An obese nutritionist: would you be her patient?

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  • Relajuice
    Relajuice Posts: 24 Member
    People are prejudice against obese people just as people are prejudice against people of the opposite sex and race. Obesity is a disease. People assume because someone is obese they are not qualified or unworthy of their position. This reminds me of a story about a national weight management company. One of the requirements of the job was to be within a certain BMI range. WTF! Weight Watchers requires for employment that Upon hire you, must be within 2 pounds of the Body Mass Index (BMI) healthy weight-goal range. WOW. So what do they really think of their customers who are overweight. I bet you if every weight watchers member knew this they would lose a lot of business. Who wants to be judged like that when you are struggling with a disease. But hey when you overcome your disease and look decent come lead our meetings because your so much smarter now and you are within an acceptable weight range for employment. Personally I feel obese people want to train and get help but because of the stigma society holds and the perception ignorant people have it holds them back. People need to remember that the guys dressed in the sharp suit with the slicked back hair are the ones that will lie to you and steal your money. You don't see obese people on television going to jail for stealing billions of dollars. Bottom line I want someone who knows what they are talking about. They don't have to practice what they preach to be an expert in their field.
  • Relajuice
    Relajuice Posts: 24 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    I would ask her to validate her recommendations based on her personal experience. Hopefully I would manage to avoid actually saying the words "elephant in the room" while tackling that issue.

    So your a smart *kitten*?

  • Relajuice
    Relajuice Posts: 24 Member
    No. I would not use a nutritionist who was obese.

    Thats a good reason.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    A lot, and everything.

    But not for free

    Trust me. I control several businesses and my husband has his own business so yeah. I too know a bit about what it takes. You're answer tells me you do not.

    You're going to need a taller ladder...

    Just stating a fact. If you know so much then I'm not sure why you wouldn't spread your knowledge out to others. The one thing entrepreneurs love to talk about is their business and how they failed or succeeded. No fee required.

    uh no.... even in my little town, if someone wants to know about my industry and how I've built success, they pay for that time. That policy landed me in Rio back in Feb. ;)

    "Entrepreneurs" giving their info out for free don't stay in business long without patronage or already having a big warchest. :)

    There is a huge difference between sharing success and losses and tips on how to get there and sharing trade secrets
    Not to my billing. :) Nor would I share trade secrets, in fact, I only share tips, strategems, and methodologies on being successful based on both success and failure. If someone wants "tips", they can go check out forbes, the community college, or the local retiree consortium.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    A lot of the best entrepreneurs I've met had little if any business education and probably couldn't teach a course in business if you begged them to.
    But didn't realize that they couldn't. ;)
    I know when I eventually start teaching, half of the course notes will include quotes from 80s films and Talladega Nights.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    67mirunner wrote: »
    "Those who can't do teach."

    I'm a physics teacher, and I assure you I can do physics!!

    However, I don't think I'd go and see an obese nutritionist....sounds like an oxymoron.

    Yeah, that quote is pretty dumb. Basically, anyone espousing that one doesn't have dung for STEM training.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    My son had to see a dietitian to get a work up of his diet, (which is restricted due to austism spectrum food issues) and make sure he was getting enough calories/nutrition from his handful of foods he does eat.

    I honestly could care less if the dietitian was fat. I was there to make sure my son was getting adequate nutrition!

  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    edited December 2014
    I would not see a nutritionist, because all the information they have can be found online. Also I don't need to pay someone to tell me I eat too much sodium.

    But the point, the obesity issue: if an obese person went through the required education to be a nutritionist, they are obviously qualified to teach the information they learned, BUT if they are not disciplined enough to put it into action for themselves, why should anyone listen to their advice? For the same reason, I wouldn't work with an obese personal trainer, either.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    An obese personal trainer doesn't make sense, there is a level of physicality needed. Then again, say you had the opportunity to train with a heavyweight strongman competitor, who does training. You'd be an idiot to turn that down if a training goal was to be stronger.

    I find the casual bigotry undercurrent in this thread to be quite interesting. Not surprising, but interesting.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
    rbfdac wrote: »
    Yep. It's much easier to preach than to practice. Doesn't mean she/he doesn't know what they're talking about.

    No, but looking as though you take your own advice lends a bit of credibility. Would you go to a dentist who tells you how important oral hygiene is, that you have to brush and floss when they themselves have no teeth?

    Having good oral hygiene can hardly be compared to being overweight. It's quite simple to maintain good oral hygiene- brush your teeth and floss every now and visit your dentist twice a year and then and you're good (genetics also contribute to oral health). So, if my dentist can't seem to brush his teeth a couple times a day or floss every now and then, I might question his credibility.

    However, as we all know, maintaining a healthy weight and fitness level is a smidge more of a challenge. It's not as simple as "oh, just eat this many calories and exercise and you'll be healthy, ta da!". Emotions are involved in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and aid in the process of packing on pounds, as well as medical conditions, etc. Oral hygiene, not so much- you basically just brush your teeth. (I do understand some people are afraid of the dentist, etc., but that's not what I mean). If it were as simple to maintain a healthy weight/fitness level, this website would not exist.

    I am an intelligent person with a decent amount of knowledge about health and fitness and weight loss, but I, myself, am 100 pounds overweight. Doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. I understand that someone might question my credibility and that's their prerogative, but the OP's question was "would YOU" be her patient. And yes, I would, because I am aware that there are other factors involved.

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    dbmata wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    A lot, and everything.

    But not for free

    Trust me. I control several businesses and my husband has his own business so yeah. I too know a bit about what it takes. You're answer tells me you do not.

    You're going to need a taller ladder...

