The worst advice I've ever received from a nutritionist/dietitian/doctor about diet is...
fileshiny
Posts: 149 Member
I've had a few doozies over the years!
How about you? Tell me your horror stories!
- When I told a dietitian that I get very hungry on a diet and she told me to just stay with it, because "my stomach will shrink". This completely ignored my personal dietary needs, information about the satiety ability of different foods and that any diet where a person is hungry all the time is going to fail.
- I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and a dietitian handed me the vegetarian food pyramid and said that these were the maximum amounts I could eat every day. After a little research, I discovered that the amounts in the pyramid were actually the lowest minimums that a vegetarian could eat and still survive!
- When hearing that I burn 1000 calories in exercise every day, a dietitian told me that I should eat a maximum of 1500 calories a day, basically giving my body 500 calories to live on each day.
- I told a doctor I walk 4 hours a day, and yet was gaining weight back. She told me to walk more!
How about you? Tell me your horror stories!
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I had a doctor that promoted a vlcd with shakes and bars as 2 of my meals. After the first month when I went back I told him I was concerned that I was eating less than 1000 calories a day and he told me not to worry. A lot of my friends went to this guy and lost weight but they took phentermine too and I can't take that. Apparently that was the magic bean, and wrong diet for me.0
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I have been put on a week-long 'gourd diet' and a week-long 'tomato diet' by a 'dietitian' as a 15 year old. I don't even want to go there. I got out of that within ten days because even a 15 year old had more sense than that woman, apparently.
I posted this elsewhere too. I got a yo-yo dieter friend of mine to join MFP to lose weight for good. However, she stopped using it in two weeks because she 'only lost 3 lbs' and her so-called 'dietitian' told her it won't work. The 'dietitian' instead advised that my friend follow the diet given by her. The 'dietitian' also advised waist training. I believe she is secretly a psychopath. I was able to talk my friend out of the waist training but she trusts that woman more than math. She doesn't realize it's a scam. She loses 5 lbs in a week because she cuts out carbs and sodium, and she regains it over the weekend because those are her 'cheat days'. The dietitian admonishes her for eating 'too much' of the 'wrong kind of food' and putting all their hard work to waste, and gets her on the 'plan' again. This has been continuing on and off for about two years. I've given up.0 -
I was told to eat only 1200 calories a day. I asked if I could eat back exercise calories (since I was running 3 miles a day) and I was told no because I was running before I started dieting so those calories wouldn't count. When I came back STARVING 2 weeks later, I was told it's because I wasn't eating the right foods.
When I came back 2 weeks after that STARVING (10 pounds lighter) I was told it's working so why change anything? So of course I ended up bingeing, and gained all the weight back in the next month because I couldn't maintain that lifestyle.0 -
My parents took me to see a doctor about my weight when I was in my teens. The doctor himself was, shall we say "ample". He gave me a book full of awful diet recipes (baked apples with diet soda, that kind of thing) and insisted that I should start running as soon as I could. Yeah, that lasted for all of 2 days.0
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I've been lucky in that my PCP I see is well informed. Before I started seeing her (and when I was uninsured) I went to a free clinic when first diagnosed T2Dm. An MD I met with told me I should not be eating bread and crackers and grabbed a brochure. Her only comment was "well this is in Spanish but at least there are pictures so you can see what to eat". I looked at her and just said "I may be poor and fat, but I am no idiot so don't speak down to me like I am. Just tell me how many calories and grams of carbs I should be eating and I will figure out how to get there". She walked out. I suspect she was at the clinic to do court ordered public service because she definitely did NOT have the same attitude as others I met at that clinic. My PCP is a regular volunteer, which is how I found her.0
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In the late 70's I joined a crackpot weight loss and exercise company as a teenager that dictated a diet that was absurd, including eat no lettuce! The reason? It retained water. I didn't last long at this place, lost maybe 3 pounds, and my parents were upset it was a waste of money. Ah, hindsight.0
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"Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.
"Cut out all carbs and sugar." This is not feasible!0 -
It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.0
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My friend texted me that he was going to start a shake diet, which was recommended by his GP, a while back. I last saw him a month or so ago. It didn't look like things went well...
I've been begging my dad to speak with a good registered dietician ever since he was diagnosed as type 2 a few years ago. His insurance would cover the visits, but he just doesn't want to. He recently got out of the hospital after a toe amputation and was just told to avoid white flour, sugar, and white bread.0 -
CooCooPuff wrote: »My friend texted me that he was going to start a shake diet, which was recommended by his GP, a while back. I last saw him a month or so ago. It didn't look like things went well...
I've been begging my dad to speak with a good registered dietician ever since he was diagnosed as type 2 a few years ago. His insurance would cover the visits, but he just doesn't want to. He recently got out of the hospital after a toe amputation and was just told to avoid white flour, sugar, and white bread.
Do everything you can to encourage him, that was horrible advice.0 -
I was told to stay away from FAT....even the good fats.0
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It's doubtful you are burning 1000 cal/s day, especially walking, but I do believe your fitbit reports that much. Most devices report twice the actual burn rate. That's what folks want to hear. However, The secret to lowering hunger is to lower carbs.
