First: Hi! I’m not dead. And I’ve missed you.
Second: Here’s why I haven’t been writing: I’m taking five upper-level classes at UNR, doing revisions on my book for my new agent (!), tutoring 10 hours a week and teaching a creative writing class for teenagers at the community college. Yikes.
Okay, that all said, I wanted to share something with you.
When we joined our new gym in January, we were given a free 45 minute session with a nutritionist. I went and did that yesterday.
I had no problem connecting with the nutritionist. She was very nice, knowledgeable without being overbearing and non-pushy with the diets.
She did weigh me before we went into her office (we had to walk through the gym, and a scale, to get there.) And when we got into her office, she clearly expected me to have a weight loss goal of some kind. She seemed very confused when I didn’t. At first I was like oh, here we go, but then I remembered that people do what they know. This woman is used to women who weigh over 300 pounds coming to her because they want to lose weight.
Once we got talking, she said the goal definitely needed to be to keep my blood sugar regulated. She called it reactive. Her advice was basically to eat six times a day, every three hours. Always eat a protein when I eat a carbohydrate. She recommended 2200 calories a day. I don’t count calories, but I found this interesting enough to share because I honestly expected her to advise me at closer to 1500 or 1600. At least 2200 felt sane.
I’ve never been to a nutritionist before. It was interesting, but I’d already gathered most of the information on my own. I think I did like hearing it directly from an expert, though. I’m glad the session was free. My biggest thing these days is figuring out how to have enough energy to get through my entire day. I need to keep going from when I wake up until I go to bed at night. I can’t crash at two or three in the afternoon. (Well, clearly I can. But I really don’t want to. I screws everything up.)
Next week, I’m meeting with a ‘fitness expert’ for an hour long discussion that also came free with my gym membership. The nutritionist said that she believes it is definitely my blood sugar that caused me to feel so poorly after exercise, including severe muscle pain and gave me some advice about keeping that from happening again (basically, eat before and after I work out. Eat during if I exercise for more than an hour.) I’ve been swimming a couple of times a week and it’s so nice. Once my revisions are done, I’ll have more free time to exercise more and I’m really looking forward to that.
So what about you all? Have you ever been to a nutritionist? What was your experience?
I’ve been. I had insulin resistance at the time (all gone!) and I had much the same advice. My nutritionist worked specially with diabetes patients. 3 meals, 3 snacks (yes, 1 after dinner), protein and carbs balanced. I used to crash during afternoon hikes and discovered that protein was essential so I got where she was coming from right away. She recommended nuts and fruit, crackers and cheese (whole grain crackers), Greek yogurt and fruit, sweetened with 1 tsp of maple syrup or honey for breakfast (lots of protein there). I still eat the stuff she recommended.
I’m glad everything is going so well. It seems like life is very exciting for you right now. I’m very happy for you!
With much trepidation and no small amount of skepticism, I went to a nutritionist a few years ago. We corresponded a bit by email first, just so I could make sure it wouldn’t be a complete waste of my time. Your post caused me to look back at those emails. I told her I was looking for guidance that was “nonjudgmental and not rigid.” Her responses were quite thoughtful, and I liked her even more when I met with her in person. I still use her as a resource and have tremendous respect for her intelligence and the way she does her job.