Is a nutritionist a doctor??

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2003
Is a nutritionist a doctor??
6
Wed, 04-07-2004 - 11:43pm
Is a nutritionist a doctor? What is the difference between a nutritionist and a dietician? If any either are a doctor, do they take insurance or is it one of those things that you can't get approved for and have to pay out of your pocket? I get medicaid through the state and don't have any money, but I am pretty sure that I need to talk to someone about getting a meal plan because I don't like much of anything.

Everyone suggested to have peanut butter, eggs or yogurt for snacks and I don't like any of them at all. I just get shakey if I don't eat something with 'substance' and I really can't figure this out on my own.....also I have never found someone as picky as I am so it is hard for anyone to understand or to even find any type of diet where I don't hate more than half of the foods you are allowed to eat.

If anyone has seen a nutritionist, can you please let me know what they do.....I just feel kinda stupid calling up one (actually there is only one here) and asking what they do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 2:39am
Hi ! I just saw a RD for the first time this Tuesday. A Nutritionist is a specialist who studies nutrition and nutrition needs of people, a Dietician is someone who puts together diets and eating habits based on your particular needs and goals, or for health reasons. Neither are doctors (though they sounds like you need to see a dietician to help work out what you should be eating. Insurance usually covers it, but I'm not sure about medicaid. Some hospitals offer free or low cost clinics. Check out what is available to you, it can't hurt !

The registered dietician that I saw was like the All-Powerful Queen of Dieticians, with so many letters after her name (about six more than what I have, loser that I am! LOL)I was a bit intimidated (frankly she scared the hell out of me - see my #@!*&^@!!!! Post). Even though she pissed me off, I have to say she knew her SH*T. I am basically back on the Atkins diet, but a low fat version. I went to see her to try and get assistance lowering my cholesterol without resorting to statin type drugs first. So, we'll see if she's right.

What DO you like to eat, Miss Picky-Picky ? ;)

Amy

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 2:48am
Here - I'll be a buddy and post it here !

discussion title: !@*#@*!!*&^@!#!?+#@* !!!!!

emoticon:

message #: 115217.1

from: bugnugget

date: Apr-7 1:47 am

replies: 10



I just posted this on the Anti-Diet Board, and wanted to share with all of you lovely ladies here, too !

<< The Sound Of One Head Banging...

message #: 4425.1

from: bugnugget

date: 1:14 am

DAMMIT THUMP DAMMIT THUMP DAMMIT THUMP DAMMIT THUMP THUMP THUMP....

I am so THUMP irritated right THUMP now that I THUMPTHUMPTHUMP could tear my !@#*$#! hair out. THUMP.

A quick synopsis :

I have lost 90+ pounds since 2000.

Have done Atkin's on/off. Lost weight.

Did Atkin's religiously this January into mid-February.

Lost more weight. :)

Got cholesterol tested. Twice. :(

Suspected Atkin's high amounts of sat fat to be responsible.

Went on low fat/fat free diet plus more excersize. Have till June to get numbers down.

I have cut out red meat, cheese, almost all fats save olive oil and what I get from chicken n' stuff.

Done this since March 15, lost more weight.

Saw dietician today.

She put me back on a lower fat version of Atkin's and added nuts, fruit and yogurt.

WTF???

She said that as I lose weight, the fat the I'm losing is circulating in my bloodstream and will be filtered out by my body and excreted, which may be another reason why my cholesterol was high. She wants me to get down to 135 pounds. HAAA HAAA HAA HAA!!!!!!!!!

Impossible. I was 128 when I was TWELVE. As I've said before, I'd be so skinny I'd fall through my own ass and hang myself (THIS I refrained from saying to her.) I tend not to tell other health care people I have been a licensed health care worker and have a vast store of knowledge about the human body right down to enzymatic fuction. Or that I own over 300 books. I like to see what they have to say before I start defending myself.

I actually said to her, well, I'd like to lose about ten more pounds, but maybe be somewhere between 150 and 160. I like the body I have now, and just because I may end up skinny doesn't mean I'm healthy.

Oooh, I POKED THE WEASEL. ( she is 5'0, maybe 99 pounds, all sinewy like a gazelle, and a runner. NOT a jogger. A RUNNER.)

POKE POKE POKE. POKITYPOKITYPOKE.

So I went home with my 'new' diet that I had been doing on my own, and she tweaked it a bit to include add the nuts and stuff.

We'll see how this goes. I'm thinking this is more of an intertesting experiment rather than a diet. So, I'm on a diet again, but I'll pop in and out to say hello.

Thanks for letting me vent! You guys are awesome.

Amy The Weasel Poker >>

Oh my GOD. My boyfriend went postal when I came home and told him this lovely news. He is so sick of seeing me struggle emotionally with my eating habits, because I've been doing so good. He was so pissed that he WALKED a half mile round trip for cigarrettes. (Had none because he's quitting). I call him Sloth Carcass for a reason. He shocked me today.

I'm not really ANGRY, but it's like WTF? I just spent $170 on groceries yesterday and a goo portion of them I can't eat now. And I had to go out AGAIN today after my consultation and get nuts, yogurt, flax seeds, fish, fish oil, fruit. And what the hell is up with blueberries being $2.99 a half pint ?!?! You know where Shaw's can put those berries ???

