For my training sessions, I typically warm up on the treadmill by myself for 10 minutes. The rest of the session is with my trainer, doing weights and various cardio exercises. He doesn't have me use any of the cardio machines, we do shorter, more intense cardio (sprints, jumping)--but I'm pretty advanced. My prior trainer would put me on some of the cardio machines for 5-10 min at a time, but he would stay and chat with me the whole time, even though I could clearly do the machine on my own (I always assumed part of his job was to entertain me
). My current trainer is also with me the entire time and we'll usually go a few minutes past the hour, then he stretches me out for about 5 minutes. My trainer is a little unusual in that he'll go past the hour because this means he has to go right from one client to the next, but he is young and super enthusiastic.
On days that we take measurements, etc. that takes about 10 minutes at the beginning of the session, so those sessions are shorter. But we only do that about once a month.
My first session was a freebie and the trainer was with me the whole time and I worked out the whole time. But that trainer never took my measurements and we never really talked about specific goals until many months into the training when he finally made me pick a goal weight. Some people would say I got ripped off (and my current trainer was very disappointed that my first trainer have never measured my body fat), but it didn't bother me. I don't like to set goals and the goals I had were pretty vague (e.g., I wanted to be "healthier"), so his approach worked fine for me. Neither of my trainers ever gave me a workout plan either; the workout is different every session (which is definitely one of the things I like about the training).
Some people really want their trainer to go over what they eat; it helps them stay accountable. My current trainer asked me what I ate during the day at every session for the first few weeks we worked together (until he figured out that I eat pretty well), but he did it while I was working out, we didn't take time out of the sessions for it. If you don't want this from your trainer, just explain that to her. I do have to say that when I've been off plan for a while (e.g., for a vacation), my trainer will sometimes ask me about what I eat and there have been times when it's been really helpful in terms of getting me back on plan.
I definitely think that you should stick it out for a few more sessions. They won't all be like your first one, in fact, it should be the exception rather than the rule, so I think it would be a mistake to make a decision based on it. I also think that in the beginning, before you and your trainer know each other well, it helps to be a little bit flexible. If you resist everything your trainer tells you to do, she may get the impression that you aren't really serious. I didn't really need my trainer to go over my meals with me, but he really wanted to do it and by letting him do it, he learned on his own that I don't need this and he appreciated more the seriousness with which I approach my calorie plan. If I had just refused to tell him what I ate, he wouldn't have figured this out and might have just thought I ate poorly (because this is far more the norm among his clients, even from people trying to lose weight). Trainers see lots and lots of clients that aren't serious, that resist everything they tell them, that whine that everything is too hard, that eat terribly, and that expect a magic cure; even in the most optimistic and enthusiastic trainer, this is bound to create some cynicism so sometimes you have to prove that you aren't that type of client. Also, you are paying for a trainer because presumably she knows more than you do about exercise, so I think it's smart to sometimes rely on her expertise, even if it isn't quite what you expected to be doing.