My personal trainers menu- your opinion?

[SarahJoan]

Short intro: Hi my name is Sarah I'm 25, 220 lbs and HATE exercise. usually,LOL. I've tried Atkins ( the low-carb aspect of it ) with positive success, but without the discipline and reg exercise, I always slid off

Last week I decided to bite the bullet and started a workout program at a local gym, with a personal trainer. The workouts were tough ( to me , as a total gym noob ) but I'm getting into it now.

I'm on my second week and my trainer gave me a menu to follow for a month.( the SAME menu EVERYDAY ).

Eventually I'll get one treat day a week to eat as I please, but this first month is for learning discipline and regular mealtimes and snacks.

Here's the menu she gave, I'd like your opinion:

Breakfast
1 cup low fat milk
1/2 cup oatmeal
4 boiled eggs, minus 2 yolks

Morning Snack
1 cup plain yogurt
1 piece of fruit apple/orange/banana

Lunch
100g smoked turkey breast
1 cup lettuce of any variety
2 slices of wholemeal bread
*No dressing, but can put black pepper

Afternoon Snack
1 slice low fat cheddar cheese *processed type*
4 pieces of wholemeal cracker

Dinner
1 cup of spinach/brocolli
1 cup of carrot
6 - 8 oz chicken breast ( less 200g )*grilled/roasted*
low salt marinade,olive oil


I think it's good overall, especially if I was on the maintainence phase? but I know if I low-carbify (in combination with my exercise regime)it I can achieve results even faster.

Anyway, would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this Please and thank you !

[Elizellen]

Well - it is nothing like Atkins as it includes a lot of gains - which we only add at the end of the OWL phase, and then only as 5 net carbs - not the large amounts shown here.

And is is a lowfat menu, using the special lowfat products which we avoid.

I entered it into fitday, using an apple as your piece of fruit and one tablespoon of olive oil (as the menu doesnt give amounts for that) and came up with a ratio of 28% fat/37% protein/34% carbs including a net carb count of 116.

As you suggested it 'could' be a maintenance menu if you have a fairly high CCLL of 100 plus. but without following the first 3 Atkins phases and climbing the OWL ladder you would not know if your body has such a high CCLL!

Many of our members have found they can eat small amount of whole grains, but not at every meal or in such high amounts.

[SarahJoan]

Thanks so much for the reply, Elizellen, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I would totally go for Induction all over again and make the necessary changes to the menu- replacing the carrots for a second serving of fresh greens , for example, and nixing the oats and fruit.

But whats different now is that I'm doing weights ( to build strength and stamina ) in addition to aerobic exercise ( 5 days a week ) and I'm afraid I might commit a fitness training boo-boo?

It doesn't help that Atkins is relatively new here in Asia and my trainer probably would wave it off as a fad ( I'm assuming, she's really quite nice if slightly bossy )

Maybe she wants me to build muscle first, and once my strength and stamina are at good levels she'll slash the carbs?

[Lyssie]

I went from avoiding gyms as if they were the plague to lifting weights and doing cardio 5 days a week while eating almost induction levels. It's how I lost so much weight with Atkins (and by so much, I mean 140lbs).

A lot of the "diets" that people in the fitness world are recommending, are lower in carbs, and the carbs they do eat come from whole grain sources. I use recipes I find in one of my muscle/fitness magazines and just switch around anything low-fat for it's full fat counterpart and they work out really well.

[ImREADYImREADY]

My opinion. If I had to follow that everyday for a month, I wouldn't last long. I would get tired of eating the same food. Good Luck on what you decide to do.

[liv]

I have exercised for months and months on Atkins. I run 3-4 days a week and lift weights 3 times a week. There is no problem associated with it. Lyssie just ran a half marathon and there are many other marathon runners who are low carbers.
If you want to go another route for eating that is up to you but don't feel that you have to.