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When I lose weight is it always fat that I'm losing and how can I know? This is one of the most important questions to ask because a lot of trainers focus on your weight without focusing on fat loss and it is possible to lose muscle mass if you don't have the right exercise plan and diet plan. This will make the number on the scale look good but your body appearance in the mirror not so good. The most affordable and effective way to measure your progress includes a combination of several things: progress pictures of several poses, tracking particular lifts to ensure that you are able to do the same weight or more weight in the same number of repetitions or more to prove that you are maintaining or gaining muscular strength, body measurements with a tape measure and/or body fat calipers. Depending on how much fat you have on your body, body fat calipers may not be as accurate as circumference measurements. They should also inform you that weight loss also includes water weight and if you don't stick to a diet plan with a fixed ratio of macronutrients (Carbs, Protein, Fat) then you won't know for sure that you're losing fat or large amounts of muscle or water weight.

Do you recommend supplements?If they say yes you should reconsider using them because supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Multivitamins, protein powders, diet pills, fiber supplements, etc are not regulated or tested by the FDA at all, so I don't recommend them to my clients. If you follow my diet meal plan then you will consume all of the vitamins that your body needs and you won't need any supplements. There have been too many documented cases of harmful effects of supplements and studies showing that supplements do more harm than good unless prescribed by a doctor. If a personal trainer takes it a step further and tries to sell you supplements then you know they don't have your best interest at heart and will jeopardize your health to make some extra money. Green tea extract and caffeine are the only supplements scientifically proven to aid fat loss but only at high dosages and they only help you lose about 1 pound a month. There are other habits that you can focus on that will have more of an impact and help you long term.

Can I lose more than the doctor recommended 1-2 pounds per week?This can be a confusing question for some people. The short answer is yes. But if you lose more than 2 pounds per week you might only be losing water weight and not extra fat, and you are at risk of losing muscle. This is why it is best to lose weight with a certified personal trainer that tracks your progress like I mentioned earlier to ensure that when you lose more than 2 pounds that you aren't losing muscle and if you lose less than 2 pounds in a week that you are gaining muscle. 

How do you know how many calories I’m burning?Most trainers will use estimates based on your weight, intensity of training, and duration but it’s not that accurate and can over estimate your calorie burn. That’s why I will have you wear a Bluetooth heart rate monitor connected to a chest strap for me to see your heart rate throughout our entire workout. That way I can assure that you’re burning the number of calories you need to meet your calorie deficit goal. And it will help me determine if you can train harder or if you need to rest. Without this, other trainers won’t know if you really need a rest when you ask for it, so they can over train you to injury and cause a huge setback in your timeline.