Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

I have a 287 lb neighbor who is finally making a good attempt to lose weight. She asked me to help her as I lost around 60 lbs. a few years ago. We're going over her current "diet" plan, and I have to question whether she's lying to me or her nutritionist is dumb or maybe I'm missing something. Supposedly, her nutritionist does not care at all about caloric intake and is only concerned with how many servings of carbohydrates (quality of the carb doesn't seem to matter) she eats per meal. That seems like an incredibly limited approach to weight loss. Is this really the type of advice that nutritionists give? The reason I ask is because the neighbor asked me to go with her to the next nutritionist appointment. What am I supposed to tell this nutritionist if all she is telling her client is to watch her carb intake? It's not like my neighbor has a small amount of fat to get rid of.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

So, the nutritionist is getting paid for her advice? She's one of the least informed nutritionists I've heard of. Switch nutritionists.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

nutritionist is dumb. weight loss come down to calories in vs calories out. bottom line

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

Possibilities:
A) Your friend misinterpreted what the nutritionist said
B) The nutritionist is making the assumption that your friend has a problem with overeating carbs, and since your friend is very fat, a small easy task like watching carbs could lead to a small weight loss - when this stops working the nutritionist will incorporate another small behavior change to cause further weight loss, this way more $$$ to be made
C) The nutritionist is an idiot

Probably a combination of all of the above...
Does your friend want to count calories? A big problem is a lot of people want to lose weight but don't want to move more or count calories, so some nutritionist say stuff like "eat more XXX, and less YYY" because it is less energy dense and more satiating etc...

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

Talk to a RD. A "nutritionist" means nothing.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

Was going to say basically the same thing ThatWei said that your neighbor only heard what she wanted to hear from it since I'm assuming she was given a ton of info she's probably never heard, and when the subject of low carbs came up that stuck with her most because those diets are marketable and advertised more often than others. And again like ThatWei said the low carb thing will only work for so long, your neighbor is vulnerable and will have to keep going back for help when the pace of fat loss declines.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

I overheard a very fat women discussing her new diet with other fat people. She said something about how she eats many very small meals so if she has a snack you have to have some string cheese with it. One of the hippos asked her why do you keep mentioning string cheese and she replied with you need to get some protein in every meal. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't string cheese only have like 3-5g of protein/ stick?

I couldn't help but ask her more about her diet plan and her calories. She told me that she eats only 1000 calories/ day divided into 6+ meals. This women...who is at least 5'10 and 260lbs is eating 1000 calories a day. Which I believe is way too low. I asked her who gave her this diet (Thinking that she read it from a magazine or something) and she said her NUTRITIONIST.

Long story short. Her nutritionist was an idiot so I assume your friend's nutritionist is also an idiot.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

I started a degree in nutrition, i left due to the fact alot of it was aload of bubbles. Although im still studying it seperately...aslong as you have a certificate clients will think you know all.

But ye, this nutritionist doesn't seem too great, although when i give advice i try not to focus on calorie intake more portions, well depends on ultimate goals..but if its just simple weight loss then no need.

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

you can go very low calories when you are massively overweight without much trouble

1000 cals is probably her diet but the chances are she only sticks to her diet half of the time, the other half shes binging

 

Are Nutritionists Dumb or am I?

Just because she's telling her to watch carb intake doesn't mean she thinks calories don't matter, or that carbs alone make you fat. With someone with a lot of fat to lose sometimes the simplest changes will result in weight loss. Most importantly, it doesn't overwhelm the client and ends up being much easier to maintain, which is most important. As fat loss stalls or she's ready, you introduce new habits, such as increasing protein intake or whatever. Eventually she's at an "ideal" diet without throwing it all at her at once.