After a recent checkup my doctor said that my blood pressure was very high and so was my blood sugar...thinking that now at age 45 i am becoming diabetic(maybe?) Anyways he wants me to go to a dietitian to try and lose some weight.I was wondering if it is a waste of time and money ,and maybe i should try to lose the weight myself-without going to anyone.Have any of you out there ever been to a dietitian? Please share you experience-thanks for your help!
Do Dietitians work for losing weight?
- Thread starter joeyboy
- Start date
If I were you, I'd be as concerned about the high blood sugar as the high BP. People can give you a million pointers about how to improve your condition, but you've got to do the research and do the work. As Sidekicks said, it's hard.
If you're looking for a starting place for weight loss, you might consider trying Weight Watchers. They're well-respected and have a higher long-term success rate than anything else out there. There's an online version of the program. I don't know whether they deal with sodium, though, and you've got to be careful with that, in addition to weight, if your BP is high. There's a lot of hidden sodium in many packaged foods, including those that are marketed as "healthy."
If you're looking for a starting place for weight loss, you might consider trying Weight Watchers. They're well-respected and have a higher long-term success rate than anything else out there. There's an online version of the program. I don't know whether they deal with sodium, though, and you've got to be careful with that, in addition to weight, if your BP is high. There's a lot of hidden sodium in many packaged foods, including those that are marketed as "healthy."
Will an RD work? In my opinion, possilby with a butt load of dedicate & hard work. Their advice applied to me? It would not work.
I don't have any accreditation or letters after my name. I was sick & tired ir being fat, sick & tired. So I did my own research into being overweight/fat, high BP, high cholesterol and found that much of the mainstream advice from health gurus, Drs, RDs, and non-profits ADA, AHA and govt orgs FDA & USDA all are based on either old data that has been surpassed by newer data or based on poorly done tests AKA junk science. The worst thing I found was that the 'experts' advocate to fix us with the very foods & behaviors that might be making us sick & fat.
So I gave up those thing foods & behaviors and pushed in the opposite direction.
Does fat & cholesterol make us fat & sick? My research suggests that it doesn't so I went on a low carb & high fat diet. For a time (about 2 month) I ate the equivalent of 1 week's worth of "Low-Fat Diet's" fat/cholesterol in one day. Every day. My blood lipid profile got better & my clothes fit better & I lost like 5-10 on the scale. Stupid me, as I didn't keep a good log of my progress.
Anyways, either I must be some mutant or a statistical outlier or perhaps the advice we've been given for the past 60 years is wrong. That everyone doesn't need the My Plate or the USDA Food Pyramid and that basing our foundation on grains & refined carbohydrates is not at all good for us.
Dr Atkins was not a quack. Atkins, Lo-Carb, Paleo, Primal, Ancestral diets are not an all bacon & steak diet. I eat more vegetables for breakfast than everyone I know other than 2 vegans. I eat veggies & meat. No grains. No junk soda & candy. Very little fruit or potatoes. I treat desserts & cake like they are special, as in the way it was 100 years ago.
Its been 2 years this September. 7 inches on the waist. 55 pounds on the scale. XL to L shirts. I did this this only a small amount of moderate-difficulty exercise. Very little to no cardio. Just body weight exercise like situps, pullups, squats, lunges that anyone can do in their home in privacy.
Vegatarianism & veganism might work for some people. Ultra Low-Fat Diet & pro-starch diet (MacDougal) diet might work for some people. I had to find what worked for me & it was low-carb high fat Atkins.
You will have to find what works for you.
PS: Weight Watchers is technically defined at a calorie restricted & carb restricted diet. Its might be a good choice.
Check out this video http://slimissimple.org/simple-tips/ titled "Slim is Simple". Its really the concept that is simple. The application is still hard.
Good luck.
