Opinions on Nutritionists
Replies
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vespiquenn wrote: »Skip the nutritionist and see a registered dietitian. Anyone could basically get a nutrition certification and not have a clue how weight loss works.
Yep, decided to see how easy it was to become a "certified nutritionist". There are 100's of website where one can pay, on average $50, take a "course", pass a joke of a test, and get thier certificate. Technically I am, but all I got out of it was $100 on a bet from a co-worker that didn't believe me. I paid $29.95 for my "certification".3 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »My experiences with RDs and nutritionists are pretty hit and miss. The last time I met with my RD she gave me a booklet with recipes that were low sodium/low potassium/low phosphates. But she failed to notice that the tradeoff with these recipes was that a lot of them were very high in fat.
What's wrong with fat?
Nothing wrong with fat in moderation, but when a single serving has 30 grams of it...
Again, what's wrong with fat? So long as you make it fit your calorie goal, and you're getting sufficient protein ...
Nothing wrong with it, but when I made that recipe (it was for a low sodium seafood croquette) it put me about 40g over my macros for fat and about 30g under in protein. I agree fat is a good thing, but like you said, only if it fits your macros.
It's more about the goal the recipe was supposed to reach, which was to help increase protein consumption while keeping sodium and potassium levels down. It just seems iffy to me when, in a recipe that's supposed to showcase a lot of protein, the fat content is much higher than the protein content.1 -
My RD is also an RN which is handy when I'm also sick and can't into my doctor. I see her once per week. I can be very picky and selective about food and she really pushes me to move outside my comfort zone. Sometimes I just need her to dissect my thoughts and help me see how ridiculous they are. She also took the stress of the scale off my hands. She did my weigh ins until I hit a healthy weight since I couldn't bear seeing the numbers go up. (I was underweight)1
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I'd rather see a registered dietitian. As an LMSW, I see nutritionist vs. Registered Dietitian like life coach vs. Licensed Social Worker - the first doesn't require much specialized training (and often can be attained in a weekend), and can attract a lot of casual, entry level folks looking to just supplement their income or push their agenda. The second requires a lot of objective education, experience, and usually requires licensure and oversight from the state/country of practice.2
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THIS.vespiquenn wrote: »Skip the nutritionist and see a registered dietitian. Anyone could basically get a nutrition certification and not have a clue how weight loss works.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Doctors have very little knowledge on nutrition. Out of all the time they spend in school, about 20 hours is dedicated to nutrition. That's not a lot at all.HarlemNY17 wrote: »How about seeing your doctor first before you spend your money
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I see a registered dietician 1:1 and also another one in a group setting. I find their expertise helpful with looking at food, exercise, and motivation differently than I could do on my own.0
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But eating plenty of fat can make it easier to reach your protein goal. Maybe your fat goal was just set unnecessarily low.livingleanlivingclean wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »My experiences with RDs and nutritionists are pretty hit and miss. The last time I met with my RD she gave me a booklet with recipes that were low sodium/low potassium/low phosphates. But she failed to notice that the tradeoff with these recipes was that a lot of them were very high in fat.
What's wrong with fat?
Nothing wrong with fat in moderation, but when a single serving has 30 grams of it...
Again, what's wrong with fat? So long as you make it fit your calorie goal, and you're getting sufficient protein ...
Nothing wrong with it, but when I made that recipe (it was for a low sodium seafood croquette) it put me about 40g over my macros for fat and about 30g under in protein. I agree fat is a good thing, but like you said, only if it fits your macros.
It's more about the goal the recipe was supposed to reach, which was to help increase protein consumption while keeping sodium and potassium levels down. It just seems iffy to me when, in a recipe that's supposed to showcase a lot of protein, the fat content is much higher than the protein content.4 -
kommodevaran wrote: »
But eating plenty of fat can make it easier to reach your protein goal. Maybe your fat goal was just set unnecessarily low.livingleanlivingclean wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »My experiences with RDs and nutritionists are pretty hit and miss. The last time I met with my RD she gave me a booklet with recipes that were low sodium/low potassium/low phosphates. But she failed to notice that the tradeoff with these recipes was that a lot of them were very high in fat.
What's wrong with fat?
Nothing wrong with fat in moderation, but when a single serving has 30 grams of it...
Again, what's wrong with fat? So long as you make it fit your calorie goal, and you're getting sufficient protein ...
Nothing wrong with it, but when I made that recipe (it was for a low sodium seafood croquette) it put me about 40g over my macros for fat and about 30g under in protein. I agree fat is a good thing, but like you said, only if it fits your macros.
