Yesterday’s post about my horrible personal training session seems to have struck a nerve. I was really surprised to read that a lot of people have had bad experiences too. I think that’s sad. And dangerous! A bad personal trainer can cause injuries. Not good. It also seems like the consensus was that I should notify the gym manager or assistant manager about my experience. When I was in the “heat” of the moment I was totally going to forward the link to yesterday’s post to the manager.
After a few days now, I’m not sure what to do. I know I won’t use a personal trainer at 24HR Fitness ever again. But do I really need to get “Misty” in trouble? I really feel like she just doesn’t know bed-side manner. She’s new and clearly very green.
On another note, after my personal training session on Tuesday, I had another great Pantry Challenge dinner.
What I love most about polenta is it’s versatility. It can be a Mexican dish, an Italian dish, fried, baked, grilled, vegetarian, creamy. It can be anything you want it to be.
Since I had leftover polenta from last week’s dinner, I sauteed it in the skillet.
While it was cooking, I heated up some leftover spaghetti sauce from the fridge.
I also discovered some Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs in the freezer–long forgotten about. They still looked okay so I plopped those into the sauce to cook too.
They are really tasty and taste just like real meat!
The meatballs are 140 calories for six. Once the polenta was cooked, I topped it with the sauce and meatballs.
I grated some Parmesan cheese on top, a little freshly ground pepper and dinner was served.
It was really, really good. The sauce was a little bland. Next time I will add some garlic and onions to it. Nothing really compares to homemade pasta sauce but there are ways to jazz up jarred sauce. The veggie meatballs were good too. Another Trader Joe’s Great!
Speaking of vegetarian meatballs…yesterday’s post about Why I Sucked at Being a Vegetarian got lots of awesome comments! I was fully expecting to get some negative comments by defensive vegetarians but it sounds like other people have had the experiences I had. I think if I tried to be a vegetarian NOW, I’d do a much better job at it.
Mediocre Workout
On Wednesday during my lunch hour, I hit the gym at work.
I was going to attempt the elliptical again. I wore my knee brace just in case.
I looked at myself in the mirror wondering where that 11 pounds is on my body. Then I got mad at myself for even letting that Ding-Bat Trainer get into my head!
I think I look FINE!
My old (awesome) personal trainer Christian emailed me yesterday and said that I don’t need to lose 11 pounds and that I need to focus on strength training. I’m looking forward to meeting up with him soon.
The elliptical was okay until I hit the 25 minute mark. My knee started to ache a little and I couldn’t tell if it was pain or what. I stopped working out and did some stretches and ab work before calling it a day. What a disappointment.
Gym Stats:
Time: 36 minutes
Calories Burned: 325
QUESTION: Should I notify the gym manager or let it be and just move on?
The Boyfriend
You look better than fine. You look great!
Lisa Eirene
XOXOXOXOXOX 😉
Marisa
I have been following your blog for about three weeks now and I just want to say that you are an inspiration! I am half way to my goal and working on getting stronger. It is nice to see a local gal that it totally kicking butt and looking great. 🙂 Keep up the good work and if you ever want to try a hot yoga class, let me know. I love going to http://www.hotyogaforlife.com….super nice people and cheap for new students. I fell in love!
Lisa Eirene
Thanks for commenting! I love meeting other Portlanders. Thank you for the yoga info. I would love to try it sometime.
Ivie
I have had VERY similar meetings, the worst was where the trainer spent 45 minutes of the hour trying to sell me vitamins and supplements. I have since refused the free training session, which is too bad, because if they did it right, I might actually buy some sessions.
And I agree with “The Boyfriend”, you look GREAT. So great that you will be in a magazine soon!
You should have told THAT to the PT.
Lisa Eirene
Ah yes….the Supplement pushers. They annoy me too. I usually stop them in their tracks and say “I am NOT buying supplements no matter what.”
Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin
Your boyfriend is right.. you definitely look better than fine! I know its hard, but seriously get that out of your head…
That dinner looks awesome. i’ve seen those meatless meat balls before but have never tried them.. glad to hear a good review from a meat eater!
Lisa Eirene
Give them a try! They’re good. And thank you for the encouragement. 🙂
Becky
That polenta meal looks delicious…I think I might have to get some of that on my next trip. I wish I had a Trader Joe’s nearby! There isn’t even one in my state! So sad!
As for the trainer…I’m not sure what to do. Do they have a comment box? You could fill that out with helpful suggestions without specifically calling out Misty since she’s still getting her feet wet.
Nicki
Just a thought… Depends on if you like confrontation, (well no one likes it) anyway.. Maybe talk to Misty directly, start with letting her know that your intention is not to “get her in trouble” though, *side note* it’s not HER fault per se, her management should be in trouble for hiring an under qualified person, or for not being there to guide her through a few sessions… If she is new and her heart is in the right place, she’ll be open to the “constructive criticism” .. Tell her straight up that you were really frustrated with your session.. It sounds like going to management wouldn’t help this, they may be just as ‘flaky’?… Sorry to hear about you challenges.
Jennifer
I am glad you are NOT letting that trainer bring you down! But I would def go tell the manager. I am a personal trainer and I would like to know if I did something like that. Like you said, she may be new and not really “know” yet.
Irene
We all learn from our mistakes and the trainer needs to as well.
I feel it is your responsibility as a gym member and consumer to notify the management of your experience so that she can benefit from some additional coaching.
I’ll bet she used that dang pincer thing to measure body fat. I HATE THAT THING, but whaddaya gonna do? Fortunately my PT uses it and admits it has limitations so I feel better about the measurements.
Along the same vein, the management should also know about the great PT you did have (if it’s from the same gym, that is).
YOU LOOK FAAABULOUS!!
Anonymous
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Erin
I commented yesterday about my experience at 24 Hour, and I think that since it was so similar to your time there (hard sell, very few actual exercises), maybe they train them to do it that way. Maybe a general suggestion that more people would sign up if they actually experienced a great workout with the trainers there would be a good way to give feedback without calling the specific girl out.
Lisa Eirene
I think you ate right. My mom had the same experience at 24hr in Seattle.