Provide advice to a bariatric dietitian/nutritionist as a current/former patient

[mamamc32 132]

One of my main frustrations with my NUT is her reluctance to quantify her guidelines. I'm a person who tracks macros, and I have specifically asked how many calories, Protein, and carbs I should be eating at each stage. I'm asking because I really want to know if I am eating appropriately. All she would tell me is protein first, and no carbs. No carbs? WTH does that mean?! You can't eat zero carbs. Then I met with another dietician through the same program, and she told me to eat more fruit. Um . . . fruit has carbs last time I checked, so which is it?

My suggestion is to know your patient. If you have someone who seems frustrated or like they would benefit from general advice, then give that to them. If you have a patient (like myself) who is asking for specifics, then give that to them.

Another source of frustration has been the booklet they gave me for post-op. Each surgeon in the program does things slightly differently, and instead of tailoring the diet guidelines to your surgeon, they made a generic booklet. It's confusing when it says you can eat soft Proteins at two weeks, but then you find out that your surgeon wants you on something different. Also, it listed supplements that were appropriate for lap band patients in the same section as the supplements needed for sleeve patients with no labels or differentiation. Ugg!

I still don't know if I am eating appropriately, and I've found better info on the internet than I have through my NUT. It's pretty disappointing actually!