The worst advice I've ever received from a nutritionist/dietitian/doctor about diet is...

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fileshiny
fileshiny Posts: 149 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've had a few doozies over the years!
  • When I told a dietitian that I get very hungry on a diet and she told me to just stay with it, because "my stomach will shrink". This completely ignored my personal dietary needs, information about the satiety ability of different foods and that any diet where a person is hungry all the time is going to fail.
  • I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and a dietitian handed me the vegetarian food pyramid and said that these were the maximum amounts I could eat every day. After a little research, I discovered that the amounts in the pyramid were actually the lowest minimums that a vegetarian could eat and still survive!
  • When hearing that I burn 1000 calories in exercise every day, a dietitian told me that I should eat a maximum of 1500 calories a day, basically giving my body 500 calories to live on each day.
  • I told a doctor I walk 4 hours a day, and yet was gaining weight back. She told me to walk more!

How about you? Tell me your horror stories!
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Replies

  • Shells918
    Shells918 Posts: 1,070 Member
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    I had a doctor that promoted a vlcd with shakes and bars as 2 of my meals. After the first month when I went back I told him I was concerned that I was eating less than 1000 calories a day and he told me not to worry. A lot of my friends went to this guy and lost weight but they took phentermine too and I can't take that. Apparently that was the magic bean, and wrong diet for me.
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I have been put on a week-long 'gourd diet' and a week-long 'tomato diet' by a 'dietitian' as a 15 year old. I don't even want to go there. I got out of that within ten days because even a 15 year old had more sense than that woman, apparently.

    I posted this elsewhere too. I got a yo-yo dieter friend of mine to join MFP to lose weight for good. However, she stopped using it in two weeks because she 'only lost 3 lbs' and her so-called 'dietitian' told her it won't work. The 'dietitian' instead advised that my friend follow the diet given by her. The 'dietitian' also advised waist training. I believe she is secretly a psychopath. I was able to talk my friend out of the waist training but she trusts that woman more than math. She doesn't realize it's a scam. She loses 5 lbs in a week because she cuts out carbs and sodium, and she regains it over the weekend because those are her 'cheat days'. The dietitian admonishes her for eating 'too much' of the 'wrong kind of food' and putting all their hard work to waste, and gets her on the 'plan' again. This has been continuing on and off for about two years. I've given up.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I was told to eat only 1200 calories a day. I asked if I could eat back exercise calories (since I was running 3 miles a day) and I was told no because I was running before I started dieting so those calories wouldn't count. When I came back STARVING 2 weeks later, I was told it's because I wasn't eating the right foods.
    When I came back 2 weeks after that STARVING (10 pounds lighter) I was told it's working so why change anything? So of course I ended up bingeing, and gained all the weight back in the next month because I couldn't maintain that lifestyle.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    My parents took me to see a doctor about my weight when I was in my teens. The doctor himself was, shall we say "ample". He gave me a book full of awful diet recipes (baked apples with diet soda, that kind of thing) and insisted that I should start running as soon as I could. Yeah, that lasted for all of 2 days.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I've been lucky in that my PCP I see is well informed. Before I started seeing her (and when I was uninsured) I went to a free clinic when first diagnosed T2Dm. An MD I met with told me I should not be eating bread and crackers and grabbed a brochure. Her only comment was "well this is in Spanish but at least there are pictures so you can see what to eat". I looked at her and just said "I may be poor and fat, but I am no idiot so don't speak down to me like I am. Just tell me how many calories and grams of carbs I should be eating and I will figure out how to get there". She walked out. I suspect she was at the clinic to do court ordered public service because she definitely did NOT have the same attitude as others I met at that clinic. My PCP is a regular volunteer, which is how I found her.
  • KarlynKeto
    KarlynKeto Posts: 323 Member
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    In the late 70's I joined a crackpot weight loss and exercise company as a teenager that dictated a diet that was absurd, including eat no lettuce! The reason? It retained water. I didn't last long at this place, lost maybe 3 pounds, and my parents were upset it was a waste of money. Ah, hindsight.
  • Dandelie
    Dandelie Posts: 153 Member
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    "Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.

    "Cut out all carbs and sugar." This is not feasible!
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.

    Wrong and wrong.
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    My friend texted me that he was going to start a shake diet, which was recommended by his GP, a while back. I last saw him a month or so ago. It didn't look like things went well...

    I've been begging my dad to speak with a good registered dietician ever since he was diagnosed as type 2 a few years ago. His insurance would cover the visits, but he just doesn't want to. He recently got out of the hospital after a toe amputation and was just told to avoid white flour, sugar, and white bread.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    CooCooPuff wrote: »
    My friend texted me that he was going to start a shake diet, which was recommended by his GP, a while back. I last saw him a month or so ago. It didn't look like things went well...

    I've been begging my dad to speak with a good registered dietician ever since he was diagnosed as type 2 a few years ago. His insurance would cover the visits, but he just doesn't want to. He recently got out of the hospital after a toe amputation and was just told to avoid white flour, sugar, and white bread.

    Do everything you can to encourage him, that was horrible advice.
  • justBreathe33
    justBreathe33 Posts: 46 Member
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    I was told to stay away from FAT....even the good fats.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Dandelie wrote: »
    "Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.

    If there are medical issues then yes, but otherwise....
  • fileshiny
    fileshiny Posts: 149 Member
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    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.

    This was a historical quote. At the time I absolutely was burning that much a day in excercise and it wasn't through walking.
  • sbl1881
    sbl1881 Posts: 213 Member
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    Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.
  • fileshiny
    fileshiny Posts: 149 Member
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    sbl1881 wrote: »
    Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.

    Well, a pound of anything is unlikely to be healthy in one meal.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    edited April 2016
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    i was always "skinny" and fit my whole life until i stopped working 2 year ago and started sitting around and eating all day ha.. the only time ive ever talked about food with my dr was recently and she told me to lower my fat intake and up my fruit/veggie carbs. and i was sad cause i love the fats so ignored her haha.

    edit- i eat about 50 grams of fat and about 200-250 grams of carbs a day so im not low on either.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.

    so much no.
  • Mentali
    Mentali Posts: 352 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Dandelie wrote: »
    "Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.

    If there are medical issues then yes, but otherwise....

    It's about as helpful as saying "all you need to do to sleep better is go to sleep." It's the kind of technically true "advice" that has the interesting properties of being both true and completely unhelpful.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Dandelie wrote: »
    "Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    If there are medical issues then yes, but otherwise....

    "Put the fork down" only works if you are eating too much. Often people are eating the wrong things (calorie dense, nutritionally poor foods). In those cases volume is not the issue and putting the fork down only leaves you hangry.

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