My meeting with a Sports Nutritionist

I had a great meeting with one of the top Sports Nutritionists in the country today. I went in expecting to discuss how many calories I should be eating, macros, etc. Here are the highlights of the meeting:

- 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
- 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.
- 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
- eating protein AND carbs after working out is essential - carbs fuel, protein rebuilds....we need both
- 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
- you CAN gain muscle on a deficit for the first 6 months of starting a weightlifting program and then you plateau
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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!
- 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!

Her name is Nancy Clark, in case anyone wants to check out her credentials and website. Hope this is helpful. The meeting has changed the way I've been looking at my weight loss, for the better! The diet industry has made all of us afraid to trust ourselves...and they make billions as a result.

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!'

LOL ..all the 'crackpots" are the ones that have kept weight off and recomped their bodies over a period of years…but hey, what would people that have actual long term success know...

Yep. And the real argument among people who having done this is a razor thin area. We waste an incredible amount of time arguing with the idiots rather than discussing the gray areas among ourselves.

Heh. You know, I actually question why I bother trying to help people on the main forums. The reasonable discussions take place in groups and you're not trying to explain basic concepts over and over and over to people who neither appreciate your time nor likely will follow the advice you give them.

On the contrary, I seem to learn the most by defending my opinions from idiots attacking on all sides.

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!'

LOL ..all the 'crackpots" are the ones that have kept weight off and recomped their bodies over a period of years…but hey, what would people that have actual long term success know...

Yep. And the real argument among people who having done this is a razor thin area. We waste an incredible amount of time arguing with the idiots rather than discussing the gray areas among ourselves.

Heh. You know, I actually question why I bother trying to help people on the main forums. The reasonable discussions take place in groups and you're not trying to explain basic concepts over and over and over to people who neither appreciate your time nor likely will follow the advice you give them.

On the contrary, I seem to learn the most by defending my opinions from idiots attacking on all sides.

I can see some benefit to that as you really have to dig into a topic to truly defend it, whereas others who agree with the premise will usually take it at its word.

As a scientist I would like to remind people of the "Half-life of facts", which says that over time half of what you know to be true will be untrue.

Skepticism and questioning facts are vital to progress. Hating on a forum that, at it's core, is supposed to encourage and inspire users to lose weight is wrong.

As a scientist I would expect you to appreciate asking for facts rather than being asked to take someone's word for things. Skepticism and questioning facts is vital to progress, I completely agree. And questioning and arguing the minutiae of an assertion is how we find truth.

I agree totally and you missed my point. A discussion is welcome. An argument isn't.

It might help if you pointed out some of the posts you consider "hating" versus just "discussing." Otherwise we're just guessing at what you mean.

And this thread is a very good example of why I stay out of the forums most of them time. The OP was offering to others wanting to get/stay healthy some help. And got crucified for it. Goodness gracious people.

And this thread is a very good example of why I stay out of the forums most of them time. The OP was offering to others wanting to get/stay healthy some help. And got crucified for it. Goodness gracious people.

The OP offered advice and some of it was not scientifically sound and was based on pseudoscience. So you are saying things like that should go unchallenged?

For the record, the OP is the one that was deeming to people that legitimately challenged her by calling them "darlin" and such...

I read the OP and will add it to the body of knowledge I have gathered on weight loss. As with most bodies of knowledge - some of it is helpful and accurate. Some of it is contradictory. Some of the well established and researched "facts" will be disproved in years to come and we will look back and say - people actually believed that!

I read the OP and will add it to the body of knowledge I have gathered on weight loss. As with most bodies of knowledge - some of it is helpful and accurate. Some of it is contradictory. Some of the well established and researched "facts" will be disproved in years to come and we will look back and say - people actually believed that!

How can a "scientist" say that a bunch of misinformation and some outright lies "add to the body of knowledge"?

What kind of scientist are you?