I don't have any accreditation or letters after my name. I was sick & tired ir being fat, sick & tired. So I did my own research into being overweight/fat, high BP, high cholesterol and found that much of the mainstream advice from health gurus, Drs, RDs, and non-profits ADA, AHA and govt orgs FDA & USDA all are based on either old data that has been surpassed by newer data or based on poorly done tests AKA junk science. The worst thing I found was that the 'experts' advocate to fix us with the very foods & behaviors that might be making us sick & fat.
So I gave up those thing foods & behaviors and pushed in the opposite direction.
Does fat & cholesterol make us fat & sick? My research suggests that it doesn't so I went on a low carb & high fat diet. For a time (about 2 month) I ate the equivalent of 1 week's worth of "Low-Fat Diet's" fat/cholesterol in one day. Every day. My blood lipid profile got better & my clothes fit better & I lost like 5-10 on the scale. Stupid me, as I didn't keep a good log of my progress.
Anyways, either I must be some mutant or a statistical outlier or perhaps the advice we've been given for the past 60 years is wrong. That everyone doesn't need the My Plate or the USDA Food Pyramid and that basing our foundation on grains & refined carbohydrates is not at all good for us.
Dr Atkins was not a quack. Atkins, Lo-Carb, Paleo, Primal, Ancestral diets are not an all bacon & steak diet. I eat more vegetables for breakfast than everyone I know other than 2 vegans. I eat veggies & meat. No grains. No junk soda & candy. Very little fruit or potatoes. I treat desserts & cake like they are special, as in the way it was 100 years ago.
Its been 2 years this September. 7 inches on the waist. 55 pounds on the scale. XL to L shirts. I did this this only a small amount of moderate-difficulty exercise. Very little to no cardio. Just body weight exercise like situps, pullups, squats, lunges that anyone can do in their home in privacy.
Vegatarianism & veganism might work for some people. Ultra Low-Fat Diet & pro-starch diet (MacDougal) diet might work for some people. I had to find what worked for me & it was low-carb high fat Atkins.
You will have to find what works for you.
PS: Weight Watchers is technically defined at a calorie restricted & carb restricted diet. Its might be a good choice.
Check out this video http://slimissimple.org/simple-tips/ titled "Slim is Simple". Its really the concept that is simple. The application is still hard.
Good luck.
I have a relative who is seriously morbidly obese. The mind tricks you into thinking that you are not eating that much, exercise is not so important or it forces you to forget your target caloric intake.
That's why all or nothing diets are tempting. Start with Overeaters Anonymous or Weight Watchers and do everything you can. Personally I think you are best starting slowly. First the meetings, then a meal journal, then a plan of action, then you start eating better (healthier), exercising in some moderate way, finally lowering calories last of all.
Lastly, most importantly: reward yourself with trips to hookers.
That's why all or nothing diets are tempting. Start with Overeaters Anonymous or Weight Watchers and do everything you can. Personally I think you are best starting slowly. First the meetings, then a meal journal, then a plan of action, then you start eating better (healthier), exercising in some moderate way, finally lowering calories last of all.
Lastly, most importantly: reward yourself with trips to hookers.
The CVS machines are only reliable if they're calibrated once in a while. I don't know how bad your numbers are, but if you're seriously concerned about keeping an eye on your BP you should consider buying a tester you can use at home. They're not especially expensive. Look around online and you'll find lots of options and reviews.
And if you're concerned about your blood-sugar levels, cut out the soda.
And if you're concerned about your blood-sugar levels, cut out the soda.
My last bp reading was 158/100. DONT WANT to use excuses but i can honestly say since the 2yrs(this Oct 22nd) that my mom passed away i let myself go.It really hit me like a ton of bricks(she passed suddenly at 62)We were best friends.I guess that i just felt(and kinda still feel)like wtf i dont care about anything anymore.I know it not the way to look at my life but just feel that way alot......sorry for venting a bit!
I still have both my parents & it would mess me up for years when they pass. Never apologize for venting about loss. Us guys don't have many chances to just feel & have emotions without being judged about it. Venting & eating are just some of the things we can do to cope.
As said above, the CVS BP meter isn't so accurate and a tester at home would be better.
