Unsure about nutritionists advice ref. calorie totals

hannahemiley

Hi all,

I recently got a "free" consultation through my gym with a nutritionalist and ended up paying for a 2 week meal plan because the "free" advice wasn't anything ground breaking. My goal was to up protein intake and reduce carbs.

I wasn't happy when I received the diet plan as she'd included some foods I can't eat so I was already thinking this wasn't particularly personalised as promised. I'm about half way through the plan and emailed her because I'm eating all this lean protein and my average calorie consumption per day is between 1000 and 1100 and as I'm also doing 4 work out classes a week I was concerned this was a bit low - she's come back and said it's absolutely fine to eat around 1000 calories per day as the protein is the most important. This goes against pretty much everything I've ever been told/read about calories and cutting calories.

I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have on this, I've already complained about the fact that it obviously wasn't personalised but I am thinking I might just ask for my money back.

Thanks in advance.

CollieFit

At a push it might be fine for you if you're 5'0" or shorter....... The fact that it wasn't personalised, if that's what you asked for, is a concern though??

Did she suggest you eat back your exercise calories?

How tall are you, what is your current weight and your goal weight?

geekyjock76

If you told her in advance the foods you cannot eat and she included them anyway and prescribed a 1000 to 1100 daily allotment, it's likely she is giving out the same cookie cutter diet to everyone. I am guessing she isn't even a licensed and registered dietician. If she isn't, she legally shouldn't be prescribing you meal plans.

1100 calories does seem very low for being that active. How tall are you and how much do you presently weigh?

hannahemiley

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'm getting close to my goal weight, after a consultation with a personal trainer they suggested losing a further 1-2 kilos and really starting to working on building lean muscle mass - hence the focus on protein! I'm 5'4" and currently 63.5kg. At the consultation she said not to eat back exercise calories and that I should aim for 1400-1500 calories which is why I was concerned that it came out as 1100.

She's based in my gym - which is a Fitness First - so I'd expected much much more. But that's why I'm looking for opinions before I do complain so it's an informed complaint, I plan to be at the gym at lot and so it's likely we'll cross paths again.

Sued0nim

hannahemiley wrote: »

Hi all,

I recently got a "free" consultation through my gym with a nutritionalist and ended up paying for a 2 week meal plan because the "free" advice wasn't anything ground breaking. My goal was to up protein intake and reduce carbs.

I wasn't happy when I received the diet plan as she'd included some foods I can't eat so I was already thinking this wasn't particularly personalised as promised. I'm about half way through the plan and emailed her because I'm eating all this lean protein and my average calorie consumption per day is between 1000 and 1100 and as I'm also doing 4 work out classes a week I was concerned this was a bit low - she's come back and said it's absolutely fine to eat around 1000 calories per day as the protein is the most important. This goes against pretty much everything I've ever been told/read about calories and cutting calories.

I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have on this, I've already complained about the fact that it obviously wasn't personalised but I am thinking I might just ask for my money back.

Thanks in advance.

Personally I would throw it away and ask for my money back

Set your calories on MFP by your stats ...choose 0.5lb per week loss
Add exercise on top at 50-75% estimate from MFP database

Eat those

Set your protein at 0.64-0.8g per lb bodyweight
Fats at 0.35g per lb bw

Treat both as minimums

Eat a wide range of colourful vegetables, choose from lean meats and fish, vegetable oils, dairy, carbs to choice

Eat foods you love ...skim through www.skinnytaste.com for ideas

Sued0nim

hannahemiley wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'm getting close to my goal weight, after a consultation with a personal trainer they suggested losing a further 1-2 kilos and really starting to working on building lean muscle mass - hence the focus on protein! I'm 5'4" and currently 63.5kg. At the consultation she said not to eat back exercise calories and that I should aim for 1400-1500 calories which is why I was concerned that it came out as 1100.

She's based in my gym - which is a Fitness First - so I'd expected much much more. But that's why I'm looking for opinions before I do complain so it's an informed complaint, I plan to be at the gym at lot and so it's likely we'll cross paths again.

Nutritionist qualifications are not registered nor recognised by any worthwhile body
I could take an online course and qualify in a weekend
Much that they learn can be based on fads and bad science
Much they believe is based on majoring in the minors
This is a case of caveat emptor ...you did not research "nutritionist" before paying for her advice, I'd chalk it up to bad experience

It is possible, but not guidelines to hit nutritional requirements with 1100 calories ...most would advise a minimum of 1200...for an active average person I would say even1200 was too low an intake

geekyjock76

hannahemiley wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'm getting close to my goal weight, after a consultation with a personal trainer they suggested losing a further 1-2 kilos and really starting to working on building lean muscle mass - hence the focus on protein! I'm 5'4" and currently 63.5kg. At the consultation she said not to eat back exercise calories and that I should aim for 1400-1500 calories which is why I was concerned that it came out as 1100.

She's based in my gym - which is a Fitness First - so I'd expected much much more. But that's why I'm looking for opinions before I do complain so it's an informed complaint, I plan to be at the gym at lot and so it's likely we'll cross paths again.

Some people may not be familiar with MFP's system of eating back exercise calories which, with this explanation, seems the case.

If your goal is to increase lean mass when done, then it makes sense to adhere to a small deficit to lose the final 1-2 kg. Thus 1500 calories may be reasonable if you require 2000 calories to maintain relative to present activity level.

hannahemiley

rabbitjb wrote: »

Personally I would throw it away and ask for my money back

Set your calories on MFP by your stats ...choose 0.5lb per week loss
Add exercise on top at 50-75% estimate from MFP database

Eat those

Set your protein at 0.64-0.8g per lb bodyweight
Fats at 0.35g per lb bw

Treat both as minimums

Eat a wide range of colourful vegetables, choose from lean meats and fish, vegetable oils, dairy, carbs to choice

Eat foods you love ...skim through www.skinnytaste.com for ideas

This is all really helpful, thanks very much.

As for the nutritionist and her qualifications, she's actually the full time, in-house nutritionist for my local Fitness First which did influence my decision to pay as I do expect a certain level of quality from a big gym like that... I have asked for a refund from her directly and feel reassured that I can take it higher within the gym management if it's not resolved how I would like. But as I said, I don't want to cause a huge fuss because I would like to be able to attend the gym without it being awkward in future!