Conflicting Info From Primary Doctor and Nutritionist HELP

xcatsaxon

Ok so I have been able to shed about 7 lbs in the past 2 months, slow I know. I have a nutritionist who specializes in PCOS/Diabetics looking to lose weight and she herself is a diabetic. I am not a diabetic but I have PCOS. For those who don't know- it is a disease that makes losing weight horrifically hard, hormonal imbalances are present and we present as diabetics because it makes us insulin resistant to boot. I am on Metformin 500mg a day twice daily.

Nutritionist wants me on 1400 calories a day diet low but balanced carbs with high protein, including no-fat dairy products, no rices or quinoa but now my doctor is saying NO! 1200 calories, Very little carbs, no red meat, very little dairy and include quinoa, wild rices, red/brown rices. Eat only chicken and turkey....

Why is there so many disconnects and shouldn't my dietician know the best? She is after all the expert in the field correct? What would you all do in my situation? I have been seeing results with the dietician...should I try to switch it up and go to this 1200 calorie starve fest or stick with moderation with the dietician?

BTW I work out 3 days a week cardi and resistance for one hour burning about 500 calories....

fleetzz

Your doctor has less training in nutrition than your dietitian. Also, you have 76 lbs to lose, so 1200 would be VERY low and near impossible to sustain without help. Even 1400 calories is really low for that much weight to lose. Not sure if I would listen to either.

editorgrrl

If you're doing well following the advice of your nutritionist/dietician, then ignore your GP for now. Keep doing what you're doing for several weeks, then reevaluate.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

This is a really tough one. I kind of feel like if you have been seeing results and you're doing well medically/physically following the 1400/day plan then stick with it. Do you still have a lot to lose? Is there another medical condition that could be why your doctor is asking you to eat less? Did you tell your doctor what your nutritionist has recommended?

ETA....sorry I just noticed that you have 76lbs to go. Plus your activity. Barring no other medical reasons for your doctors recommendation, I would stick with what has been working and alter according to how you feel.

melsinct

Your doctor has less training in nutrition than your dietitian. Also, you have 76 lbs to lose, so 1200 would be VERY low and near impossible to sustain without help.

This. Doctors get practically no nutritional training in med school and most are woefully ignorant. Listen to the nutritionist.

Sully10000

Your doctor is highly trained in diagnosing problems with your body. He has NO training in nutrition. Go with your gut and your nutritionist and congratulations for losing 7 pounds!

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

Your doctor has less training in nutrition than your dietitian. Also, you have 76 lbs to lose, so 1200 would be VERY low and near impossible to sustain without help. Even 1400 calories is really low for that much weight to lose. Not sure if I would listen to either.

Actually, the body does just fine on 1200 calories per day when an individual has that much to lose.

Lesa_Sass

Listen to your nutritionist.

Good luck:flowerforyou:

ironanimal

Is it a nutritionist or a Dietitian? There's a vast gap between the two.

Anyway, the nutritionist is probably more on the right track though the no-fat part confuses me as fats are important for hormonal balance.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Ok so I have been able to shed about 7 lbs in the past 2 months, slow I know. I have a nutritionist who specializes in PCOS/Diabetics looking to lose weight and she herself is a diabetic. I am not a diabetic but I have PCOS. For those who don't know- it is a disease that makes losing weight horrifically hard, hormonal imbalances are present and we present as diabetics because it makes us insulin resistant to boot. I am on Metformin 500mg a day twice daily.

Nutritionist wants me on 1400 calories a day diet low but balanced carbs with high protein, including no-fat dairy products, no rices or quinoa but now my doctor is saying NO! 1200 calories, Very little carbs, no red meat, very little dairy and include quinoa, wild rices, red/brown rices. Eat only chicken and turkey....

Why is there so many disconnects and shouldn't my dietician know the best? She is after all the expert in the field correct? What would you all do in my situation? I have been seeing results with the dietician...should I try to switch it up and go to this 1200 calorie starve fest or stick with moderation with the dietician?

BTW I work out 3 days a week cardi and resistance for one hour burning about 500 calories....

I eat over 2,000 calories per day, high fat, moderate protein (including red meat, poultry, pork, fish, seafood) and low to moderate carbs (depends on the amount of fruit I eat).

A typical meal for me is a nice, juicy ribeye (grass fed) with steamed broccoli and a salad.

I also have PCOS, thyroid issues, and T2 Diabetes. I take no medications at all and haven't for a couple of years.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Is it a nutritionist or a Dietitian? There's a vast gap between the two.

