My meeting with a Sports Nutritionist

LOL I would like to see scientific evidence that woman need extra calories when they release a microscopic egg during ovulation. The rest of this is common sense. Hope you didn't pay too much money for this "consultation".

Well, she is a scientist and nutritionist who trained at Mass General, so I do think she is basing this on research, darlin'.....just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it isn't true.

Aren't you charming.

That's my point. I'm not going to disparage someone for making a buck if they are not crossing the line. Making information palatable to the average person is part of getting a message across to a wider audience. Are such tips good for this group in here? Absolutely not. But to the average joe/jane? Perhaps. I'll be the first to admit that messaging is tricky, and while I have an ideological slant myself to telling people the truth and the whole truth, I'm not entirely sure I'm correct.

That's an entirely different topic but it's relevant to what is happening here.

Honestly it reads to me like she's mostly using correlations. Which are fine if a person isn't counting calories, but counting negates a lot of it. For example, having a small dinner seems mostly intended to cause a person to eat less calories overall without bothering to count. But if a person keeps calories equal there's no difference between a small breakfast/large dinner and the inverse.

The question is whether she is targeting calorie counters and I'm going to guess that she isn't. It's the same issue with the American Heart Association's message on refined sugar. We all (the self identified group here) agree that refined sugar isn't "bad" but what is being said is to cut it down because it's an easy way to cut calories.

Exactly

When an egg is released but isn’t fertilized, the body secretes progesterone to start the menstrual flow.

This is incorrect.
Progesterone is secreted starting with ovulation to prepare the uterus for implantation of the fertilized egg. If there is a pregnancy, progesterone secretion continues.
If the egg isn't fertilized, progesterone secretion drops off and the uterine lining sloughed off.

Wouldn't it be more helpful to the OP to point out the tips that are valid and good and the parts that are generally not necessary?

None of the advice will exactly stall weight loss (she's not advising taking raspberry ketones or VLCDs here), it is just that some of it (such as eating breakfast or avoiding large dinners) isn't necessary. The advice about large dinners would be good advice for someone who doesn't count calories because it's likely to lead to a surplus. For people who track and count calories, they can eat all of their calories before bed and find success.

Regaining weight and percentages, while flawed, must necessarily be based on statistics. How many of the people on here recommend TDEE and not eating too great of a deficit? How is that advice different from what this nutritionist has given.

The progesterone issue probably doesn't come into play for most women. It might, however, for someone who is under medical care and needs extra calories to deal with shedding meconium, blood loss, iron depletion, etc.

The advice about eating when your hungry is something that applies to people who have been at it for a while and pay attention to their actual hunger cues. Intuitive eating doesn't seem to work for dieters, though.

The rest of her advice seems to be "learn moderation, don't lose too fast, strength train and step away from the scale and pick up the tape measure." Honestly, is that any different from the advice given here daily?

I could go into more detail, but TL; DR. It's not completely wasted advice, but some of it isn't necessary, either.

I am skeptical of a few of her points...

Like 97% will regain
Must eat breakfast
Need more calories when ovulating
weight themselves regularly then says don't if you are a weight lifter...
eating specific things after a workout...

last but not least only eat when you are hungry even if you have calories to fill...hunger is not the best way to tell what the body needs.

Some are fine tho like eating the same on a rest day as an exercise day, not using the scale only but measurments etc...and yes you can build muslce if you are NEW to lifting...or obese.

Was thinking the same thing and the whole... whoa your apple is more like 140 calories... um, where did she pull that number from? Did she have a scale and weigh it?

Nutritionists want to make it seem more difficult than it really is for people without medical conditions to lose weight.

Basic principles:

To lose weight eat less calories than you burn in a day
To maintain weight eat the same calories than you burn in a day
To gain weight eat more calories than you burn in a day

Eat a balanced, well rounded diet, no need to eliminate foods, practice moderation

Get out an exercise a little.


There's no magic potion here. There's no hoodoo voodoo. But, the average nutritionist wouldn't be in business if everyone knew it was really this simple. So there's all these bro-science / myth rules that people have to go pay for... because honestly, if you went to the nutritionist, and paid for sessions that probably weren't cheap, and got the above basic principle information, a.) would you feel silly and like you wasted your money? and b.) would you even need to go back?

case and point.

My thoughts:

- weight loss of more than 1 lb. per week is 97% likely to be regained and lost muscle tissue is replaced by fat when regained

I would suggest the percentages on this forum are different. If you keep a weights regime up after losing weight, you will gain muscle. If you didn't have a weights regime before, you likely gained the muscle you needed to move the fat around. This will happen again.

- people who KEEP weight off do the following: eat breakfast, don't allow themselves to get overly hungry, eat everything in moderation, exercise, weigh themselves regularly and keep a food journal.

