nutritionist objections?

Over three years ago, as part of my pre-op education for VSG surgery, I saw three (count 'em, three) "nutritionists." I don't know which ones, if any, were registered dietitians. Anyway, one of them was good, but immediately left the practice to go to graduate school. She was a smart cookie. The other two were distinctly mediocre and had me doing things like eyeballing which piece of plastic was the size of a 3-ounce piece of chicken and which was a 6-ounce piece of chicken.

HOWEVER, my surgeon's nurse practitioner (who does most of the long-term follow-up) is really, really knowledgeable about bariatric surgery and has been a great resource for me. Her very best advice that has worked brilliantly for me (and, obviously, others' mileage varies) was this: "Don't get stuck eating only 600-800 calories for longer than 4 months. If you do, you run the risk of lowering your metabolic rate permanently. I encourage you in months 5 and 6 to get up to 1,000 calories. And to be at 1,200 calories by month 6."

And that's what I did. I didn't lose super-fast (see my weight loss results in my sig block below), and I didn't CARE how fast I lost weight -- I just wanted to lose it all and KEEP IT OFF! Happily, I did lose ALL my excess weight -- 100 pounds -- which took 18 months. And I've kept it all off for the last 18 months while eating an average of 1,723 cals/day. (I'm a MFP junkie and measure and track everything I eat/drink.) BTW, I exercise moderately -- yoga, aquarobics, walking at least 5 days a week and lead an active life for a 71-year-old.

There are multiple ways to eat while losing weight and maintaining your weight loss. Obviously, some ways work well for some patients, and other ways work well for others. I'm so grateful I found a way that works for me.

Best wishes!!!

EDIT: P.S. In maintenance, 1,200-1,300 of my daily calories come from protein (animal, dairy, legumes), veggies and fruits (my daily goal is eat 7 V&Fs, but I average 5), and some whole grains. The other calories are what I think of as "treat foods." Sometimes those treats verge into trigger territory, and I banish them from the house for weeks or even months. Maintenance has required that I remain vigilant and willing to change things that no longer work. I'm still a work in progress and, obviously, always will be. ;)

My program includes follow ups with the 3 nuts on staff. They all have bariatric training and say 600-800 is the right place to be while losing. Protein first, lowest carbs possible. I've seen other nuts in my pre surg life who were terrible. I went to one who handed me a 'low fat' diet. Sweet potato, peas, pasta. I never went back. Some are really dangerous with their lack of basic knowledge.

It depends on the nutritionist. All of my nutritionists have been utterly fabulous, and kind. They work with me very well, and I follow a heavily modified ketogenic and gluten-free diet due to my autoimmune issues (Celiac, Hashimoto's). My surgeon is also pro low-carb, very much so. The only nutritionist that annoyed me was the diabetic nutritionist who wanted me to eat 75g/meal of carbs when I had lost several hundred pounds and lowered my A1C to 6something from 11 with diet alone. My regular doctors literally said: WTF.

I have my first appointment with the RD tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty excited and choosing optimism. My surgeon and I discussed nutritionists and I told her life is too short and that there aren't enough hours in my day to deal with egotistical antiquated nutritionists who insist that there is a "one size fits all" diet. I'd met one briefly with my onc team and in the first 10 minutes he said, "Well, I tell you right now, I do not support a low carb diet and you will either do things my way or no way." So I fired him and never went back.

The surgeon said she would refer me to another RD who would be more flexible in working with my nutritional beliefs/needs. She only works with bariatric patients and is at the hospital where I will hopefully be having surgery. I hope we mesh and can work well with each other. It would be a blessing to have someone in RL, who is trained in the bigger nutritional picture (and who also has years of experience with WLS patients) to fall back upon, when I get myself in a bind. My surgeon speaks very highly of her. So fingers crossed and prayers being said tonight!

Are you talking about a general Nut with no special training or knowledge of WLS patient needs? Smile at them, and do what you dr says/

If you nut is specialized in the needs of WLS patients, listen to them.

IMHO, from how you posted this, I think you may be looking for a problem where none exists.

You also might need more education about the effects of WLS.