Google+
logo

dani california cooks

homegrown and homemade in CA

Why I Went to See a Nutritionist - Part 1

by

I’ve been wanting to write this post for some time, and it was grabbing coffee with Lauren two weeks ago that made me realize that it was time to publish! This first post will talk about my reasonings for seeing a nutritionist and what I was looking to get out of it. The second post will discuss the tweaks that I’ve made to my diet and lifestyle and what impact that has had on my well-being.

If you’ve been a long-time reader, you’ll know that I’ve struggled in the past with what I categorized as a very minor eating disorder. I’ve gone through stages of binge and restricting, times when I used food as a way to control something in my life, and stages where I felt completely out of control of my diet. There were times when I lost weight, and other times I was completely baffled why I was gaining weight. Beyond weight loss, I’ve learned so much about the power of nutrition on my rheumatoid arthritis and overall well-being. There were certain points throughout it all when I thought to myself that I should really contact a nutritionist and talk to them about my individual needs, struggles, and desires.

And I consider myself - I am - a healthy food blogger. I know what healthy is, and what healthy isn’t. It’s not like I felt like a fraud or anything by having this blog, but I still felt like I had a lot to learn about finding the right healthy balance for myself. I get so much wonderful information from the internet and from books. I eat up nutrition textbooks, and I love reading about how other healthy living bloggers live their lives. I would inhale all of this other information, and I would try and apply it to myself, just experimenting. Oh, that worked for her? Let me try that for me! I journaled a lot and took down what foods made me feel good and which ones didn’t. I would talk to friends, I would blog, I would talk to family, I would read a whole lot, and Nate was always beyond supportive no matter what I talked his ear off about.

But I never talked to a professional, someone who would be able to take a look at my story and my body as a whole, and provide recommendations for me and everything that I could still use some help with.

So in the middle of this past summer – around the time that I wrote this post about how I couldn’t seem to find the right balance for myself - I reached out to a duo who do nutrition and fitness counseling. I am not sure why I bit the bullet this times of all times in my life, but everything else just seemed to be going well at the moment - settling in with Nate in SF, job, etc - seemed like a good time to focus on myself. I’ll be honest – I was super nervous. For some reason, it was really important for me for my nutritionist/fitness consultant to know how much I already knew about health and fitness. I guess I didn’t want to be lectured on what healthy living was, or do have them think I was starting from square one. I wasn’t sure if nutritionists only saw people who needed to lose a significant amount of weight, and I didn’t need to do that. All of these fears and silly thoughts aside -

It’s been one the best decisions I’ve made for myself in a really, really long time.

Overall, I told them I was looking for the following:

  1. I had never seen a nutritionist before
  2. I had never talked to professionals about my lifestyle as a whole and get professional recommendations
  3. I was kind of felt like I was putting on a couple of lbs, and was frustrated why. I didn’t want to - I absolutely could not - go down a bad cycle of binge/restrict again
  4. I wanted to set in place a lifestyle that would work for me whether I’m traveling or at home working or vacationing
  5. I wanted to open up about the food demons I had dealt with in the past
  6. I really wanted recommendations for what someone of my petite size, with my specific diets and restrictions and health needs, should be eating

In the first session, we talked through EVERYTHING. What I ate in a day, my exercise routine, what I had observed about my body in the past, what I was looking to get out of the session. They seemed to just “get me”. We made some little tweaks to my diet, some major tweaks to my exercise routine, and talked through some profound perspective shifts.

It’s been over a month now, and I’m so pleased to pass along how these tweaks and my discussions with these gals have changed my lifestyle for the better. Stay tuned for the next post on the adjustments I made, and the improvements I saw!

It's only fair to share...Email this to someonePin on PinterestTweet about this on TwitterShare on Facebook

Comments

  5. I like when nutritionists are OPEN-MINDED and want to work with you about what works for you! I hate close-minded by the book nutritionists who think they know everything and that you should follow X plan or else. There is no “one size fits all” approach to lifestyle…
    GiGi Eats recently posted…A Pie That Will Make You CreamMy Profile

  9. I’m excited to read part two! I am sure you are the dietitian’s dream client, coming in ready to make changes!
    I think that with your busy traveling schedule with your job getting some guidance will be especially good. Even though you are already obviously a very healthy eater, sometimes figuring out what works for you personally can be challenging!
    Kate recently posted…The day I ate whatever I wantedMy Profile

  13. Thanks for sharing your story Dani. I find myself relating to a lot of what you said. I have been thinking of consulting with an RD for a while but have only found ones who seem to be focused on weight loss which isn’t what I am looking for. Can I ask how you found yours?
    Kate @ Kate Lives Healthy recently posted…WIAW #67My Profile