I confess: I don't have 100% confidence in my boot camp instructor. I'm definitely getting good workouts, and the sessions are designed so that we're working on different muscle groups on different days. But it does bother me that she models bad form (though she clearly knows what good form should look like), and she often counts too fast when we're doing reps. So, I have to say that I wouldn't hire her as a personal trainer based on what I've seen so far.
Nor would I hire her as a nutritional consultant. She recently sent us an email with advice on nutrition as a follow-up to a tele-class she'd hosted the day before. I didn't call in, but I did overhear someone describing it to another participant--they sounded skeptical about some of the instructor's advice. Having read the follow-up email, I now see why.
For example, one principle for healthy eating says to avoid supplements and to eat whole foods whenever possible, which is advice that I do agree with. But then, later in the email, she suggests using supplements...and links to a her website which is devoted to selling nutritional supplements.
Also, her nutritional advice is totally skewed towards carnivores. She lists beans under carbs that should only be eaten in very limited instances and doesn't list tofu at all. I get that most mainstream nutritional advice is going to be skewed towards meat-eaters, but there's nothing in her advice that accounts for vegetarians (and, in fact, her advice reminds me of Atkins/South Beach type diets, which I'm very skeptical of).
Finally, she refers to meals as "feedings" or "feeding opportunities." That's just weird. It makes me think of livestock, which is not how I like to think of myself.
The trick for me now is to continue to get as much as I can out of boot camp without fixating on my skepticism about the instructor. I'm not always good at setting my skepticism aside--once I go critical, I go hyper-critical--but I've done pretty well so far of just concentrating on what I'm doing and making sure that I'm pushing myself each day.
For now, though, it's time for my next feeding.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
As a vegetarian, it frustrates me how some fitness "experts" do not consider the needs of those of use who do not partake of the cow!
I would just try to focus on the physical benefits of your workouts. How do they make you feel and how great you look!
My husband bought me The New Becoming Vegetarian: The Essential Guide To A Healthy Vegetarian Diet when I decided to return to being a vegetarian (I was one during my 20's and then went back to seafood and chicken in my 30's) It has some great guides on how much vitamins and minerals we need to stay healthy. Just a great book.
Feedings?!?! Okay, that's totally weird and kind of hilarious.
Thanks for the book rec, Seeking. I've been veggie since 92, but eating well is still a struggle and I know I could afford to be more educated about nutrition. I did once do some nutritional counseling with someone who was a vegan--that was very helpful.
B*, the more I think about it, the more hilarious I find it. I'm thinking that I'll adopt "feedings" into my vocabulary, at least until I get tired of it. ;)
It is hard to eat healthy as a veggie. People seem to think that since we don't eat meat, we are healthy. I think it's actually harder because you have to be conscious of getting enough of everything.
Love the "feedings". I so have to use that!
Post a Comment