Exercise Question

So I started back to the gym this past week.  My trainer said since I would be losing weight anyway she wanted me to work on building muscle.  Higher weights with lower reps.  I went four days last week and was sooo sore.  Do I worry about the calories I burn?  My dietitian has me on 1000 calories or less, 65 g of protein.   

I wouldn't worry too much about calories burned at this point. The only really accurate way is with a heart rate monitor or one of the GOFIT type monitors.
I am almost 8mths out and try to keep my calories around 1100. I workout with a trainer 2x a week for an hour each session. One thing I do is eat a lot of protein... I generally break 100g each day.

edited - and it is my belief your trainer is right. Building muscle will burn more calories just in everyday life. Don't forget some good cardio though!

She does have me doing cardio as well. I do 5 minutes cardio to warm up, then set of weight lifting, then 10 minutes cardio, then set of weight lifting, then 10 minutes cardio. So I get 25 minutes total and I usually do elliptical.

awesome! Sounds like she has you on the right track.  I love working out with my trainer.

  Lots of hydration, concentrate on protein and have fun!

Don't worry about the calories you burn. I would try to up my protein if I was you. It helps. Your trainer is right about the muscle building. In the long run, the muscles will help your body be more efficient with burning calories. Best of luck to you and congrats on being so committed to working out!! I can't get my butt to the gym that often :-)

Nope. When you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Your body will tell you when you need to bump up the calories and your nutritionist will probably guide you in that process. Weight lifting in and of itself doesn't burn that many calories, BUT muscles burn more calories even at rest than fat. So building muscle is a great thing.

I am also weight interval training 5 days a week (different areas on different days to allow time for muscle recovery) & cardio 6 days a week. 

My suggestion to you would be to focus on hydration & upping your protein intake to at least 90 g daily.  Your muscles need both to grow & heal & if they don't have the proper amount, your body could pull from other areas.

Also, make sure you have a high protein meal or shake (I either have a Greek yogurt or a quick protein shake) immediately after your session.  This will help recovery.

Great work & stay motivated.  I find the more I go, the more I crave my sessions.  

 Simple fact is that you won't be able to build much muscle on 1000 cals a day while in the weightloss phase.  Your muscle weight work during this phase is mainly going to prevent you from losing more muscle than you would while going through rapid weightloss.  To build muscle requires additional calories beyond your RMR or what your body needs to function.  you may see a slight increase but without more calories you won't gain much.

Now this isn't a bad thing as preventing muscle loss will serve you better in the long run.

Paul - So what you are saying is this is a good workout for me early out and not to change my calorie intake. What about my protein intake? I just want to make sure I understood what you said.

If you have the energy to finish your workout then No I wouldn't change your calorie intake until you are at a weight you are happy with.as for the protein I am probably the worst person to ask about that because a Low protein day has me over 100g and a good prtein day has me close to 200, BUT! I do training sessions that are not your typical workout.  That being said at some point you may want to increase, just be cautious of any nutritional or supplement advice you take from your trainer.  Lots of traininer push Pre and Post workout supplements that are high calories and carbs especially recovery products.  You may want to consider doing 15 or so grams of protein within 45 minutes of your workout.  This will give your system a quick start to muscle repair.