If you are looking to take a step by step approach to turning your health around, then do two things:
Cut The Junk
Just Eat Real Food.
So first cut back on junk food that is loaded with sugar. The last time I felt this good & at this body weight was 11 years ago. Since then, I drank soda, ate junk food all the time, burritos, pizza, smoothies in 9 of the past 11 years & it gave me a whole slew of health problems.
It terms of cutting it out, some people need to go "cold turkey" on junk and just stop all of it. Other people need to cut it back little by little. I am the type of person who had to cut it all out from the get go. A little by little approach would not have worked & I would have made no progress.
In my opinion, most people would see significant changes if they only the two steps. But I took the two steps "Cut The Junk + Just Eat Real Food" further:
My steps of progress:
Cut out all junk food (candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, ice-cream, etc)
A month later, Cut out all low-fat milk, fruit juice & just about all fruit
A month later, cut out all grains (bread, pasta, oatmeal, crackers, chips, corn)
A month later, cut out all other starches (potatoes & beans)
---------
Side note: The reason for cutting out low-fat milk (lactose is type of sugar), fruit juice & just about all fruit (fructose), bread (starch), pasta, oatmeal, crackers, chips, corn, all other starches (potatoes), is that while you and I see a candy bar and two slices of whole wheat bread as being different. One is obvious junk food & then other is bread. I mean, what is wrong with bread??? The problem is that our digestion tract does not have eyes or a brain and does not rationalize away the differences between them. In fact it treats complex carbohydrates, say for example starch, the same and it breaks them down, in this example via a enzyme called amylase, into simple carbohydrates. So the sugar (sucrose) in a candy bar gets broken down into glucose & fructose just like a slice of bread does too.
So now, we have simple carbs that once made up complex carbs from either a candy bar or a slice a bread. Then these simple carbs are used for energy (not actually burned but oxidized) OR either they get stored as fat. Yes, fat. Both the candy bar and the slices of bread could make you fat. If it happens (used or storage) is dependent on the individual person's metabolic state.
I'm of the opinion that excessive eating of carbs can push us into a hormonal & metabolic state, whereby the body is being conditioned into preferentially storing energy as fat as opposed to using it. That is why I cut out so much of the carbs.
---------
During all of this cutting of carbs, I ramped up eating of whole real foods:
Meat (fish, chicken, beef, bacon, pork, eggs, goat)
Fats (butter, lard, cheese, heavy cream, olives, avocados)
Vegetables (leafy greens: kale, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, lettuce; bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes
Nuts: almond, walnut, pecans, brazil, not peanut since peanuts are legumes (beans) and not nuts.
It took about 4 months to kill the cravings for sugar & bread/pasta. It took about 5 month to learn how Americans ate just 60 years ago. I had to do a whole lot of buying of produce & prepping meats & vegetables. I no longer rely on a factory for decided what goes into my body.
People will read this and think: "Boy, oh boy. You cut out all the fun stuff that makes life worth living!! Whats the point of living if you aren't having any fun with it?
To that I answer: I look, feel, act, & am a different person having come through the process. I have 2 diseases of which one of has gone into remission. I have no symptoms of it at all. I don't take the meds anymore that can damage my liver and make my hair fallout. So I don't go to that specialist doctor anymore. That disease going away & letting me enjoy life again is worth it to not eat pizza (18 months) or a bagel(20 months).
If you want a normal soda but miss the normal taste, try mixing diet & regular. It will change the taste but at least you are getting less sugar via the High Fructose Corn Syrup. But do not replace 2 liters of soda with something just as sweet, such as a half gallon of orange juice or pineapple juice. Both soda & fruit juices are devoid of nutrition. Yup, I just lumped fruit juice with soda. A totally crazy idea in the eyes of the mainstream but it is valid on a chemical basis. Fruit juice, even fresh, is a small amount of vitamins, flavinoids, & antioxidants immersed in water and mixed with natural sugars fructose & glucose. Chemically similar to soda, just without the vitamins. Any decent chemistry student would identify them as having a similar sugar load.