It's more about the goal the recipe was supposed to reach, which was to help increase protein consumption while keeping sodium and potassium levels down. It just seems iffy to me when, in a recipe that's supposed to showcase a lot of protein, the fat content is much higher than the protein content.
Maybe it wasn't.
And meeting a protein goal is easy to do while eating low fat foods--if that's what the person wants to do.0 -
Lou_trition wrote: »vespiquenn wrote: »Skip the nutritionist and see a registered dietitian. Anyone could basically get a nutrition certification and not have a clue how weight loss works.
Or she could get herself a nutritionist who specialises in weightloss- or even better, has actually been through losing over 100lbs. Ive become a nutritionist to help people lose weight and most of all I have the empathy as I've been there. All of my clients are smashing their targets and they are on MORE calories than they have been before.
And how many hours of training did it take you to be nutritionist?0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »HarlemNY17 wrote: »How about seeing your doctor first before you spend your money
Because Dr's know very little, if anything, about diet.
OP, I think it depends on whether you have any specific reasons or concerns that would warrant seeing a professional (certain health issues, performance based goals etc). If so, I'd see a dietician over a nutritionist.
PSA doctors do have some nutrition instruction in Med school, but given the amount of weight issues in advanced societies not nearly enough IMO.
However, depending on your insurance plan, one may need to have a doctor referral before insurance will pay for a registered dietitian.1 -
I'm against both. Maybe it's my own experience that got me biased, but my dietitian never ever asked me if I thought that my diet was sustainable (it wasn't).
Unless you're completely clueless about what a balanced diet is (eating whole foods, lots of fruit and veggies etc), a dietitian won't miraculously give you the willpower to stick to a calorie deficit. Honestly, the only time when I think that they are actually worth the money is for people who are really clueless about nutrition, or for people who have a hard time coming up with balanced meals on their own.1 -
newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
In my experience with dietitians, most do not follow the MFP model of calorie accounting. Their approach is more like the "TDEE" method used by many people here, i.e. one sticks with a set calorie intake per day and does not "eat back" exercise calories. The idea is that an average number of exercise calories are "built in" to your daily intake. Some days that might mean a larger or smaller deficit, but, over time, it averages out. In the event that one does a particularly lengthy workout, hours of physical labor, etc, it is a simple thing to just increase intake for that day.
The fact that RDs do not subscribe to the MFP model is not a deficit in either their knowledge or their training.
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deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
In my experience with dietitians, most do not follow the MFP model of calorie accounting. Their approach is more like the "TDEE" method used by many people here, i.e. one sticks with a set calorie intake per day and does not "eat back" exercise calories. The idea is that an average number of exercise calories are "built in" to your daily intake. Some days that might mean a larger or smaller deficit, but, over time, it averages out. In the event that one does a particularly lengthy workout, hours of physical labor, etc, it is a simple thing to just increase intake for that day.
The fact that RDs do not subscribe to the MFP model is not a deficit in either their knowledge or their training.
I know - but if she is looking at her MFP diary to provide advice - which the person said she was and see's her eating exercise calories, then there is a conceptual misunderstanding of how they are derived - unfortunately many MFP users don't understand this either
if the Dietitian gave her TDEE/calories to focus on and then ignored the MFP eating back (or disconnected the exercise adjustment calories), it would be a different story0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
In my experience with dietitians, most do not follow the MFP model of calorie accounting. Their approach is more like the "TDEE" method used by many people here, i.e. one sticks with a set calorie intake per day and does not "eat back" exercise calories. The idea is that an average number of exercise calories are "built in" to your daily intake. Some days that might mean a larger or smaller deficit, but, over time, it averages out. In the event that one does a particularly lengthy workout, hours of physical labor, etc, it is a simple thing to just increase intake for that day.
The fact that RDs do not subscribe to the MFP model is not a deficit in either their knowledge or their training.
I know - but if she is looking at her MFP diary to provide advice - which the person said she was and see's her eating exercise calories, then there is a conceptual misunderstanding of how they are derived - unfortunately many MFP users don't understand this either
if the Dietitian gave her TDEE/calories to focus on and then ignored the MFP eating back (or disconnected the exercise adjustment calories), it would be a different story
The RD I saw was very well versed in MFP and how it works and recommends it to her clients as a calorie/macro counting tool, as do most RD's of her acquaintance. We opened my diary to look at a bunch of individual days, looked at several 90 day reports generated by MFP, and she declared I was doing it right. She calculated my TDEE (based on MFP numbers) in case I decide I ever wanted to change to that approach, which is her recommendation for when I would get closer to maintenance, but agrees that the NEAT is a great way to calculate.1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
In my experience with dietitians, most do not follow the MFP model of calorie accounting. Their approach is more like the "TDEE" method used by many people here, i.e. one sticks with a set calorie intake per day and does not "eat back" exercise calories. The idea is that an average number of exercise calories are "built in" to your daily intake. Some days that might mean a larger or smaller deficit, but, over time, it averages out. In the event that one does a particularly lengthy workout, hours of physical labor, etc, it is a simple thing to just increase intake for that day.
