Has anyone gone to see an actual nutritionist? The gym I go to offers a session with a nutritionist for $105.00 CAD that lasts an hour and a half. I've never gone to one, but I feel like they're just going to reiterate to me the Canada food guide... Anyway, my trainer keeps pestering me to go see her (it's not a commercial gym, its at a university by my house and they're not selling her to me because they get commission...) so I ended up making an appointment with her - it's not until July 7th though. Thoughts?

If you don't know how to eat healthy food or are having a particular difficulty with your weightloss program then i'd say go for it.

But if you are just doing it because you feel you should, i wonder if you are just succumbing to sales pressure. In some way its in the gym guy's interest for the nutritionist to do well. He is surely referring everyone to her even if he's not getting a commission.

if you go, take along a thorough food log that you've kept for a while, just in case she asks you what you've been eating.

Also watch out for any supplements that she may try to push on you. Gyms seem to be hugely into the whole supplement thing these days and i think its completely unnecessary. Money down the toilet. Just spend your money on healthy food and save up the rest of a holiday or new clothes or something that can actually make a difference to your life.

A good qualified registered dietician is worth it that's one qualified via 5 year degree and registered with RDs Canada. I know a great one who does phone consults near you but she doesn't speak English (are you bilingual?). Remember, a nutritionist can call themselves that without reading a book, an RD is a health professional. They aren't supp pushers.

Indeed, i forgot that i was going to say if i was going to spend money, i'd rather spend it on a dietician. They are more qualified than nutritionists even though nutritionists here have also studied.

Complete waste of your money & time, imho.

Yeah herein Canada there is no legal standard for nutritionist, it can be a teenage trainer at a gym. RD is protected and requires a full dietics degree plus supervised practice.

I saw one a while back, she was certified, it did help me. She clarified a lot of things concerning portion size, nutrient, etc. At the time I felt that I ate healthy food but too much of it, turns out that what I was eating was good but was mostly carbs the good kind but still quite unbalanced and was not meeting my specific needs. She made me a plan then we went over it and I was able to discuss things that I was not going to eat and she offered alternative that I could deal with.

I understand that the internet offers tons of information freely about nutrition but a lot of it is false.

I would not go to a nutritionist or a dietician. I have never had any interest in anyone telling me what to eat or what not to eat. I have friends who see dieticians specifically to lose weight and they get set up with meal planning, a list of pre-approved snacks, and portion control techniques.

I do however go to a nutritional therapist which is completely different. It's the best thing I have ever done. She is helping me overcome my eating disorder, is helping me rebuild my experiences with food, teaches me ways to overcome emotional eating, has taught me how to discern my hunger cues and how to fully enjoy my eating experiences. There is no dissecting my meals, analyzing the nutritional value of the foods I eat or any talk of scheduling meals, preplanning foods or anything like that. Before I went to her I had internalized the diet mentality and she has worked very hard to help me rewire my brain - it's totally working. I highly recommend a nutritional therapist.

I second a nutritional THERAPIST (or eating disorder therapist, even if you're not diagnosed with an eating disorder because a therapist that knows about food issues can help you through this).

I've been to two nutritionists and despite their assurances that they knew how to handle PCOS/IR issues, they did not and both sent me to eat high-carb, highly processed diets (even as I sat there and told them that I couldn't eat that kind of food because I didn't like it or it would affect my PCOS/IR).

I eventually went to a therapist to talk about my food issues (which was basically why I couldn't/wouldn't lose weight) and she helped me contextualize why I was unwilling to take care of my body.

If you're going to spend the money, spend it on therapy -- not a nutritionist. The information a nutritionist has is available here on this site or on the internet and it's not worth paying them to give it to you. At the end of the day, you have to develop a plan that works for you and you know yourself best -- not the nutritionist.

But the therapist? Awesome investment.

Nope, wouldn't go because the "ideas" of how we should eat are ever changing and they may be only following one way of eating which may not be the best way of eating FOR YOU.

I have seen a nutritionist twice. Here were my experiences.

