Dietitians say counting calories bad

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Replies

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Dieticians on Tik Tok............................hahaha. Okay.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    Like teats on a bull... both are equally useless....
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Respectfully disagree @rheddmobile

    I first visited my dietitian about two months in, when I’d already lost twenty pounds following an extremely simple elimination diet provided by my GP. I didn’t know where to go from there.

    She gave me wonderful suggestions and advice, encouragement, and most importantly, directed me to sign up for MFP.

    I only visited the dietician three or four times but each visit was priceless for good advice and reassurance I wasn’t going to screw things up.

    I would strongly recommend visiting a dietician, if you can afford it. (Mine was $25 per visit, a perk of the hospital-owned gym which was available to area residents as well.)

    It’s not like you have to go every week, every month, or even every six months.

    While individual dieticians may be great, as a group, statistically, they have a level of long term success in getting clients to lose substantial weight and keep it off for more than two years which rounds to zero. That’s not my opinion but a quantifiable fact.

    The one I consulted with at a large hospital who was recommended as “just the greatest” advised that I, as a newly-diagnosed diabetic eat a diet of “three carbs” per meal with a carb defined as a portion of starchy or sweet food such as a sweet potato, rice, or piece of pie. This would have literally killed me in a short time. I still have the handout she gave me at the hospital.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Dieticians are statistically terrible at helping people to lose weight and keep it off, why listen to them?

    I wouldn't agree with that.

    I would say actual advice from qualified dieticians (not 15 seconds from who knows who on Tiktok) is good at helping people lose weight and keep it off.

    What is terrible , statistically, is people correctly following such advice.

    It isnt the advice that is the problem.

    Advice no one ever follows clearly isn’t working on some level...
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    Dieticians are statistically terrible at helping people to lose weight and keep it off, why listen to them?

    I wouldn't agree with that.

    I would say actual advice from qualified dieticians (not 15 seconds from who knows who on Tiktok) is good at helping people lose weight and keep it off.

    What is terrible , statistically, is people correctly following such advice.

    It isnt the advice that is the problem.

    Advice no one ever follows clearly isn’t working on some level...


    But that isnt the case - many people do follow it and with good results - like springlering who you quoted

    'advice no-one ever follows' is a sweeping and obviously incorrect statement - and people keeping weight off using any method or advice has low stats - including MFP, going by the number of I'm back! posts.

    Dieticians advice isnt the issue just like calorie counting or MFP isnt the issue - it is people adhering long term to the advice.
    Some do, some don't

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Respectfully disagree @rheddmobile

    I first visited my dietitian about two months in, when I’d already lost twenty pounds following an extremely simple elimination diet provided by my GP. I didn’t know where to go from there.

    She gave me wonderful suggestions and advice, encouragement, and most importantly, directed me to sign up for MFP.

    I only visited the dietician three or four times but each visit was priceless for good advice and reassurance I wasn’t going to screw things up.

    I would strongly recommend visiting a dietician, if you can afford it. (Mine was $25 per visit, a perk of the hospital-owned gym which was available to area residents as well.)

    It’s not like you have to go every week, every month, or even every six months.

    While individual dieticians may be great, as a group, statistically, they have a level of long term success in getting clients to lose substantial weight and keep it off for more than two years which rounds to zero. That’s not my opinion but a quantifiable fact.

    The one I consulted with at a large hospital who was recommended as “just the greatest” advised that I, as a newly-diagnosed diabetic eat a diet of “three carbs” per meal with a carb defined as a portion of starchy or sweet food such as a sweet potato, rice, or piece of pie. This would have literally killed me in a short time. I still have the handout she gave me at the hospital.


    As far as I know there is no method in existence with a higher than 5 percent success rate. With that in mind, I do not think you can hold the profession responsible for the abysmal weight loss results. They can tell a person how to cut back but they can't force compliance. They are also not qualified to deal with many of the underlying issues that are centered in the brain. They may get better results if they are a part of a team approach but I do not know.

    I think it would be fair to say that in any profession there are people who are terrible at their jobs. I am not sure it is fair to say that the entire profession should be judged on a single experience or on things beyond their control. If your RD was telling people they could eat 3 carbs per meal, it is little wonder she was considered the greatest. People like to be told what they want to hear.

    I have only consulted an RD twice and because my first one left for another position I met two different ones. Both loved me because I was "a breath of fresh air." At the time of consultation I had already lost more than 100 pounds so I had a pretty solid grip on my system. They both shared with me their struggles of trying to make any type of headway with their clients. It seems like a very frustrating job.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member

    NovusDies wrote: »
    Respectfully disagree @rheddmobile

    I first visited my dietitian about two months in, when I’d already lost twenty pounds following an extremely simple elimination diet provided by my GP. I didn’t know where to go from there.

    She gave me wonderful suggestions and advice, encouragement, and most importantly, directed me to sign up for MFP.

    I only visited the dietician three or four times but each visit was priceless for good advice and reassurance I wasn’t going to screw things up.

    I would strongly recommend visiting a dietician, if you can afford it. (Mine was $25 per visit, a perk of the hospital-owned gym which was available to area residents as well.)

    It’s not like you have to go every week, every month, or even every six months.

    While individual dieticians may be great, as a group, statistically, they have a level of long term success in getting clients to lose substantial weight and keep it off for more than two years which rounds to zero. That’s not my opinion but a quantifiable fact.

    The one I consulted with at a large hospital who was recommended as “just the greatest” advised that I, as a newly-diagnosed diabetic eat a diet of “three carbs” per meal with a carb defined as a portion of starchy or sweet food such as a sweet potato, rice, or piece of pie. This would have literally killed me in a short time. I still have the handout she gave me at the hospital.


    As far as I know there is no method in existence with a higher than 5 percent success rate. With that in mind, I do not think you can hold the profession responsible for the abysmal weight loss results. They can tell a person how to cut back but they can't force compliance. They are also not qualified to deal with many of the underlying issues that are centered in the brain. They may get better results if they are a part of a team approach but I do not know.

    I think it would be fair to say that in any profession there are people who are terrible at their jobs. I am not sure it is fair to say that the entire profession should be judged on a single experience or on things beyond their control. If your RD was telling people they could eat 3 carbs per meal, it is little wonder she was considered the greatest. People like to be told what they want to hear.

    I have only consulted an RD twice and because my first one left for another position I met two different ones. Both loved me because I was "a breath of fresh air." At the time of consultation I had already lost more than 100 pounds so I had a pretty solid grip on my system. They both shared with me their struggles of trying to make any type of headway with their clients. It seems like a very frustrating job.

    I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to be an RD with a focus on weight loss/chronic disease management. So many people want to lose weight, so few of us are willing to engage in behavior change to make it happen (to be clear, I'm including myself in that group, because I would have been very frustrating to an RD until 2015).