The fact that RDs do not subscribe to the MFP model is not a deficit in either their knowledge or their training.
I know - but if she is looking at her MFP diary to provide advice - which the person said she was and see's her eating exercise calories, then there is a conceptual misunderstanding of how they are derived - unfortunately many MFP users don't understand this either
if the Dietitian gave her TDEE/calories to focus on and then ignored the MFP eating back (or disconnected the exercise adjustment calories), it would be a different story
Again, I don't think there is any "misunderstanding". RDs get a lot of training. That includes many concepts.
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deannalfisher wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
In my experience with dietitians, most do not follow the MFP model of calorie accounting. Their approach is more like the "TDEE" method used by many people here, i.e. one sticks with a set calorie intake per day and does not "eat back" exercise calories. The idea is that an average number of exercise calories are "built in" to your daily intake. Some days that might mean a larger or smaller deficit, but, over time, it averages out. In the event that one does a particularly lengthy workout, hours of physical labor, etc, it is a simple thing to just increase intake for that day.
The fact that RDs do not subscribe to the MFP model is not a deficit in either their knowledge or their training.
I know - but if she is looking at her MFP diary to provide advice - which the person said she was and see's her eating exercise calories, then there is a conceptual misunderstanding of how they are derived - unfortunately many MFP users don't understand this either
if the Dietitian gave her TDEE/calories to focus on and then ignored the MFP eating back (or disconnected the exercise adjustment calories), it would be a different story
Again, I don't think there is any "misunderstanding". RDs get a lot of training. That includes many concepts.
the person specifically said that her RD said to not eat back exercise calories - which is why I posed the question, do they understand that MFP uses that methodology to calculate required calories (not TDEE) - a question that HAS NOT been answered? yes, I know some RD's are conversant in MFP and others aren't - it will depend on training received, continued education and other factors - I'm trying to understand if this specific RD understands that element of MFP.
The RDs that I work with do - however, they calculate TDEE for us to use (which coincidently comes out close-ish to what MFP gives me for maintenance when I factor in exercise calories)
there is a difference between these two pieces of advice:
1) don't eat back exercise calories if using MFP derived methodology (NEAT) which does not include purposeful exercise
2) don't eat back exercise calories if you use a TDEE method (of which purposeful exercise is included in calculation)
I'm trying to understand which one was given1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »newheavensearth wrote: »My RD gave me excellent advice on selecting and maintaining a goal weight. She confirmed that I am already at a healthy weight. She commended me on my 70 lb loss and suggested I continue my present calorie range after reviewing my food diary. I see her for managenent of hypoglycemia.
She gave me an excellent plan for monitoring physical signs of low blood sugar, and how to eat to balance protein and carbs to stabilize my blood sugar. She also warned about dangers like unconciousness to coma, which I disregarded until now.
Another very important, yet controversial in the MFP world, piece of advice was the usage of exercise calories. After reviewing my diary she found patterns indicative of overexercising to work off carb binges (binges often triggered by hunger and low blood sugar), and asked me if I practiced other purging behavior. So she advised me to stop using exercise calories. So I am beginning to scale it back. I'm glad she caught that.
I'm very satisfied with her. She is very kind and knowledgeable in her approach.
she does realize that MFP calorie recommendations are based on eating back at least a portion of exercise calories right - so flat out advice to not eat them back, is going to counter to how they determine calories needed to meet your goal?
yes, binging is bad, but so is underfueling your body - which could also result
This has nothing to do with MFP methodology or underfueling my body. It is called stopping exercise bulimia in its tracks. Because bulimia comes in many forms including over exercising to compensate for a binge. A responsible RD would catch that, which she did.
And I knew that a bunch of people would disregard this and say "but MFP says use them".
Whatever. I'll trust a professional who understands my health concerns.2 -
I'm not saying don't get treatment for exercise bulimia or anything like that...that is something that needs to be addressed - in fact that is where using something like TDEE that takes into account exercise calories could be "potentially" beneficial - but even then - could still cause problems because its a root cause that needs to be explored and weighing/measuring can increase the obsessive behaviors
I asked a specific question - did they understand the MFP provides recommendations based on eating back calories - its a yes/no - not disregard the advice of your RD - just did they know...0
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