Registered Dietitian here. Happy to answer questions.

Hey y’all,

First of all, thank you for your overwhelming responses to this thread. I did not expect so many responses and am sorry I will not be able to address everyone’s questions in a timely manner. I do want to help everyone, but also work fulltime and have to balance things out. This will be my last post in this thread for now. I may open a new one later. I will try to address as many posts as I can in this post.

1. If you want to be my friend on MFP, I can’t accept any more friends. I’m only friends with my personal clients on this site because I use it to provide feedback, etc. to them. If you want to stay in touch, please find me on Facebook. Search for “foodandfitness” or go to the link in my profile on MFP.

2. To those who say it’s unethical, stupid, or wrong for me to give out free advice on the internet: I truly believe that everyone deserves to have their own private sessions with a local RD. But this is reality and not everyone can. I’m giving my time and resources to answer some general questions and the people with medical issues, should contact their doctor and see a local RD. If you are really concerned with the ethical issue of me giving out general advice, then please feel free to alert the authorities of my wrongdoing.

3. To those that disagree with my advice: don’t take it. I don’t have time to link every scientific journal article to my recommendations, so you’ll just have to take my word for it, or not.

4. For people who have plateaued in their weight loss:
a. Make sure you are weighing and measuring your food
b. Make sure you are not overestimating your calorie burn with exercise
c. Make sure you are choosing the right foods and values in MFP
d. Make sure you are consistent with calories on weekdays and weekends
e. If all things are dialed in, you need to cut calories slightly and monitor progress.

5. For people worried about “starvation mode”
a. Just about every behavioral nutrition study I’ve looked into suggests that people underestimate their caloric intake. You are probably eating more than you think you are.
b. You may indeed be eating a small amount of calories on most days, but it is possible that every few days you eat those calories back because you are not consistent.
c. Calories, serving sizes, and BMR are all estimations. These are good starting points but adjustments need to be made once you are in progress.
d. All of these things listed above and more, are considerations I make when I tell someone who has plateaued to go ahead and cut calories. It’s ok to cut calories considering that you are not losing LBM at an excessive rate, suffering in your workouts, or developing nutrition deficiencies.

6. I am not going to look into supplement “X” for weight loss and see if it’s good for you to take. There are no supplements available that directly oxidize adipose tissue, aka, burn fat. Caffeine can decrease your appetite, protein powder is convenient, creatine can help you get extra reps, and a multivitamin is good for people who don’t get enough vitamins. That’s all I’ll say about supplements. Good planning, consistency, and application of your nutrition goals is how you lose weight- not pills or potions.

7. If you have a medical issue related to diabetes, etc. go see a doctor and get a RD. Seriously, if you have a serious medical issue you need individual serious medical attention.

8. There are no such things as “clean” foods or individual “healthy foods.” Some foods offer more micronutrients, less calories, etc. than others. You have to look at the context of the entire day or week to determine if someone is eating a healthy diet. A donut every now and then, or sugar, or salt, saturated fats, etc. is not bad for you. If you eat donuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and don’t get the right amount of macro and micronutrients- then you have a problem.

9. There are no special foods that cause extra fat loss in certain areas of the body. There is no exercise that can spot reduce fat. There are no special foods that burn fat. A calorie deficit and exercise program will help you reduce body fat all over.

10. If you need help putting together an exercise plan, hire a personal trainer or buy a book on exercise and put together a program. If you need a lot of individual help with your diet, consider hiring a RD.

Thank you for all of your questions. Sorry about the brevity of my answers. If you have concerns or doubts about my answers, please see #3 in this post. I simply don't have time to debate. Please remember that RDs are licensed nutrition experts and consider using one if you have further questions about your diet.

LOL - I was watching this thread and wondering how long you were gonna make it.

Good post, and great job trying to help people. I'm not a fan of the "everyone is different" excuse, and think you just laid out a great plan for 90+% of the population.

Hey y’all,

First of all, thank you for your overwhelming responses to this thread. I did not expect so many responses and am sorry I will not be able to address everyone’s questions in a timely manner. I do want to help everyone, but also work fulltime and have to balance things out. This will be my last post in this thread for now. I may open a new one later. I will try to address as many posts as I can in this post.