If this had been clarified with a 'some' it would be better to me. Many, many people find eating breakfast harmful to weight loss, myself included.

- when ovulating, women can need an additional 300-500 calories, so instead of feeling like you have no willpower when you are PMS'ing, you should eat more.....your body needs it

As above, maybe that amount of extra calories in total a month? Please try and offer some clarification before posting figures that people could easily take as a daily value!

- eating protein AND carbs after working out is essential - carbs fuel, protein rebuilds....we need both

Actually, if you've eaten before a workout, it's not really THAT essential. If you are looking to put on muscle, then certainly don't skip the carbs, but a lot of people trying to lose weight are merely doing weights workouts to maintain and may cut back on carbs for the sake of reducing calories.

- saving all your calories until dinner causes you to gain weight; you are supposed to fuel during the day and lose weight while you are sleeping - so eat the majority of your calories throughout the day and SPOIL YOUR APPETITE for dinner and then just have something light

I'm sure plenty of studies have disproved this. I think this was thought to be the case at some point, but current research has proved it's not.

- you CAN gain muscle on a deficit for the first 6 months of starting a weightlifting program and then you plateau

Figures sound very pulled out of the air. And unlikely for many people - very obese, more likely maybe. Gaining strength for a good period - more likely again.

- using a scale as the only method to assess your progress is a BAD idea, especially if you are weight training; instead, use your mirror, tape measure, and how your clothes fit. if you see less fat, you are losing fat, even if the scale is not moving much.

Can work just fine and gives you THE BEST idea of what deficit you are actually on.

- sustainable weight loss is about managing your intake and NOT allowing yourself to get overly hungry is really important. When you allow yourself to get overly hungry, your body has a physiological response that causes you to overeat, and you ultimately take in more calories than you would have consumed if you had just kept up with your hunger

Not for all people again, but I'd tend to agree more likely for the people that need to lose weight.

- you should eat when your body is showing signs of hunger - it is a sign that all the energy you gave it has been used up and it needs more fuel to keep going. You should stay in the 4-5 range, where 1 is starving and 10 is stuffed and 5 is content. Most dieters stay in the 3 range, are always hungry, and "blow" their eating because their body rebels eventually and they overeat. That is why managing your hunger is hugely important.

Many dieters manage periods of hunger just fine too.

- you need to eat just as many calories on your rest day as your workout days to rebuild your muscles, so go ahead and eat when you are hungry on your off day....it's beneficial

And if you're building muscle, you're increasing weight. Fine if you're looking to put on weight.

- metabolic damage is a REAL thing, but you have to eat very little to cause it - and you will know it's happening because you will be hungry all the time, day in and day out.....and that is not sustainable. Most people underestimate the calories they are consuming....for example, my 80 calorie apple I was munching while we met was really 140 calories, she told me!

How did she know? Did she account for the fact you likely wouldn't eat it all, leaving the core and so on?

- You DO NOT need to eat when you aren't hungry just to meet a calorie goal (unless you are underweight). Your body is the best calorie counter there is, she said. And apparently I am right on track!

Again, some people do. More, if your are already at a big deficit, it IS good to eat when you're not hungry to ensure your body is kept well fueled.

No she just said midway through your cycle, around ovulation when PMS starts and women tend to get hungrier....and it's because they need a little more calories. I don't know why, but this woman is very legit, so I am trusting her. She consults with all the Boston sports teams, marathon runners, etc.

People can take what they want from my notes. I'm just passing it along and not everyone will believe, or want to accept, what she's saying. In the end, folks will believe what works for them.

Here is the answer:

When an egg is released but isn’t fertilized, the body secretes progesterone to start the menstrual flow. If no egg is released, the surge in progesterone doesn’t occur. Progesterone has a thermogenic effect; in other words, it makes heat. To produce the heat, energy — in the form of calories — is burned.

Actually, progesterone surges after the egg is released to help prepare the body for implantation/pregnancy (progesterone - pro gestation). If the egg is not fertilized, both estrogen and progesterone drop, causing the menstrual period to begin.
Progesterone does increase heat in the body. A small increase in basal body temperature can be detected. Some women trying to concieve will track temperature to identify when ovulation occured. You can also see the temp drop when menstruation begins. A continuing increased temp is a good first sign that you may be pregnant.
Doctors may also test for progesterone surges to confirm a woman is ovulating.
Progesterone increases with pregnancy.

(by higher temperature I mean very small, you need a thermometer that reads two decimals place unlike the regular ones that have only one).

I don't totally disagree with everything she said but a few of the things made me question. The 300 - 500 calories extra being one of them.

Thank you for taking the time to share this! Very informative and just plain common sense. She's the expert and I believe what she says. Pay no attention to all the crackpots coming out of the MFP woodwork to dispute what she told you and 'prove her wrong!'