuff as far as workouts go. No debate there. But I've just received my meal plan and it has me scratching my head. Is this for someone building muscle or trying to lose weight?

I will show you the first 3 days only as an example:

DAY 1

Breakfast: rolled oats cooked in low fat milk and little bit of maple syrup.

Snack: 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch: apple and cheddar pita pockets

Snack: cucumber salad

Dinner: vegetable soup

DAY 2

Breakfast: cottage cheese with blueberries and honey and side of almonds

Snack: sliced green bell pepper with humous

Lunch: white bean/avocado toast with mixed greens

Snack: raspberries

Dinner: chicken with mixed greens salad

DAY 3

Breakfast: 1 slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, an apple on the side

Snack: cinnamon pears

Lunch: fig and goat cheese salad

Snack: raspberries

Dinner: vegetable soup

Now there's some things i have to ask him about substituting because im picky eater and dont eat them (cottage cheese, goat cheese, avocado, humous, salad dressings, for example).

But other than that, does this seem like a meal plan for someone who wants to pack on muscle/size and lose bellyfat? It just seems kinda... Light? I don't know. I mean theres not even any mention of smoothie/protein shakes. Wheres all the protein at (egg whites, lean ground turkey, only 1 mention of chicken, no greek yogurt, etc).

I just wanna make sure i didnt just waste my money. Any thoughts?

Yes


He's not reputable if he's writing you meal plans

As a trainer that is is outta the scope of my job and his unless he's an RD but sounds like some typical douchey trainer lol

And the meals he is suggesting is evidence of all of the above

[air2fakie]

Don't take any more nutrition or exercise advice from him - I'd be wary of any fixes. The more you interact, the more he'll justify not giving you a refund. Cut your losses even if he doesn't give you one, consider it buying him out of your life.

[dylanstephens54]

Your trainer sounds like the kind of bloke that watches his gf get plowed by another bloke from the wardrobe

Trainers like this can ruin potentially years of gains and healthy eating patterns

[snailsrus]

A little update...


So i email him about fixing the meal plan and he said he will get back to me with an update but also said something i found odd:

"You have a lot of vegetal proteins in your meal plan. Meat are not the best protein source."

Huh???

um only like broccoli/asparagus/brussel sprouts and peas have protein (peas are more beans imo) which the first three when chopped are 2g-3g per cup. And peas 8g per cup but 3 times as much calories. Most others are about 1 gram per cup


Figure out your tdee and needed fat and protein macros and fill additional calories how you prefer and tell your dig bat trainer a 16 year old cheerleaders crash diet isn’t going to cut it


Edit: googled peas TF they are a fruit?

[air2fakie]

Edit: googled peas TF they are a fruit?

Peas are a fruit the same way cucumbers are... meaning they're not unless you're a botanist or trivia geek.

[faithbrah]

A little update...


So i email him about fixing the meal plan and he said he will get back to me with an update but also said something i found odd:

"You have a lot of vegetal proteins in your meal plan. Meat are not the best protein source."

Huh???

ask him how many grams of protein you're getting daily with that diet, then ask how many grams of protein you should be getting as a grown ass man