Concerned about bad advice from a nutritionist

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gretchygirl32
gretchygirl32 Posts: 48 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello! I hope that any of you who have good solid advice on how many calories a person should be eating will weigh in here. I have a really tough time trusting the "professionals" who give out horrible advice, and I'd rather hear from people who have done their own homework and have seen success.

First of all, my own doctor told me to eat at 1200 calories a day while working out 5 times/week and taking Phentermine (a year ago, not recently). I dropped 20 pretty quickly but then pretty much plateaued. Her advice then was to drop caloric intake to 1000. Again, I dropped a few pounds and plateaued pretty quickly after. As soon as I went off the phentermine, of course it all came back and then some. I've since been using much less drastic measures to achieve weight loss (following MFP and eating my exercise calories). However, I know I have a lot to learn.

Speaking of having a lot to learn, my sister follows a very strict 1200 calorie diet and exercises like a fiend. I told her she probably needed to eat more calories when she complained that the weight stopped coming off despite her healthy eating and exercise for several months. She decided to seek the advice of a nutritionist. Here's what happened:

The nutritionist told her to eat 1270 calories/day until the results of her RMR test came back. My sister works out hard doing boot camp classes, etc. a good 5 days a week (weighs about 170, 5'5"), so 1270 seems to be a pretty small number. Still, she listened to the pro. RMR results came back at 1350. The nutritionist told her to only eat 1350 on days she works out and 1150 on days she doesn't. I thought RMR was the bare minimum you needed to LIVE.

I figured out my doctor didn't know much about nutrition (like many doctors) when she told me to eat 1000 calories a day, so no more harm was done in that area for me. However, the advice my sister got from her nutritionist is troubling and goes against what many people who have been successful say on these boards. While the nutritionist is certainly a 'professional' I just disagree with her wholeheartedly. I feel like my sister should be eating more calories. What do you all think?

Replies

  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
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    What are the education qualifications of this nutritionist?
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
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    What are the education qualifications of this nutritionist?

    and do they have any certifications? success stories?
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    go to this group.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

    read the threads listed on this thread.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read

    start understanding why how and why calorie and macros should be set to their correct values and you'll have all the ammo you need to show your sister what her correct goals should be.
  • tjl2329
    tjl2329 Posts: 169 Member
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    You should get a new one. Mine told me to just watch carbs not calories. I am diabetic. I watch both since wingstop wings have no carbohydrates but a ton of calories. She did say 1/3 veggies 1/3 protein and 1/3 carbs. On a playe. So i guess look at the big picture and use only whats helpful
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
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    I have gotten nothing but bad advice from doctors this year, including doctors who are supposedly top of their field.

    It seems like doctors don't care about helping your health these days, just seeing what kind of drugs they can get you taking.

    I've helped myself more by researching my issues and treating myself homeopathically. I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing that if you have serious issues, but your sister could probably learn a lot researching her own weight loss, especially here.
  • gretchygirl32
    gretchygirl32 Posts: 48 Member
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    I'm not sure about the nutritionist's qualifications, but her recommendations go against everything I've learned here. When I went in and manually calculated my sister's RMR, it came to 1342, so very close to the actual test that yielded 1350. I went with the 1350 and figured out her TDEE based on her moderate activity level. Eating at a 30% deficit, she should still be eating 1464/day. I've read that a 30% deficit should only be used for the morbidly obese for a short period of time. Eating 1350/day puts her at a roughly a 35% deficit. At 170 pounds she is overweight, but she is not morbidly obese. Anyway, you guys made me feel better. I tend to play amateur "enter occupation here" when I disagree with the experts, but in this case I think the disagreement is warranted. She is very OCD and will do what the 'pro" tells her to do. I just don't want her health to get messed up because of bad advice from someone who should know better.
  • gretchygirl32
    gretchygirl32 Posts: 48 Member
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    I agree!
  • gretchygirl32
    gretchygirl32 Posts: 48 Member
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    And thanks for your input, everyone! :-):heart:
  • samgerbine
    samgerbine Posts: 1
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    You and your sister were given wrong advice. I wouldn't go to on online site...people may mean well but usually aren't educated in nutrition or the body's needs. A good simple rule of thumb is 25-35 calories for every kg of body wt. for example...if one weighed 50kg they would need 1250 to 1750 calories per day depending on his/her activity level. For women...do not go below 1200 calories and men shouldn't go below 1400/1500 calories. That is a very generic statement and I'd like to speak with you more about a plan specifically for you. I've completed my academic portion of my masters degree in nutrition and am working on my research project for hospital surgical procedures and nutrition. After I complete this I will sit for my RD exam and then will become a dietitian. The difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist is the education. Anybody can say they are a nutritionist, and many often do without any education or sense regarding nutrition. I'd be more than happy to speak with or email you. I'm very upset that you were given wrong and potentially harmful information and I'd like to set you in the right direction.

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