Seemingly Sketchy Recommendation from Nutritionist

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  • jess7386
    jess7386 Posts: 477 Member
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    I don't know why it would be sketchy if you got it from a doctor's office?

    Don't believe everything a doctor tells you.

    Love,
    A Medical Malpractice Attorney

    PS - OP we have almost the same exact stats and I've gotten the same crappy advice from a nutritionist. Feel free to FR me!
  • dgoradia
    dgoradia Posts: 109 Member
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    I wouldn't call losing about a half a pound a week a plateau. Weight loss isn't linear, and you always loose faster right at the beginning. I think her advice is fine if you're not happy with what you're currently doing.

    Can't believe I missed this part. Hit the nail on the head here.
  • kayaksara
    kayaksara Posts: 157 Member
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    .04 pounds per week is nice weight loss. I say stay the course and don't make a change so soon.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
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    Do you have high cholesterol or some type of heart disease? You have 50 pounds to lose so you do fall in the BMI index of obesity.
  • Elby0030
    Elby0030 Posts: 32
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    Distinction between dietitian and nutritionist:

    In Australia there is a distinction made between dietitians and other occupations in the nutrition and food science field, including that of nutritionist.

    The key difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist is that, in addition to or as part of their qualification in human nutrition, a dietitian has undertaken a course of study that included substantial theory and supervised and assessed professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management.

    Therefore, in Australia, all dietitians are considered to be nutritionists however, nutritionists without a dietetics qualification cannot take on the specialised role of a dietitian.

    There is no industry specific assessing authority that assesses the qualifications of nutritionists who are not dietitians.
  • priley75
    priley75 Posts: 1
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    Are you seeing a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietitian? There is a big difference, Dietitians are a registered health professional. Nutritionist are not, and not goverened by any laws and are not regulated.

    The terms “nutritionist” or “registered nutritionist” are not protected terms. This means that anybody can call themselves a nutritionist and there are no standards for their quality of care.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
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    Are you seeing a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietitian? There is a big difference, Dietitians are a registered health professional. Nutritionist are not, and not goverened by any laws and are not regulated.

    The terms “nutritionist” or “registered nutritionist” are not protected terms. This means that anybody can call themselves a nutritionist and there are no standards for their quality of care.

    Technically, I could agree, but this Nutritionist is in her doctor's officer and was probably recommended by her own doctor. Weight might not be the only issue here if her doctor recommended this nutritionist. Maybe her cholesterol and blood pressure was so high that the doctor had to recommend her to a specialist. In any case, if she really doesn't like this plan from her nutritionist, go back and get a new plan, or new nutritionist. I know someone said it earlier but I just wanted to reiterate that this is what people call a medically supervised weight loss plan.

    .
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    3) exercise less so I am less hungry and do not eat back my exercise calories/carbs.

    The other recommendations might be okay, but I don't really like this one. I can see where your nutritionist is coming from-people usually overestimate the calories they burn and underestimate what they eat, so people tend to "eat back" too many calories. However, I think that should be solved though changing your calculations to give yourself a margin and perhaps making better food choices that will keep you full longer.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    doesn't sound sketchy to me. Its pretty much a sensible diet plan, although I would not necessarily agree with her advice about exercise. Why not just follow MFP rules? Sensible and easy...and it works.
  • Mock_Turtle
    Mock_Turtle Posts: 354 Member
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    If you were losing 2 lbs/wk consistently, then I wouldn't change anything just b/c you had 2 weeks of 0.4 lbs/wk.

    I think if anyone posted a weight loss graph where they averaged 2 lb/wk over a long time (say 20 weeks+) there are going to be a couple of 2-3 week periods that they lost very little weight, even at the same caloric intake.

    In the words of the GREAT Axl Rose:

    Said woman take it slow, and it'll work itself out fine
    All we need is just a little patience
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
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    i don't think it's sketchy.... worth a try for at least a few weeks.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,051 Member
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    You would be far better off to exercise 3-5 times a week for 30 minutes to an hour and eat those additional 200-300 calories each time. The Nutritionist tells you to exercise less and eat less. How about exercise more and eat more? Same/same.

    Losing weight should not be your only goal. How about general fitness.?

    The bonus with more exercise is you get to eat more food.
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    Are you seeing a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietitian? There is a big difference, Dietitians are a registered health professional. Nutritionist are not, and not goverened by any laws and are not regulated.

    The terms “nutritionist” or “registered nutritionist” are not protected terms. This means that anybody can call themselves a nutritionist and there are no standards for their quality of care.

    yep!

    http://www.quackwatch.com/02ConsumerProtection/licensing.html
    http://www.credentialwatch.org/
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    Are you seeing a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietitian? There is a big difference, Dietitians are a registered health professional. Nutritionist are not, and not goverened by any laws and are not regulated.