    Just stating a fact. If you know so much then I'm not sure why you wouldn't spread your knowledge out to others. The one thing entrepreneurs love to talk about is their business and how they failed or succeeded. No fee required.

    uh no.... even in my little town, if someone wants to know about my industry and how I've built success, they pay for that time. That policy landed me in Rio back in Feb. ;)

    "Entrepreneurs" giving their info out for free don't stay in business long without patronage or already having a big warchest. :)

    Not so - you can give plenty of basic business information and strategy without scuttling yourself and your business. Certainly enough to get someone started. It's not as though there's a requirement to tell all of your secrets, or to deliberately set up a direct competitor.

    ETA - plenty of businessmen in my area donate their time and expertise to help those who have fallen on hard times and can't pay for a consult start their own business. Those businessmen don't seem to have a problem remaining in business.

    They're doing it from a position of being an entrenched competitor, and in most industries, there aren't a ton of technical requirements to get started, just capital need. Most folks will never get the capital to be a risk, so strategically it works fine.

    If someone is coming to me for generics, they don't respect my time or their own. So, they can pay an hourly fee, so they'll begin to respect the time they are given. I'm in a technical field though, and have hard to come by info, that's expensive knowledge to access. :)

    Err, no, actually, these are people giving out business advice to people who, by and large, are not going into the consultants' area of expertise. So, entrenched or not makes no difference. Plenty of 'new' business owners offer their perspective on the stress of starting up a new business, for example.

    The point is that one businessman can give someone in a completely different area useful business advice without risk of losing their own business over it or setting up a direct competitor.

    It's the same way that a businessman can move from one highly specialized field of business to another and function pretty well in that role even before learning all of the intricacies of that area. Because the business principles are largely the same, even when the specifics change.

    E.g. Moving from leadership positions in mechanical engineering, to manufacturing, to entertainment sales, to oil drilling & geolocation. And yes, I know someone who has done this. Always as CFO, COO, or CEO.

    The fact that you would only give advice to someone in your field and that (apparently) it would be technical enough and specific enough to potentially give them an advantage over you - well, that's your situation. It doesn't really apply to the general case.

    It is also specific to you that in your opinion, someone asking for your advice is not respecting your time or expertise. There are plenty of people who feel like you do, I'm sure. There are also plenty who feel differently.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    But back to the OP.

    Let's presume it's a dietician, because the nutritionist wouldn't have much in the way of formal qualifications and I'd skip them anyway.

    Depends on why I'm seeing a dietician. For weightloss? Nope. If you don't practice what you preach then I'm going to have a hard time taking your advice to heart. For management of a specific non-weight-related dietary need? Sure.

    I wouldn't see a diabetic dietician that can't keep their own blood sugars decently managed either, if I had diabetes.

    And no, I wouldn't delve into whether or not there are extenuating circumstances in either case. I'm just going to find another one and leave it at that.

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    It is also specific to you that in your opinion, someone asking for your advice is not respecting your time or expertise. There are plenty of people who feel like you do, I'm sure. There are also plenty who feel differently.
    Depends on the quality of the question.

    "How do you start X type of business?" is not respectful, it indicates a lack of research. A sophisticated question that indicates that there is existing knowledge is indicative of someone who respects the time of another.

    I can only talk about two industries though, others might be different. Maybe "How do I start a gastropub" is a good question for the average restauranteur to answer, and is nuanced enough to indicate there is some modicum of baseline knowledge. *shrug*

    Then again, if they're paying my hourly, then I can work with a few dumb questions. ;)
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    Definition of Obese:

    Height

    Weight Range

    BMI

    Considered


    5' 9"
    124 lbs or less Below 18.5 Underweight
    125 lbs to 168 lbs 18.5 to 24.9 Healthy weight
    169 lbs to 202 lbs 25.0 to 29.9 Overweight
    203 lbs or more 30 or higher Obese

    You mean a 5' 9" guy at 203lbs can't be considered to be trainer?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    Definition of Obese:

    Height

    Weight Range

    BMI

    Considered


    5' 9"
    124 lbs or less Below 18.5 Underweight
    125 lbs to 168 lbs 18.5 to 24.9 Healthy weight
    169 lbs to 202 lbs 25.0 to 29.9 Overweight
    203 lbs or more 30 or higher Obese

    You mean a 5' 9" guy at 203lbs can't be considered to be trainer?
    Someone should tell Donny Shankle that Pendlay can't be a trainer. lol.
  • EmotionalEater84
    EmotionalEater84 Posts: 311 Member
    Up until the point she lectures me for a slip up in my eating .. Then, the gloves come off!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
    Up until the point she lectures me for a slip up in my eating .. Then, the gloves come off!

    Even though that's what you are paying her to do. lol.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    JenAndSome wrote: »
    I would probably not go to a nutritionist at all unless I had special dietary needs. Having special dietary needs and eating too much are two different things.

    This
  • Wheelhouse15
    Wheelhouse15 Posts: 5,575 Member
    dbmata wrote: »
    Definition of Obese:

    Height

    Weight Range

    BMI

    Considered


    5' 9"
    124 lbs or less Below 18.5 Underweight
    125 lbs to 168 lbs 18.5 to 24.9 Healthy weight
    169 lbs to 202 lbs 25.0 to 29.9 Overweight
    203 lbs or more 30 or higher Obese

    You mean a 5' 9" guy at 203lbs can't be considered to be trainer?
    Someone should tell Donny Shankle that Pendlay can't be a trainer. lol.

    I'm not going to tell him; of course, I would be honoured to have Pendlay and/or Rippetoe as a trainer!
  • levitateme
    levitateme Posts: 999 Member
    Technically I am obese. I'm not picturing Pendlay, or anyone else who is "technically" obese when reading this question. I'm picturing someone who can't stand up long enough to do a normal grocery shopping.