Started with a trainer this week....whadda ya think of this?

So I started with a trainer this week...she did a fit test on me then we went through the gym and she made me up a weight lifting program. She supposed to be really good and it can be hard getting a time slot with her. I told her that I knew myself well and there was no way I would come more than three days a week so she wrote the program with that in mind.

Here's the thing, before I started with her I was only doing cardio...45 minutes to an hour, 3X's a week. Now Shannon, my trainer, only wants me doing 20 to 30 minutes when I come in. She knows that I'm close to goal and only 6 months out of my surgery. She's afraid I'll start losing to quickly and lose to much since my "window" still has a good year left on it and is afraid I'll burn to many calories. She said that she would monitor me and if it seems we can start edging up my time we will. But that the weight program she has me on will also be burning calories and that, of course, building the extra muscle will mean I'm burning more calories even in my down time.

While everything she says makes sense to me it kinda feels like I'm going backwards by dropping my cardio time down.

Opinions?

Well, I'm not an expert, and you have hired one, so you have to weigh their opinion vs. everyone elses.

That being said how much experience does that person have with weight loss patients.  That would be one of my biggest concerns with their training.
Beyond that,  I wouldn't want to put a time frame on my "honeymoon period"  I would and did want to lose as much weight as soon and as safely as I could.  What if your honeymoon period is only 6 months not a year.  The only real concern IMO with losing too quickly is that you will lose muscle as well, and you can help prevent that by making sure you are getting your protein, and getting in some resistance training as well.

I would go back and ask your trainer the types of questions you are asking us.  If you still are unsure of their answers, or there is that nagging feeling that something isn't right, I would suggest that you listen to yourself and your feelings.  Or get a second opinion just like you would with a doctor.

Good luck, and I hope you get the answers and the training help you want.

Scott

Hi Scott!  Thanks for answering. I'm three pounds from my goal weight right now...and in all honestly if I could have my PS today I would probably decide I was "too thin" I look thinner than the scale says. I just had my 6 month anniversary this week and I'm losing SOMETHING every week...sometimes just a pound...sometimes 5 pounds, I haven't gone a single solid week since my surgery without losing something. My surgeon had told me that he thought I would probably stop around 120 which is way way way to thin for me so I really am wanting the weight loss to stop within the next 10 pounds....just not sure how to go about that.

That was my trainers concern. I haven't been exercising the whole time (I know. I'm bad!). I've been at the cardio for about 3 weeks now and just got a trainer this week. That's why she's concerned about the cardio...the weight loss did naturally pick back up once I started the cardio.

I think I'm a little old school...girls do cardio for an hour 5 times a week and lift 5 pound dumbbells and men lift massive weights and do a little cardio...so I was taken aback when she said only 20 to 30 minutes at a time. Now she would be ok with me doing 20 to 30 minutes 5 or 6 days a week if I wanted....she just knows that I won't.

Stephanie,

My trainer has me also doing only 20-30 minute cardio every day. He says that a lot of people "over" do it... That overdoing it is where you think you have to spend an hour or more on the cardio machines to get the full benefit of a workout. He said LESS is MORE.  I workout with him 3x per week, and when we workout we are doing fast circuits of cardio, weight lifting, or strength training, all the other days I do cardio on my own, and I will do 20-30 minute cardio (bike, treadmill, abs/crunches) on the workout days as well. It's just like if you were to do 2 15-minute workout at your TARGET HEART RATE you will be getting the same effect that someone who is working out an hour on the same machine and is NOT at the target heart rate. Cardio- is to get your heart rate up... In addition, he tells me that sometimes "shorter" is better because over time if you feel like you are spending ALL YOUR TIME in the gym and not getting results and it's "work" versus "fun" then you will burn out quickly. I never realized how important it was to REST, too. I have my REST days where I am NOT allowed to workout at all now walking is something or playing a sport outside is a whole different story, but where I am focusing on "heart rate" is not considered a REST day. Your body and muscles need to rest, in fact that is when they are replenshing themselves...

I hope this helps!!