Trying something new: Nutritionist
As I mentioned in a previous post a while back, I wanted to try a new approach on my journey to better health. So I had my initial consult with a local nutritionist a few days ago. It was...interesting. I felt like we had a great conversation but I'm feeling a little unsure of what I've gotten myself into.
If you've been on the weight loss roller coaster for a while, you tend to be better educated on a lot of the basic tenets of what someone like my nutritionist has to offer. I didn't need to be shown what a cup of rice or a serving of meat looked like - I'm already pretty good at eyeballing portion sizes when I choose to. You're already up to speed on the great plate division, where half your plate is veg, the other half splits protein and carbs. You also find that you know what the 'right' answers are to certain questions about managing your (physical and mental) health and I found myself having to monitor myself on giving the answers I knew she wanted/expected to hear.
What I did find myself needing help on was making sure any goals I set were specific and realistic enough. I came in with short-term, medium-range, and long-term goals, which she said were perfect. We talked a lot about what could be going wrong in my diet that I have been very unsuccessful in losing weight. Here were some of my takeaways from this initial experience:
1. My multivitamin research paid off and I'm already taking what would have been considered her top brand and formula choice for me.
2. I think I've realized that part of the crux of my problem is that I'm not a very good cook...but I tend to feel better about eating in portions when I'm getting a nice variety of flavors in my diet. For example, I'd roast veggies more often if I didn't mess them up more often than not (those poor brussels sitting in my fridge right now didn't deserve what they got)
3. I definitely feel the penny pinch. We talked about making a list of staples that I should always have on-hand. However, I don't always feel like I can afford to keep it all around.
4. I hadn't considered that I might have food sensitivities that are impacting/hindering my efforts. We may do some testing down the road for that.
5. Getting better at planning is my assignment for the next 4 weeks. Planning for trips to the grocery store (i.e. the staples conversation above). Planning/prepping meals for the upcoming days. Coming up with some "default" meals that I can turn to when I don't know what to eat or don't have time (ideally made from the 'staple' groceries).
6. Food journaling stresses me the eff out. Especially myFitnessPal. I understand the principles of consciousness that journaling is supposed to help you with. But having to put in everything with that level of detail raises the hackles on my anxiety. For example, my typical cafeteria lunch at work is a brown rice bowl with steamed broccoli and cabbage, sauteed bok choi and eggplant, about a cup of some kind of spicy sauteed chicken and peppers, cilantro, marinated onions and a tsp of sriracha. The workers aren't consistent about how much of anything goes in there and I don't always eat every morsel. I understand the journal doesn't have to be perfect. But the idea of trying to figure out how many calories that damn thing is by guestimating how much of anything is in it zaps my motivation, period.
7. Consistency is key...I just don't know how to do it.
Sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to talk through where I was with it. I'm already struggling with some of this (I'm hoping I can email her about it). My next appointment to the nutritionist is in about 4 weeks.
If you've been on the weight loss roller coaster for a while, you tend to be better educated on a lot of the basic tenets of what someone like my nutritionist has to offer. I didn't need to be shown what a cup of rice or a serving of meat looked like - I'm already pretty good at eyeballing portion sizes when I choose to. You're already up to speed on the great plate division, where half your plate is veg, the other half splits protein and carbs. You also find that you know what the 'right' answers are to certain questions about managing your (physical and mental) health and I found myself having to monitor myself on giving the answers I knew she wanted/expected to hear.
What I did find myself needing help on was making sure any goals I set were specific and realistic enough. I came in with short-term, medium-range, and long-term goals, which she said were perfect. We talked a lot about what could be going wrong in my diet that I have been very unsuccessful in losing weight. Here were some of my takeaways from this initial experience:
1. My multivitamin research paid off and I'm already taking what would have been considered her top brand and formula choice for me.
2. I think I've realized that part of the crux of my problem is that I'm not a very good cook...but I tend to feel better about eating in portions when I'm getting a nice variety of flavors in my diet. For example, I'd roast veggies more often if I didn't mess them up more often than not (those poor brussels sitting in my fridge right now didn't deserve what they got)
3. I definitely feel the penny pinch. We talked about making a list of staples that I should always have on-hand. However, I don't always feel like I can afford to keep it all around.
4. I hadn't considered that I might have food sensitivities that are impacting/hindering my efforts. We may do some testing down the road for that.
5. Getting better at planning is my assignment for the next 4 weeks. Planning for trips to the grocery store (i.e. the staples conversation above). Planning/prepping meals for the upcoming days. Coming up with some "default" meals that I can turn to when I don't know what to eat or don't have time (ideally made from the 'staple' groceries).
6. Food journaling stresses me the eff out. Especially myFitnessPal. I understand the principles of consciousness that journaling is supposed to help you with. But having to put in everything with that level of detail raises the hackles on my anxiety. For example, my typical cafeteria lunch at work is a brown rice bowl with steamed broccoli and cabbage, sauteed bok choi and eggplant, about a cup of some kind of spicy sauteed chicken and peppers, cilantro, marinated onions and a tsp of sriracha. The workers aren't consistent about how much of anything goes in there and I don't always eat every morsel. I understand the journal doesn't have to be perfect. But the idea of trying to figure out how many calories that damn thing is by guestimating how much of anything is in it zaps my motivation, period.
7. Consistency is key...I just don't know how to do it.
Sorry this post is so long, but I wanted to talk through where I was with it. I'm already struggling with some of this (I'm hoping I can email her about it). My next appointment to the nutritionist is in about 4 weeks.