Has anyone been to a nutritionist? What kind of service do they provide?

I'm looking for someone who will help me with my BMR, BMI, and other calculations and will tell me exactly how many calories I should be eating every day.

What I am very afraid of is that the nutritionist will give me a laundry list of things I am not allowed to eat thus making me revert to bingeing. What are your experiences with nutritionists?

When I saw one, I brought her a list of the things I ate, and the things I liked and we figured out a plan from there based on how much I wanted to lose and my activity level. She didn't give me a big list of stuff I couldn't eat. I found it very helpful.

sweetie, a good site to visit so you don't have to see a nutritionist for that information is this site:

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculators.html

of course you can still see one, but if you feel intimidated, there are tons of nutritionally sound weight loss sights!

I thought about going to a nutritionist, but decided against it for now mostly due to my own funds. I think it might be helpful though as though I find calculators helpful too I also think meeting with a person one on one can help you plan more than just calorie intake. You can get advice on how to keep variety and how to adjust your dietary needs based on you and your medical history.

I may end up going to one, I don't think it is a bad idea. The problem is there are so many web sites, so many calculators, so many ideas, so many articles, and some people can get overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I love going to and support the idea of using calculators and what not...I use them every day, but I also think there are times that I can't find the right information or I find conflicting information.

For me a nutritionist would look at my blood work, my medical history, my current weight loss and more and that is something the web can't really do so I think personally a nutritionist can be beneficial and I'll probably visit one in the near future. My insurance does cover it, I believe, but I have limited insurance so I don't want to use up what I have left if that makes sense.

I saw a nutritionist when I first started. She was somewhat helpful but not everything that I wanted. My expectations probably were not very realistic.

The biggest thing she did to help me was to give me a big list of food, several pages, that I could eat. That was huge to me because I truly was at a loss about what to eat. I knew that most, if not all, of my normal food would be on the no-no list.

My biggest problem with her is that she want to tell me exactly how to eat. Fancy that, an expert wanted me to follow her advice and I was stubborn about it.

She wanted me on an exchange program that would be about 1200 calories per day. I was already calorie counting and wanted to stick with that but she said I would be too "obsessive" with cc. I wanted to cc and felt that I could not handle 1200 long term. I had tried many times and wanted a gentler start, calorie counting with a range of 1500 to 1800 calories/day. She said that my weight loss would be too slow and I would get discouraged.

I thanked and paid her; than took her program and tweaked it to work for me. I used a combination of exchange and calorie counting to ensure that I got in all the food groups. Her list of foods were a huge help.

My weight loss has been relatively slow, 63 pounds in 10 months. I may have lost more on 1200 calories/day but I doubt that I would stuck with it.

I see a dietitian! I've been seeing her for longer than I care to admit... but she's really good at her job, and really nice I only see her once a month at the moment. She's pretty affordable, I think, and she doesn't really give me a strict diet or anything to follow... in fact, quite the opposite. She tells me it's okay to indulge once in a while, have dessert or snacky things. And she weighs me every month to see how much I've lost/gained/whatever. I just saw her yesterday, in fact, and apparently I've lost 11 lbs. in 5 weeks!

MrsLovett

time2lose, you are doing beautifully...I think there is a lot to be said for finding what works for you and you are obviously doing that. 63 pounds in 10 months is awesome!

Mrs.Lovett--are you calorie counting? What are you doing for workouts?
TIA!

Thighs Be Gone,

I do count calories. I stay around 1100-1200. I've lost 35 lbs. in 4 months!

MrsLovett

ive not seen a dietician etc, all i know is when you decide to go, write your food intakes and activity levels for at least 2 weeks prior - and take it with you

What I'm doing now seems to be working... I'm losing weight at 1-2lbs per week. It would be nice if it was quicker but I'm on a lifestyle plan that I can stick with and that's what's more important to me. I think I'll reserve seeing a dietician/nutritionist when I hit a real plateau. Thanks for the advice ladies!

1-2 pounds a week is awesome

I saw a nutritionist when I was pregnant and she was unhelpful, condescending and uneducated (in my opinion).

So um. Yeah. That's my experience.

I didn't have to pay anything; I live in Canada and as she was working out of the hospital, it was all part of my maternity care.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

I went to a nutritionist back in university. My main gripe was that she didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. She showed me the food pyramid and told me I should eat according to the food pyramid. Duh. I needed more help with behavior changes than with information that anyone can find online. I didn't go back to her.

For me a nutritionist was worthless, I learned nothing I didn't get in highschool health class. It was all common sense and standard advice, and the calculations were nothing I couldn't do, myself, with Dr. Google!

But to caveat, I was also just a month or so postpartum, so maybe they just couldn't give me much workable advice? But she was definitely not very helpful beyond affirming what I already knew and giving me a few useful
posters for my fridge.