Conversation with a Registered Dietician

After reading all of the debates on these forums about caloric intake, I sat down with a close friend of mine and asked her about it. She holds a degree in Diet and Nutrition and has been a nationally certified RD for many years. She has spent most of those years working as a Nutritionist at the largest hospital in a city of nearly 6 million people. So her qualifications are legit.

I asked her about net calories vs exercise calories vs total calories. She told me that during weight loss it is ESSENTIAL that you don't drop below 1200 NET kcal per day. Regardless of how much exercise you do, your body requires a minimum 1200 kcal to function properly. If you are consistently below 1200 kcal/day NET over a long period of time you force your body to alter the way it metabolizes its fuel. You will be losing weight like crazy but your body will not be doing it correctly. It will drop into survival mode. What should normally be burned for energy will be stored, and muscle will be burned for energy. She said that if you drop below 1200 kcal/day NET once or twice in a few week period then you should be fine, but if you are averaging below that then you will be in trouble. She also said that people will argue with her about it because they are losing weight, and losing it fast. What is the primary side effect of this? REBOUND weight gain. When they experience the rebound weight gain they come to her and ask for help. That's why fad/shock/HCG/cleanse diets don't work long term. They don't teach the body how to properly maintain it's metabolism. Because you sent your body into starvation mode, even if you eat your BMR, your body will respond by gaining the weight right back because it thinks it needs to survive. Many of us have experienced this.

We also talked about doctors/providers and their nutrition training. Most don't really know much about proper weight loss and dieting. How do I know this? I work in medicine Hence the reason I asked her about it. Most med schools teach 1-2 semesters of nutrition, and that's it. And trust me, nutrition is about as low on the priorities list as you can get when it comes to medical training. Have you seen all of the overweight cardiologists out there? So continue to consult with your doc about your weight loss, but if you have real questions you may have to go to a more intense source for information.

I know that this will not end the debate. But hey, I went to an educated source that has practiced for years. I think I will follow her advice. Good luck in your weight loss journey, I'm down 10 lbs in 6 weeks! Sweet!