Anyway, the nutritionist is probably more on the right track though the no-fat part confuses me as fats are important for hormonal balance.

Exactly, a higher fat plan is what will put the hormones (especially female hormones and insulin) back into balance and start reversing this dreadful disorder.

MyM0wM0w

Your doctor has less training in nutrition than your dietitian. Also, you have 76 lbs to lose, so 1200 would be VERY low and near impossible to sustain without help. Even 1400 calories is really low for that much weight to lose. Not sure if I would listen to either.

All of this. My GP was very quick to admit that he doesn't have a lot of medical training in nutrition and sent me to a nutritionist.

lynn1982

Others have given you good advice. But I just want to add - 7 pound loss in 2 months is fantastic!! You should be very proud! Clearly you're doing something right!

erickirb

Is it a nutritionist or a Dietitian? There's a vast gap between the two.

Anyway, the nutritionist is probably more on the right track though the no-fat part confuses me as fats are important for hormonal balance.

Exactly, a higher fat plan is what will put the hormones (especially female hormones and insulin) back into balance and start reversing this dreadful disorder.

No fat dairy, does not mean a no/low fat diet. If her diet is high protein there is a good chance it is moderate in fat, not low

IronPlayground

I'd recommend staying with the advice of the dietician.

I'd also say that the ultimate goal for weightloss is to be able to eat as many calories you can and still lose weight. I'm not that familiar with PCOS, but I try to pay attention to what others have said worked for them. It does appear that food type can play a role in fat loss with PCOS. So, although calories in/calories out comes first, food type would definitely be next. What that food type would be, I really don't know.

MinnieInMaine

First of all - 7 pounds in 2 months is fantastic!! With the amount of weight you have to lose, around 1.5 pounds per week is a reasonable healthy rate of loss and you've actually exceeded that by a bit. Stop being so hard on yourself! Well done!!!

Ok, now on to your question. Call me a cynic but I don't trust doctor's 100%. To me, they're part of the research process and I take their advice with a grain of salt. Thankfully I've got a great one that's not like most - shoving pills at us for every little symptom - she listens to me, considers all aspects and comes up with reasonable solutions. While Nutritionists aren't necessarily experts (registered dieticians are a better bet - more education and regulation), they're definitely more of a specialist in the field so I'd be more likely to take their advice but I'd still do my own research and make sure what they say makes sense to me.

Also, just knowing what I know about nutrition, 1200 calories is way too low of a goal for most people. That is the bare minimum # of calories needed for women to get adequate nutrition. You don't need to go that low to lose weight unless you're quite short and not active at all.

In the end, trial and error is the best way to figure out what works for you and since what the nutritionist is having you do is working quite well, I wouldn't change a thing.

ironanimal

Is it a nutritionist or a Dietitian? There's a vast gap between the two.

Anyway, the nutritionist is probably more on the right track though the no-fat part confuses me as fats are important for hormonal balance.

Exactly, a higher fat plan is what will put the hormones (especially female hormones and insulin) back into balance and start reversing this dreadful disorder.

No fat dairy, does not mean a no/low fat diet. If her diet is high protein there is a good chance it is moderate in fat, not low

Probably, but it's unclear from the OP. Can but hope you're right.

semarsh12

For some reason doctors think 1200 is a magic number. I have no idea why and it drives me crazy. Please trust your dietitian in matters such as this, you and she may need to tweak your diet plan as time goes on, but she is most qualified to handle matters pertaining to diet.

dizchic77

Everyone is different and you need to find what works for you. I have PCOS but when I dropped my calories to 1200 my weight loss stalled for me. I'm currently set at 1500 and I usually come under and am losing weight fine. A diabetic diet is usually best for those with PCOS IMO but there will always be someone who will tell you differently. Trial and error until your body responds.

Lofteren

Your dietician probably wants no fat dairy in your diet because it contains insulin like growth factors that you can't get from other foods. I would listen to your nutritionist. Physicians have little to no knowledge of diet and exercise unless they work in that field.

Lofteren

First of all - 7 pounds in 2 months is fantastic!! With the amount of weight you have to lose, around 1.5 pounds per week is a reasonable healthy rate of loss and you've actually exceeded that by a bit. Stop being so hard on yourself! Well done!!!

OP lost 7lbs in 2 months. That's about 8 weeks.

7lbs / 8 weeks = .875 lbs per week

PaleoPath4Lyfe

Is it a nutritionist or a Dietitian? There's a vast gap between the two.