Ok, I feel better now...

Amy



Avatar for jess9802
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-02-2003
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 2:52am
I'm hesitant to suggest Odwalla bars since you didn't like the Luna bar, but when I'm in a hurry, I often grab a Chocolate Chip Peanut Odwalla bar for breakfast. It has 250 calories and 5 grams of protein. It's tasty, and it usually gets me through the first 90 minutes of my day.

Do you like smoothies? Maybe you could make one each morning with some protein powder and fresh fruit (since you don't like yogurt). How about English muffins with a little cream cheese? String cheese? A small bowl of cereal with some almonds sprinkled on top? Oatmeal? Have you ever tried Malt-o-meal or Cream of Wheat?

I am a very picky eater, too. I couldn't do Atkins because I didn't like enough vegetables to follow the Induction diet, and I couldn't stand eating that much meat. I don't know what your particular likes and dislikes are, but you're going to have give us some idea of what you do like to eat. What do you eat for lunch when you go out with your fiance? What do you eat for dinner? What types of snacks do you like? What is it about peanut butter, eggs, and yogurt that you don't like?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2004
Thu, 04-08-2004 - 7:39pm
No, but doctors often refer patients to nutritionists or dieticians when they want to spend more time on weight loss or weight gain and maintenance issues.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Sun, 04-11-2004 - 12:45pm
I don't know if your insurance would cover a visit to a nutritionist or dietition (who are medial health providers but not doctors), since insurances are all different. However I would suggest talking to your normal family doctor that you see (many insurances will only cover nutrition/dietition visits if you were referred anyways if they do cover them). He may be able to help you with a basic idea of what to be eating (although to get more than a basic plan you need to see one of the specialists-nutritionist or dietition) or refer you to a nutritionist or dietition or at least make some recommendations of good ones that he knows. Often hospitals will have a few dietitions/ nutritionists to plan patient meals as well as ones more geared to practice for the general public so you may still have other options you don't know about. When you do talk to someone make sure that they are licensed/ registered/ certified (it varies by state what they need to practice in that state) and are giving good general recommendations. Most true nutritionists/ dietitions won't give you a popular diet fad to follow (instead they'll give you one that covers all food groups (you'll probably see a lot of food guides and pyramids) that the basic idea has been proven to work for years and also gives you proper nutrition is other areas besides for the ones that everyone tends to focus on- fat, carbs, and protein. THey'll make sure you are still getting the vitamins and minerals you need as well.) THey will also take other concerns besides for weight loss into consideration, for example diabetes, high cholesterol, vegetarian, allergies, foods you don't like (but be open about the possibility of trying new foods you've never had but think you won't like - you may be surprised!) I would make sure that they are in health care and not just some trainer at a gym that proclaims he's an expert in diet since only a few personal trainers actually go through the schooling needed to fully understand what they are telling their clients. Hope some of that helps.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2003
Mon, 04-12-2004 - 1:36pm
I don't like smoothies because of how thick they are. Besides not liking the taste of things, I am really wierd about textures as well. I won't eat those processed cheese squares because they are rubbery feeling and when I try it I just throw up. An english muffin doesn't sound too bad, but I don't like cream cheese so it would be pretty bland....don't like butter, jellies, anything creamy either. I don't like dairy so I don't drink milk....the smell alone makes me gag and I freak if any touches me when I give it to my son.....also that leaves cheese and any other dairy out of the question. I do eat cheese like on burritos and things like that, but by itself or too much of it makes me throw up also.

I don't like oatmeal or malt o meal, again since i don't like things added to my food, by themselves they are very bland. if i eat bread or potatos, i don't add anything....butter, sour cream or anything else because i don't like those things. Now, I am not a person who just decided to not like something and never try it again, I have tried many things for mulitiple times and i just don't like them.

In one of my other messages someone suggested to cook meat and reheat it to eat it later and i can't do that. I hate leftover meat....it tastes nothing like it did before it was refridgerated or frozen. I went out to eat and ordered a prime rib sandwich and it was made with recooked meat.....yuck! i traded meals with my fiance.....which was still bad because he got a mushroom swiss burger which is what i was going to order and asked if it was regular cheese or processed cheese....they said regular, but i just changed my mind....anyway, they lied about that, it was processed and the mushrooms were marinated, canned mushrooms and had red peppers in them......yuck!!! I only ate fries that night!

I just have the problem of resorting to carbs....bread and potatos because i don't like much of anything else.

Oh, about the eggs.....they upset my stomach and after about 2bites i get sick and have to stop eating them, i just don't like peanut butter or even peanuts.....i think i was the only kid i ever knew that refused a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. that is another thing, i won't eat lunch meats, especially on any store bought loaves of bread.....i just have never liked that combination. my mom used to get on me when i was pregnant because i ate a whole loaf of Wonder bread.....i pull the crust off (don't like that part) and then i mush it in a ball and it turned out kinda doughy......but because i condensed it, one pc would be like eating nothing.....next thing i know, i ate whole thing. oh, and yogurt is another one of those things that has a bad texture and is creamy.....i took a bite my son's yogurt because it smelled good and i barely held it down. I think i will just forget about trying to diet.......i just really don't seem to like anything.....and honestly i couldn't tell you anything that i do like, just alot of things i don't like.