I'm averaging between 1000 and 1300 calories per day but my trainer thinks that is too low. She says that if my calories don't come up, due to my level of activity, my body will start feeding off my muscle tissue. She knows that I am banded, btw.

So - what do you guys think? I'm burning about 3000 calories a day; do I need to add some protein drinks to up my cals?

Your trainer is crazy. Most trainers are educated by the internet, not always a great place for a medical education.

You are going to lose muscle regardless of what you do if you lose massive amounts of weight. It's a given. The key is to retain as much muscle as possible. You do that with weight resistance and protein. You should be getting around 60gms daily. Too much protein is not a good thing, it is hard on your liver and kidneys, what you don't use either needs to be burned or it turns to fat, only consume about 25gms or so of protein at a time as that is all your body can absorb, wait at least 3-4 hours between protein intake, and the best times to consume protein are early AMs, after a work out, and PMs.

Follow the caloric intake and protein intake your doc suggests, not a trainer. The trainer will be good for showing you safe ways to work out, your doc should be handing out the medical advice. We are not your typical body builders and we have different needs and requirements than a professional body builder or professional football player.

She is correct that if you don't get enough calories your lean muscle mass will go down. That being said, you are eating like a bandster. My trainer had me on 1200 calories a week and I did really well. Still to what your surgeon says. It will be worth it in the end.

I'd have to echo Wasa there. I really place little faith in your average personal trainer. They all talk the same talk, it takes nothing to become qualified as a trainer and I truly do not believe in the cut your calories only so far and when you exercise remain in your "fat burning heart rate" clap trap. I do not believe in the fat burning heart rate, full stop (or period as you guys like to say). Work harder and eventually you will burn fat at a much higher heart rate, your body will adapt and rather than burning 200 calories of fat walkig for half an hour you can burn 600 calories of fat running!

As for calorie levels - well I've never been a fan of ultra low but I truly believe its different for everyone and you cannot generalise. You will be able to tell by your results whether what you are doing is right for you, but I think its probably safe to say that slow and steady loss gives you the best fat/muscle ratio of loss. Everyone loses muscle when they lose a lot of weight, you want to minimise it but it will occur.

First of all, Being a Personal Trainer and a Bandster I feel like I need to respond to this. I find it personally insulting in Jachut's comment.

"They all talk the same talk, it takes nothing to become qualified as a trainer"

This statement is extremely ignorant and inaccurate. Jachut- Do you know what it takes to become a Personal Trainer and have you ever worked with one? We are not all the same just as in any profession.

I suggest you put a little more time and effort into research before making such ridiculous statements.

As far as the calories being to low.... I would be very surprised if you are burning 3000 calories per day. That is extremely hard to do. Are you sure it is not per week?

Paula

I can see how someone would burn 3000 calories a day. First of all we burn 1500-3000 calories a day just walking around and breathing daily. It takes calories to make your heart beat, your lungs expand, to move around. Depending on metabolism and weight (and other various issues) the numbers will vary.

Then take into account exercise. Remember, the OP did not claim that she was burning 3000 calories a day in "exercise" she claimed she was burning 3000 calories a day.

It takes roughly 1800 calories daily for me to maintain my current weight. If I exercise I can easily (well, not "easily") burn another 500 daily. That puts it up to 2300 burned daily. The larger the person the more they will burn just maintaining a given weight.

As for a trainer... most docs will give a patient an idea of what they want them consuming in calories daily. If a doc says 1000 (for example), should a trainer really tell the patient they should not follow their doc's advice? My doc says 800 calories daily. If a trainer tried to tell me to follow their advice vs. my doc's, I darn sure wouldn't go back there.

I think Jacqui was making the point that for the medical decisions, trainers are not typically trained in that manner. Their area of expertise is quite different.

Paula,

According to my Bodybugg (and other estimating calculators), I am burning approximately 3000 a day. That number includes exercise and just "walking around" calories burned. That number reflects my size and the amount of exercise I am doing (6 days a week, hour a day).

My trainer didn't say not to follow doctor's orders, she only commented that my calories in were significantly lower than the 2000 calories that she recommended to burn 2 pounds a week. She was concerned that if I don't give my body enough fuel, I would be burning muscle rather than fat because the body turns to muscle tissue first. I just wondered if other bandsters who are exercising were advised to increase their calories to avoid excessive muscle loss.

Cherrybomb,

I apologize for the misunderstanding, I was under the impression that you meant you were burning 3000 calories a day just exercising with your trainer.

You should go by what your doctor tells you without a doubt.

Technically as Personal Trainers we are only allowed to help you with exercise for the purpose of weight loss and muscle strength unless the trainer is a nutritionist as well, they really should not give advice on caloric intake. I am sure your trainer is just trying to be helpful = )

Paula

Yes, it was badly worded, sorry to cause offence. But Paula, consider this:

Maybe its different there - but here, its a six week course. And then you have trainers and trainers. There's the trainers in the gym who like every gym assistant I've come across have done a very basic quickie course and know no more than anyone else who cares to inform themselves of various facts and figures. You go to the gym, you get the exact same workout as every other person in your particular demographic who joins. That's not really personal training.

There's load and loads and LOADS of conflicting information on heart rate training, but you get the same advice from everyone, yet it is well known fact that standard MHR calculations are inaccurate and do not apply to athletes or even people of above average fitness. 220 minus my age x 70% does not even have me out of breath. Can I talk while I'm doing that - heck I can sing Bohemian Rhapsody at full volume! Its just inaccurate and generalised. And that's what a lot of personal trainers deliver.

I know several people who have dropped out of uni, done the quick Ausfit course and set up as personal trainers, they're only qualifications are that they're young, fit and enthusiastic.

You may be different Paula, I'm speaking in gross generalities. Like any field there's people who are dedicated and go the extra mile. But if I were to mosy down to my local gym I'd get someone who knows no more than what I do and that's the honest truth.

So dont take offence, its not aimed at you. But it's not altogether wrong or untrue either. Its the hot career of the 2000's, everyone's getting into it and not everybody is well qualified or fully informed.