As part of my surgery cost, I get a consult with a personal trainer. I have the meeting Monday, and I wanted to get advice about what I should ask. Any suggestions?

I just went through this myself. I think it is more of what you should tell them about yourself. Most personal trainers are dealing with people that

HAVE NOT had weight loss surgery. They are results oriented and pushing their clients to get the results, which is a good thing unless you just had surgery. I could not tell from your post if you have had the surgery already or getting ready to have it. I think the main thing is following your surgeons instructions and not pushing too hard. If you have not had your surgery yet, you should ask them their structure to help you meet your goals, knowing you are about to have surgery. Make sure they listen to you.

I was not allowed to do any exercise other than walking for 6 weeks. The 1st trainer I talked to did not listen to me about what I was telling them about starting slowly and increasing my workload per my surgeons instructions. I dropped them because my health did not seem to matter to them. After talking to different trainers, I decided to go to the gym and workout on my own for the first few months without a trainer. I am going about 5 times a week right now and increase my workload each week. Do not get me wrong, I think a personal trainer is very valuable, I just think post surgery, you are better off starting slow and building up your stamina the first few months and you do not need a trainer for that. With that said, I will be hiring a trainer in the next month, I am to the point where I need their services now.

1. Since your goals are to get healthier after WLS, I would ask the trainer to reccomend a program of exercises to do just that - improve your overall health, prevent muscle loss, and promote skin elacticity.
2. I would also ask the trainer how much you should eat depending on your level of exercie (tell him/her what your normal caloric intake is). and when you should eat in relationship to your exercise session (before? aftrer?)

Good Luck!

Thanks for the tips! It was a good session, and I left with a good plan for what I need to do at home. I'm not ready to commit to a gym yet, and I liked that this trainer thought it would be find for me to work out at home and gave me a way to be successful with that.