“Never eat more than you can lift.” ~Miss Piggy
I must say that for years I have had nutritionists on the level of social workers. Okay, maybe a step above, but it is a very small step. I will post another time on the WIC nutritionists I had to deal with when my daughter was younger.
The doctors pretty much agree that my daughter won’t be growing any more. The concern now is that her weight needs to be maintained. That is fine with me, but I won’t let her go hungry, so I need to learn more. I have never dieted so I am not all that sure how to cut or maintain calories and not be hungry.
Off to the nutritionist we go.
We get to the office, in a clinic in our big fancy big city children’s hospital and of course they first send us to get weighed and measured. Once again, I say I don’t lift her, the woman looks at me dumbfounded. She asks the last time she was weighed at the hospital, I say “four years ago, maybe” and all she does is say “go back to the waiting room.” Idiot.
We met with the nutritionist for almost an hour. I still don’t really see the point. The woman was very nice, well informed and tried to be helpful. All that came out of it was to try to limit caloric intake to about 1200 and we will see what happens. Go for high fiber food, especially in the evening, to keep hunger at bay. Try one full “regular” meal (as opposed to just Pediasure) with fruits and veggies if possible. I just can’t see trying to figure out the calories in a meal … I know people do it, and I have multiple engineering degrees, but it just ain’t gonna happen. Unless it really really really has to.
At least she was not condescending nor did she use tables or math to figure things out. After all, my daughter does not exercise in any form, we don’t really know her height …
And I won’t feed her more than she can lift.
OK, just lost my comment…maybe it will show up on Mars?? One more time! I hate nutritionists…they over feed usually. I “let ours go” and did my own thing, which was, first of all to NEVER COUNT CALORIES. Feed her good food as she can eat it, like steamed veggies (butter and salt damn it!) and whatever the heck else she likes and can eat. I would dump the Pediasure for a Whey protein isolate beverage (oooh, sounds yummy and is unpronounceable!)…it’s the kind of drink weight lifters and athletes use to build muscle and not fat (I don’t know what’s in the states, I only have a Canadian product called Proteins+ by Genuine Health…you can find it online, read the profile and find something like it…health food stores or stores that supply athletes). These are actually good, easy to shake up, easy to digest and have the good kind of calories your daughter needs. Remember too, it is a bit better to be heavier than lighter when one has neuro probs. The nerves need fat to stay calm…the right kind…no chips, fake margarines and other crap like that. Pediasure has alot of good stuff in it, but it is surrounded by sugar and bad fat…it makes our kids fat and puffy. You can boost her amino acid intake with a simple amino acid combo supplement (a pill…crush and put in jam or some other thing like that)…no need for the Ped. Bet you didn’t want to hear all this!! Food is my “thing” though, so I have a hard time shutting up about it. I am of the firm belief that 90% of our kids problems can be mitigated by proper supplementation. I promise to be quiet now.
I, on the other hand, have MUCH experience with nutritionists.
The next time you go, you can tell her that you don’t think it’ll work if you have to count calories, and could she make you a list of appropriate foods –and their amounts –that would work in the regular meal?
She can, for example, tell you, for protein, how big a piece of chicken, or how much tuna, or how much rice and lentils. For starch, how much potato? How much bread? How many pieces of fruit each day? How many cups of berries?(I don’t know what your daughter eats so I’m just throwing out examples).
Over time you’ll grow the list so you have more choices of what to give her to eat, and how much. At first you might need to meet with the nutritionist every week or two to “tweak” the eating plan. But after a while you’ll figure out what works and it will become second nature.
And don’t be afraid to switch to another nutritionist if you feel this one isn’t flexible enough or doesn’t explain things well.
That’s my 2 cents.