Anyway, the nutritionist is probably more on the right track though the no-fat part confuses me as fats are important for hormonal balance.

Exactly, a higher fat plan is what will put the hormones (especially female hormones and insulin) back into balance and start reversing this dreadful disorder.

No fat dairy, does not mean a no/low fat diet. If her diet is high protein there is a good chance it is moderate in fat, not low

Even moderate fat way of eating is not going to balance her hormones from the start if her hormone levels are anything like mine where when I was first diagnosed.

My old Endocrinologist that was a Metabolic Endocrinologist at the Strelitz Diabetes Institute in Norfolk, VA put me on a 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carb way of eating to get my hormone levels to re-arrange themselves................then we slowly brought down the fat level and raised the protein and carb levels until I was around 50% fat, 30% protein and 20% carbs.

Just because it is high in protein, doesn't mean moderate fat in any way. If they are wanting her to eat no red meat (chicken and fish only) then that is low fat right there. Couple that with no fat dairy and you are way under the level of fat needed to HEAL the body.

She stressed the importance of fat especially in females.

And in my experiences (many doctors, dieticians and nutritionists) when they say no fat dairy, they are wanting you to eat low fat in general.

I am merely lending my personal experiences and what the Dr's have told me over the years. I have the same issues and it is very hard to keep things in balance with eating low / no fat.

xcatsaxon

Wow, thank you all so much for your responses. I am going to listen to my 6th sense and your advice which all seem to agree- listen to the nutritionist! I feel the doctor means well, and because her body has responded to the 1200 calorie quick start using weight watchers worked for her it should be one size fits all or something I dunno. As for the hormone thing, my endroconologist said body builders would pay for my levels...lol so I guess I have a long way to go for balancing that.

xcatsaxon

I live in norfolk area too I will have to check them out see what they say as specialists in PCOS.

MinnieInMaine

First of all - 7 pounds in 2 months is fantastic!! With the amount of weight you have to lose, around 1.5 pounds per week is a reasonable healthy rate of loss and you've actually exceeded that by a bit. Stop being so hard on yourself! Well done!!!

OP lost 7lbs in 2 months. That's about 8 weeks.

7lbs / 8 weeks = .875 lbs per week

Darnit! My bad...only calced for 1 month, not two. Still, that's almost 1 pound per week which still isn't too bad, especially given PCOS tends to slow down weight loss. I stand by my statements of not being hard on herself and well done!!

PaleoPath4Lyfe

I live in norfolk area too I will have to check them out see what they say as specialists in PCOS.

Make sure you get referred to one of the Endocrinologists that are Metabolic specialists. That way your treatment will encompass the PCOS, Insulin Resistance and they can thoroughly check to see if the PCOS has caused you to have thyroid issues also.

That is what was found to be the case with me. And I was vegetarian at the time, so the soy I was eating was making the hormone issues with PCOS and the thyroid worse and worse.

The Dr advised me to do Atkins style elimination and slowly add back in higher carb vegetables, fruits, grains, etc............I had great success.

P. S. - I lived in Newport News, VA for 15 years. I moved back home to the St Louis area back in 2008. I miss the Tidewater area and the 7 cities!!

chrispholt

Your doctor has less training in nutrition than your dietitian. Also, you have 76 lbs to lose, so 1200 would be VERY low and near impossible to sustain without help.

This. Doctors get practically no nutritional training in med school and most are woefully ignorant. Listen to the nutritionist.

My pet duck could become a nutritionist, and she has no training...

xcatsaxon

First of all - 7 pounds in 2 months is fantastic!! With the amount of weight you have to lose, around 1.5 pounds per week is a reasonable healthy rate of loss and you've actually exceeded that by a bit. Stop being so hard on yourself! Well done!!!

OP lost 7lbs in 2 months. That's about 8 weeks.

7lbs / 8 weeks = .875 lbs per week

Darnit! My bad...only calced for 1 month, not two. Still, that's almost 1 pound per week which still isn't too bad, especially given PCOS tends to slow down weight loss. I stand by my statements of not being hard on herself and well done!!

THANK YOU!

Travelbug1955

I would do what the nutritionist says. You are getting results with her plan, stick to it.

jess1992uga

My nutritionist gets frustrated with this. Doctors take MAYBE on session in nutrition and then think they can give out advice. As long as you are seeing a registered dietitian/nutritionist they have had years of training AND passed a certification exam. I say go with her.

corgicake

Go with the bigger expert in that area.