This was a historical quote. At the time I absolutely was burning that much a day in excercise and it wasn't through walking.0 -
Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.0
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Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.
Well, a pound of anything is unlikely to be healthy in one meal.0 -
i was always "skinny" and fit my whole life until i stopped working 2 year ago and started sitting around and eating all day ha.. the only time ive ever talked about food with my dr was recently and she told me to lower my fat intake and up my fruit/veggie carbs. and i was sad cause i love the fats so ignored her haha.
edit- i eat about 50 grams of fat and about 200-250 grams of carbs a day so im not low on either.0 -
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TavistockToad wrote: »
It's about as helpful as saying "all you need to do to sleep better is go to sleep." It's the kind of technically true "advice" that has the interesting properties of being both true and completely unhelpful.0 -
"Put the fork down and you will lose weight." I hate that comment. It completely disregards so much that may be influencing weight issues.TavistockToad wrote: »If there are medical issues then yes, but otherwise....
"Put the fork down" only works if you are eating too much. Often people are eating the wrong things (calorie dense, nutritionally poor foods). In those cases volume is not the issue and putting the fork down only leaves you hangry.
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I went to a dietitian when I was 20 and he convinced me that my TDEE was 1300 calories. I was 20, 5'5", and around 170 pounds at the time... So he put me on that 'elimination diet' where you basically eat all the veggies and 'fromage blanc' that you want for a week, then every other week he adds something new that you can eat (like a piece of meat). I lost 30 pounds in like 2 months, then started working full time and it was just completely impossible to follow that diet, so I gained it all back plus friends and lovely stretch marks in 3 months.
The worst part is that I was convinced for 14 years after that that my metabolism sucked anyway so why bother...0 -
Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.
Well, a pound of anything is unlikely to be healthy in one meal.
*blink*
An average-sized spaghetti squash is 3-4 lbs around here, and is usually used to make a 2-serving entree or 4-serving side dish. It's not at all unusual to eat a pound of watermelon in a sitting. I'll eat a pound of tomatoes or cucumbers with no problem. Those items are largely water, anyway.
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Anyone who thinks whole foods/food groups such as fruits or grains should be eliminated, but it's ok to have a pound of bacon with your 6 scrambled cheesy eggs. Sorry, Atkins fans! It's about moderation and CICO for those of us that are just looking to be healthy.
Well, a pound of anything is unlikely to be healthy in one meal.
*blink*
An average-sized spaghetti squash is 3-4 lbs around here, and is usually used to make a 2-serving entree or 4-serving side dish. It's not at all unusual to eat a pound of watermelon in a sitting. I'll eat a pound of tomatoes or cucumbers with no problem. Those items are largely water, anyway.
To each his own.0 -
My parents took me to see a doctor about my weight when I was in my teens. The doctor himself was, shall we say "ample". He gave me a book full of awful diet recipes (baked apples with diet soda, that kind of thing) and insisted that I should start running as soon as I could. Yeah, that lasted for all of 2 days.
My mom makes those baked apples with diet soda lol.
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My parents took me to see a doctor about my weight when I was in my teens. The doctor himself was, shall we say "ample". He gave me a book full of awful diet recipes (baked apples with diet soda, that kind of thing) and insisted that I should start running as soon as I could. Yeah, that lasted for all of 2 days.
My mom makes those baked apples with diet soda lol.
I make chicken breasts with ketchup and diet Dr, Pepper. They actually are really good.0 -
I visited a nutritionist who was very obviously overweight. I mean... Enough said.0
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Don't worry about it, you are only 40 lbs. overweight.
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I was told by a nurse to cut down on lifting and increase my cardio. At the time, I was lifting with a trainer 3 times a week and cardio 2X. She wanted me to do cardio 4X a week and decrease my lifting. This was a nurse who I was required to speak to for our wellness program at work!0
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I was told by a nurse to cut down on lifting and increase my cardio. At the time, I was lifting with a trainer 3 times a week and cardio 2X. She wanted me to do cardio 4X a week and decrease my lifting. This was a nurse who I was required to speak to for our wellness program at work!
Yep, that's pretty bad.My parents took me to see a doctor about my weight when I was in my teens. The doctor himself was, shall we say "ample". He gave me a book full of awful diet recipes (baked apples with diet soda, that kind of thing) and insisted that I should start running as soon as I could. Yeah, that lasted for all of 2 days.
My mom makes those baked apples with diet soda lol.
I make chicken breasts with ketchup and diet Dr, Pepper. They actually are really good.
Totally speechless on this.0 -
My mum was told by her doctor that if she continues to be a vegetarian, she will end up 'doubly incontinent' (my mum has been veggie over 30 years and is ultra healthy, in shape, doesn't eat processed food, doesn't smoke, rarely drinks etc, exercises regularly and teaches yoga, she was just having some random stomach pains, and has never, ever, even been slightly incontinent lol )
What an idiot. I don't even think he's a real Dr..0
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