---------
Sample day's menu:
breakfast: 4 whole eggs scrambled & cooked in coconut oil and a caprese salad (sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil)
lunch: inside (no shell or soft tortilla) of of 4 or 5 tacos with sour cream & guacamole: pulled pork taco, chicken taco, beef taco, brisket taco
dinner: grilled skirt steak with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives & capers.
---------------------
If you have further questions, I am happy to offer advice.
As said above, the CVS BP meter isn't so accurate and a tester at home would be better.
If you are looking to take a step by step approach to turning your health around, then do two things:
Cut The Junk
Just Eat Real Food.
So first cut back on junk food that is loaded with sugar. The last time I felt this good & at this body weight was 11 years ago. Since then, I drank soda, ate junk food all the time, burritos, pizza, smoothies in 9 of the past 11 years & it gave me a whole slew of health problems.
It terms of cutting it out, some people need to go "cold turkey" on junk and just stop all of it. Other people need to cut it back little by little. I am the type of person who had to cut it all out from the get go. A little by little approach would not have worked & I would have made no progress.
In my opinion, most people would see significant changes if they only the two steps. But I took the two steps "Cut The Junk + Just Eat Real Food" further:
My steps of progress:
Cut out all junk food (candy, chocolate, cake, cookies, ice-cream, etc)
A month later, Cut out all low-fat milk, fruit juice & just about all fruit
A month later, cut out all grains (bread, pasta, oatmeal, crackers, chips, corn)
A month later, cut out all other starches (potatoes & beans)
---------
Side note: The reason for cutting out low-fat milk (lactose is type of sugar), fruit juice & just about all fruit (fructose), bread (starch), pasta, oatmeal, crackers, chips, corn, all other starches (potatoes), is that while you and I see a candy bar and two slices of whole wheat bread as being different. One is obvious junk food & then other is bread. I mean, what is wrong with bread??? The problem is that our digestion tract does not have eyes or a brain and does not rationalize away the differences between them. In fact it treats complex carbohydrates, say for example starch, the same and it breaks them down, in this example via a enzyme called amylase, into simple carbohydrates. So the sugar (sucrose) in a candy bar gets broken down into glucose & fructose just like a slice of bread does too.
So now, we have simple carbs that once made up complex carbs from either a candy bar or a slice a bread. Then these simple carbs are used for energy (not actually burned but oxidized) OR either they get stored as fat. Yes, fat. Both the candy bar and the slices of bread could make you fat. If it happens (used or storage) is dependent on the individual person's metabolic state.
I'm of the opinion that excessive eating of carbs can push us into a hormonal & metabolic state, whereby the body is being conditioned into preferentially storing energy as fat as opposed to using it. That is why I cut out so much of the carbs.
---------
During all of this cutting of carbs, I ramped up eating of whole real foods:
Meat (fish, chicken, beef, bacon, pork, eggs, goat)
Fats (butter, lard, cheese, heavy cream, olives, avocados)
Vegetables (leafy greens: kale, spinach, swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, lettuce; bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes
Nuts: almond, walnut, pecans, brazil, not peanut since peanuts are legumes (beans) and not nuts.
It took about 4 months to kill the cravings for sugar & bread/pasta. It took about 5 month to learn how Americans ate just 60 years ago. I had to do a whole lot of buying of produce & prepping meats & vegetables. I no longer rely on a factory for decided what goes into my body.
People will read this and think: "Boy, oh boy. You cut out all the fun stuff that makes life worth living!! Whats the point of living if you aren't having any fun with it?
To that I answer: I look, feel, act, & am a different person having come through the process. I have 2 diseases of which one of has gone into remission. I have no symptoms of it at all. I don't take the meds anymore that can damage my liver and make my hair fallout. So I don't go to that specialist doctor anymore. That disease going away & letting me enjoy life again is worth it to not eat pizza (18 months) or a bagel(20 months).
