What’s her age, height and weight? 1100 cals isn’t that low if she’s small female. If her goal was to gain weight it almost certainly would be. I put some petite women in the 1100-1400cal range when making nutrition plans for fat loss.
Don’t be discouraged with some of the comments as you’ve already explained to you’re new to this. Even personal trainers have to start somewhere and a simple certification does not gain the decades of knowledge some of us have.
IMO yes and I would ask her to log her food like others have said. Chances are she’s eating more than that and well I know you’re her friend you you’re not spending every waking hour with her.
You need to provide more context about her current conditioning, age and ailments if any, and her goals.
After you have the food log discuss with her what types of food she enjoys eating. I’d start with a healthy snack of something she enjoys to add midway between main meals. Don’t overdo it. Chances are when she starts training her appetite will increase anyway.
Disclaimer: I’m not a trainer and have no certifications, but I have been in similar situations as your client. I used to struggle with anorexia, was at a dangerously low body weight, limited myself to 1000 calories a day, and somehow thought I could defy the laws of science and “make gains” while eating in a HUGE calorie deficit.
If she has an eating disorder, and if - like @shaneinga mentioned - is underweight and still trying to lose weight - I think any sort of training for her will be a moot point until she gets back to a healthy weight. EDs have both physical and mental complications: if she is indeed at a dangerously low body weight and is still trying to lose, then she has a distorted sense of her body image and of reality. And this mindset of “I’m not thin enough, I need to keep losing weight” (even if they are, to the public eye, already scary thin), is only exacerbated by being at such a low body weight already. You can’t think properly, you can’t focus, your hunger cues and hormones are just completely out of tune with your body.
Okay well I just looked closer at the title of the post…”very underweight”. So yes in this case, I would refer to her a dietitian and/or therapist. If she refuses to do that, well, maybe discuss things with her family (since you said you are friends?).
Also, does she have a reason for seeking your training at this time?
I think it’s great that you’re asking for opinions from people who have been doing this for a while. I’ve been bodybuilding for 47 years, since I was 14 years old, and I’m constantly learning new things. That being said, have her concentrate on eating smaller and more frequent nutrient and calorically dense foods, every 3-4 hours. Tell her to hold off drinking liquids until after she eats the high calorie / nutrient dense foods so as not to take up space in her stomach (got that from John Meadows). Conversely, it’s easier to drink calories via protein shakes than eat them (credit Arnold Schwarzenegger) If she can drink milk that would help a lot toward gaining quality weight (thats from Stuart McRobert). Hope that helped. All of us should be glad to help an iron sister or iron brother. Please feel free to reach out.
Tom Radula aka T-Rad
NASM - CPT, CNC
Man, this is a delicate topic with people who undereat.
My approach is to have them log their food for a week or two, no changes. Just to see the current habits. That’s your starting point.
Instead of trying to rebuild their entire diet, the key is to add calorie-dense foods. Think nuts, honey, or olive oil mixed into what they already eat. A glass of juice instead of water.
Appetite often follows the increased intake, especially when paired with proper training.
I once worked with a woman who basically lived on 750g of quark ( extremely lean kind of yoghurt). She claimed she added oats, but upon checking, it was literally a spoonful of oats and about 3 nuts. I doubt she had a solid stool for months. That was a clear case for a professional; I had to refer her out for an eating disorder.
That’s the hard line. When it’s a genuine disorder, that’s beyond our scope. They need a qualified dietitian or psychologist. Our job is to recognize it and get them to the right help.
