4 Things Your Dietician Needs You to Know (But Won’t Tell You)

A lot of people don’t like having to go to a dietician because of several reasons, such as simply not having the time to do so, or having certain misconceptions about having to plan a diet.

Here are a few things you need to know when consulting a dietician:

1. Dieticians are not food police.

They’re not there to tell you which foods you are allowed to eat and which ones you can’t for fear of punishment. Dieticians are there to help you plan your meals according to your lifestyle, which means that there are two things that you need to hold up on your end for any meal plan to work: follow-through and balance.

2. There are no “good” or “bad” foods.

Your body needs sodium, fat, and even carbohydrates in order to function properly. The emphasis is on carbohydrates, as they are the body’s primary source of energy – go on strictly “low-carb” diets long enough and you’ll end up fatigued after a few minutes doing something strenuous.

What is “bad” is having too much of one thing. In the same way that too much salt and fat is bad for you, eating too much (or exclusively) vegetables can also deprive you of much-needed energy or nutrients.

The key having a proper diet is to balance the amount of each type of food. For instance, if you eat more carbohydrates than fruits and vegetables, you might want to lessen the former while having more of the latter.

3. Not all dieticians would like to write meal plans.

This is because proper nutrition is much more than just the input vs. output of calories. You also need to take your lifestyle into account, as well as your dietary habits. They can write you a meal plan, but they also need to ask you questions about whether you can cook or have the time to do so.  

Simply put, there is not exact formula that a dietician can prescribe for you to follow by the letter. They can, however, teach you how to eat healthy and reduce the amount of calories in your diet, as well as make the necessary lifestyle changes that could help your diet progress.

4. Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight.

What most people don’t understand when it comes to the concept of weight loss is that it’s not just a montage of physical exercises and diets (and rarely ever is). This is a process that will sometimes need the overcoming of any emotional or psychological barriers. 

Weight loss doesn’t happen on diet alone, either – it’s a combination of lifestyle choices and changes that help you lose the weight and actually be in your optimal health. In some rare cases, it might even be genetic.