If you want a normal soda but miss the normal taste, try mixing diet & regular. It will change the taste but at least you are getting less sugar via the High Fructose Corn Syrup. But do not replace 2 liters of soda with something just as sweet, such as a half gallon of orange juice or pineapple juice. Both soda & fruit juices are devoid of nutrition. Yup, I just lumped fruit juice with soda. A totally crazy idea in the eyes of the mainstream but it is valid on a chemical basis. Fruit juice, even fresh, is a small amount of vitamins, flavinoids, & antioxidants immersed in water and mixed with natural sugars fructose & glucose. Chemically similar to soda, just without the vitamins. Any decent chemistry student would identify them as having a similar sugar load.
---------
Sample day's menu:
breakfast: 4 whole eggs scrambled & cooked in coconut oil and a caprese salad (sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil)
lunch: inside (no shell or soft tortilla) of of 4 or 5 tacos with sour cream & guacamole: pulled pork taco, chicken taco, beef taco, brisket taco
dinner: grilled skirt steak with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives & capers.
---------------------
If you have further questions, I am happy to offer advice.
Last edited:
diabetic neuropathy is no joke. I thought my mom was imaging things & just complained about ramdom pains, but after educating myself about it, I found it is real.
I got her on the Low Carb High Fat diet & she is doing better & no longer takes the painkillers or the diabetes meds. Crazy how food can help us or help kill us.
I got her on the Low Carb High Fat diet & she is doing better & no longer takes the painkillers or the diabetes meds. Crazy how food can help us or help kill us.
Last edited:
Here is a dietitian of whom I read her blog & agree with what she advocates. http://www.dietitiancassie.com/blog/
Indeed they are similar. Now I drink water pretty much 90% of the time. A diet Coke will sneak in once every two weeks.
I was also abusing caffeine in addition to my bad eating choices. I was downing energy drinks to get me over the mid-afternoon slump. That slump was caused by insulin negating the high blood sugar that was derived from lunch. Then the caffeine would keep me going too long intro the night & kept me from sleeping. Then I had to have caffeine in the morning to wake up. Bad bad cycle of dependency cause & effect.
Now I have caffeine once or twice a week & sleep about 7 hours a night. This holiday weekend I have been getting about 9 glorious hours a night.
------
Don't try to take on too many changes to your life all at once. It took me 3 months to begin to feel good again & before it was obvious it was helping. There is no quick fix or silver bullet. Anyone who tells you different is either selling something or ignorant of actual chemistry & cellular physiology. The human body is an incredible adaptable collection of integrated systems. we have made bad choices and forced the body to adapt to them.
That adaptation in my case was high BP, high cholesterol, body fat & disease.While my advice worked for me & my family, it may not wholly apply to you. You must begin to experiment with your habits & choices and find what works for you. One step at a time on the path of discovering your own good health. I too am on my own path.
I was also abusing caffeine in addition to my bad eating choices. I was downing energy drinks to get me over the mid-afternoon slump. That slump was caused by insulin negating the high blood sugar that was derived from lunch. Then the caffeine would keep me going too long intro the night & kept me from sleeping. Then I had to have caffeine in the morning to wake up. Bad bad cycle of dependency cause & effect.
Now I have caffeine once or twice a week & sleep about 7 hours a night. This holiday weekend I have been getting about 9 glorious hours a night.
------
Don't try to take on too many changes to your life all at once. It took me 3 months to begin to feel good again & before it was obvious it was helping. There is no quick fix or silver bullet. Anyone who tells you different is either selling something or ignorant of actual chemistry & cellular physiology. The human body is an incredible adaptable collection of integrated systems. we have made bad choices and forced the body to adapt to them.
That adaptation in my case was high BP, high cholesterol, body fat & disease.While my advice worked for me & my family, it may not wholly apply to you. You must begin to experiment with your habits & choices and find what works for you. One step at a time on the path of discovering your own good health. I too am on my own path.