When I was pregnant with my second son I developed gestational diabetes. TO be able to stay with the nurse midwives I was using, I had to see a nutritionist. SHE was excellent. She basically told me - eat low carb - check your blood 7 times a day (telling me when) and eat so that my blood sugars never go above an X amount. She said don't worry about fat, just stay away from anything with sugars.

And I did... and it worked. I even discovered that potatoes don't spike my blood sugars, but EVERYTHING else with grains or starches did.

Skip a few years and a year or so ago I joined a weight loss contest at my gym (biggest loser). We had to see a nutritionist. She was all about low fat, complex carbs, TONS of veggies and lean protein - the standard fare that they are taught. By then I had already figured out that low carb was best for me.... she looked at my eating and said it was all wrong. I needed less fat. I needed more carbs. WHO CARES that my blood work was the best it had ever been. WHO CARES that I felt great and was losing weight and had LOST a ton of weight already. Nope... I was doing it allllllll wrong. I didn't change anything as that is not how I need to eat. It's how SHE did... but not how I did.

I had issues with the dietician when I was in the hospital. When they put me on a soft food diet, one of the things they gave me was pudding. I could tell right away that it was not sugar free. I mentioned it to them, because my blood sugar reading were in the 300s but she said it's ok to eat the regular pudding because it was only 15 gm and that is an approved amount. Like Berryboys, I KNOW what and how many carbs I can eat to keep my blood sugar under control. You can't make a hard and fast rule, because everyone is different.

Just echoing those who are skeptical. The only time I've benefited from a dietician/nutritionist was when they acknowledged that a single diet DOES NOT fit all. It happened that the best one was a diabetes educator, NOT because I had diabetes, but because she understood that food habits had to be tailored to an individual.

My local grocery store chain offers the services of a dietician - at no cost. one of my friends has found her to be very helpful in meal planning. I told her about my 'special needs' - high protein, low carb [but GOOD carbs, with protein], low volume, and she promised to do some research before we meet.

Not sure I'll use her, but if she can point me to some products or strategies that can help me switch up my habits or give me some additional choices, I'll be happy. Oh. and by 'products' I mean that interesting vegetable that I've been afraid to try, or a protein source that's not processed, comes in small serving sizes, and is easy to deal with. I don't mean something in a box or fake food

I have never tired to visit dietician/nutritionist but i would love to do it! I think real doctor (not just a person with unknown certificate) can help you a lot! Healthy food and healthy lifestyle is the same science as chemistry/math. I do think there are lost of tips and advices a dietician/nutritionist can give you. The only problems are to find money, time and really good doctor

In my personal experience, no. It told me what food groups I needed to eat and what food groups I needed to avoid, and I already knew that. I wanted the nutritionist to give me a healthy eating plan with a specific list of foods I could eat at each meal. At least that one I went to and other nutritionists my husband went to were like that and did not provide us with any new information or any specifics, which is what we were looking for. So, no, in my case it wasn't worth it. But if you have no clue about the food pyramid, then maybe it will help you.

OP, does your university offer a basic nutrition class for non-majors? If you can squeeze it into your sched, it would a great way to get the basics of nutrition. They are taught by faculty with solid credentials and who keep up with current research, at least in my experience.

I don't think sitting one on one for a single session is useful anymore. Before the internet, maybe the information they provided was useful. But now, you can find reputable sites like NIH, CDC, Mayo Clinic and they will likely have all the guidelines that the nutritionist uses, which you can use & absorb at your leisure. If you have a really good person, I suppose it helps to have someone help distill down the information that is relevant to you, but that's a big IF.

The rest really boils down to figuring out your own WOE, and much of it comes from trial and error, over time. When i think back, I went to a nutritionist at my college once, and then at the last gym i joined. Neither was in the least bit helpful. The class I took in college and joining Weight Watchers back in the 1980s gave me the basics that I needed.

So maybe it's worth trying it out and starting to build your own base of experience--that's the way I arrived at my original reply to your question.
It seems a little pricey, but maybe it will establish a relationship whereby you can ask follow up questions at no charge.