    The terms “nutritionist” or “registered nutritionist” are not protected terms. This means that anybody can call themselves a nutritionist and there are no standards for their quality of care.

    Technically, I could agree, but this Nutritionist is in her doctor's officer and was probably recommended by her own doctor. Weight might not be the only issue here if her doctor recommended this nutritionist. Maybe her cholesterol and blood pressure was so high that the doctor had to recommend her to a specialist. In any case, if she really doesn't like this plan from her nutritionist, go back and get a new plan, or new nutritionist. I know someone said it earlier but I just wanted to reiterate that this is what people call a medically supervised weight loss plan.

    .

    do you know for sure that no quid pro quo exists between the medical doctor and the nutritionist they recommend?

    lots of people assume that their doctors are impeccably ethical. i don't know why they assume that. doctors are people too.
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
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    Are you seeing a Nutritionist or a Registered Dietitian? There is a big difference, Dietitians are a registered health professional. Nutritionist are not, and not goverened by any laws and are not regulated.

    The terms “nutritionist” or “registered nutritionist” are not protected terms. This means that anybody can call themselves a nutritionist and there are no standards for their quality of care.

    Technically, I could agree, but this Nutritionist is in her doctor's officer and was probably recommended by her own doctor. Weight might not be the only issue here if her doctor recommended this nutritionist. Maybe her cholesterol and blood pressure was so high that the doctor had to recommend her to a specialist. In any case, if she really doesn't like this plan from her nutritionist, go back and get a new plan, or new nutritionist. I know someone said it earlier but I just wanted to reiterate that this is what people call a medically supervised weight loss plan.

    .

    do you know for sure that no quid pro quo exists between the medical doctor and the nutritionist they recommend?

    lots of people assume that their doctors are impeccably ethical. i don't know why they assume that. doctors are people too.

    Just did a quick google search and U.S. federal law doesn't allow for referral fees so if the doctor is getting something out of this other then having a good relationship with the Nutritionist, it's illegal. It isn't uncommon for medical professionals to recommend sub 1k calorie diets for obese patients who have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease but the OP is still in the 1200 calorie range.

    .
  • hsnider29
    hsnider29 Posts: 394 Member
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    Honestly, I wouldn't decrease your calories. I was doing exactly what you are doing 2 years ago and lost close to 40 lbs. I have since regained 30 pounds. I'm pretty sure I did a number on my metabolism and now I'm working really hard to repair it.

    I know that you are trying to do right but I would rethink your approach and maybe speak with a dietitian instead of a nutritionist. You are still losing weight so I wouldn't decrease your calories. I am eating around 1500 calories or more and losing about a pound a week. I lift weights 3 days a week and only do minimal cardio.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    Hi All,

    I was hoping someone could help me, or at least provide thoughts and suggestions. I have been seeing a nutritionist from my doctor's office for several months about every other week. I have over 50 lbs to lose. She put me on a high protein, low carb (100 carbs or less per day) diet of 1380 cals per day. At first I was consistently losing 2 lbs or more per week, and the past 2 weeks I have only lost 0.4 lbs each week. I exercise quite a bit regularly. She suggested the following:

    1) lowering my fat grams intake
    2) lowering my calorie limit to 1280 (this seems so low to me! I am 5'7)
    3) exercise less so I am less hungry and do not eat back my exercise calories/carbs.

    This seems to me like sketchy advice! Any suggestions from experience would be helpful. Thanks a bunch.

    It is not sketchy, it is sensible.

    Even on MFP, as people lose weight a little box pops up asking if they want to down their calories to go into their next phase of weightloss, this is precisely what your Nutritionist is doing.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    I'm shocked, no flabbergasted, at the amount of credence you folks give to a doctor and his/her recommendation. It's laughable, to say the least. But, carry on. Basically, you're not eating enough, probably. And for her to tell you to workout less? Uh, yea, find someone else. What a dummy.

    What qualifications do you have re nutrition, just out of interest?

    I am surprised at the amount if psuedo-doctors on this site actually and the dangerous, stupid "advice" that some choose to give, again and again.
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,630 Member
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    the TL;DR version? You need to re-evaluate what you are doing right/wrong and ignore your nutritionists advice to eat less and not eat your cals back. That is asking for a world of unhappiness unnecessarily. Good luck.

    Yikes, this is what I was afraid of. I have some thinking to do....more to follow up on this post later.

    and these two quotes above just answered the OPs own question.

    OP what you were really after was affirmation that you didn't want to follow your Nutritionists' advice and because somebody said to ignore the advice, you have immediately taken that on board.

    What are the credentials of the person telling you to ignore your Nutritionists' advice?

    You don't know, but you DO know the qualifications of your Nutritionist.

    People will always say Doctors can make mistakes - this is very true, but so can a hell of a lot of people on a relatively anonymous website forum, strangers on the internet.

    Be very careful.

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