upcoming appointment at WMC

I have appointments at WMC next week.

I'm a little unsure of what to do about them. Nutritionist is up first. After a horrible 2 years, I finally went low carb and I am losing weight. Yay. I threw away the nutritionist's recommendations after not losing any weight for months, despite following her plan and exercising. But I know that I will be given that stupid form and fill out what I have been eating. DO I lie and say wooooo you are so awesome, thanks for the advice, or do I come right out and say how angry I am that policy kept me on the wrong track for a very long time and I felt too humiliated and embarrassed and too much like a failure to want to come back? It took every ounce of strength I have for me to go back to WMC.

I have to see the social worker right after, so I know I am going to have some really strong feelings bubbling over by the time I see her.

I see my nurse practitioner later in the week and I feel good that I will see the one person who actually seems to care.

So what do I do? BS my way through the nutritionist appointment, or lay it out straight? Not that people listen to me, anyways.

Why lie? What are they going to do to you? As I understand it, you've already had your surgery (not that I would advocate lying to them if you were waiting for surgery...just, I could understand that you might be nervous that there could be consequences for a surgery date.) They could only learn from you and your experience. They might give you some advice, but if you've found something that works for you, I don't see why they would give you a hard time. They might suggest adding in a bit of fibre or protein, or whatever, but you can only benefit from hearing what they have to say. Now if they start to tell you to add in more carbs, and that really doesn't work for you, you can tell them what your experience has been with that.

You might also see a completely different nutritionist with a different viewpoint. All the nutritionists I've seen out of Ottawa have been slightly different.

The important part is that you've figured what works for you and are on your way.

Good luck!

DD

I know that I will get a lecture and that will open the door to the anger I have been trying very hard to get rid of, but can't shake completely. A lot of my regain was me, with some medication influence. HOwever, they knew I was struggling but just assumed I wasn't on plan, which I was until late 2013, when I just gave up and went off plan, not completely but enough to know that I wasn't doing it right. luckily only 10 pounds of my regain was from late 2013 to May 2015. The other 45 was while I was working with everyone to turn things around. I am low-carb right now and I know that there will be comments about the importance of carbohydrates, which I will re-introduce slowly as I hit my maintenance phase.

I don't know if I can sit there and listen to the same advice that helped screw me up in the first place without losing my temper. It's one of those if I knew then what I know now situations. I think of the self-loathing and anger that listening to them has caused me and I feel sick. I lost two years of my journey, basically wanting to die because I was a failure and couldn't figure out what I had done wrong.

I don't know how to coherently communicate my experience to them. I also don't know how to politely tell them where to shove their oatmeal, Quinoa, squash, beans and fruit.

I want to just let it all go, maybe I should ask for a different nutritionist.

I'd just be honest with them. I listened to a dietitian and told her that I would follow her rules for two weeks because she didn't like me low carbing for long and then we would discuss it. I documented what I ate according to her plan and wrote how I felt and what exercise I did, etc. At the end of the two weeks, I gained weight and felt sluggish. To this day, they say they don't understand how I can function for so long on such low carbs and that my body needs them and lack of carbs can mess with your mental ability. I said do I seem to have lost any mental ability to you and that shut her up. She agreed that I am an odd one that has to really limit carbs to lose and even though she doesn't agree, she is not bucking it either. Prove to her that you followed her plan for xx number of weeks or months and show her your weight loss/gain or stayed the same in that time period then show her what you are eating now and what you are losing. I wouldn't argue but I wouldn't lie either. We have messed up metabolisms and most of us need far fewer carbs than they want us to have.

I think you could lose a little mental ability due to low carbs and still be pretty Damn smart Tracey!

I think that the feed back here has been great. I actually feel like I have better mental focus now that I am low carbing and I am less sluggish and tired. Losing a few pounds finally has also helped me recapture some of the excitement I had early post-op.

I'll listen to what she has to say, but I am sticking to my guns. Too often I let people push me around or guilt me into things, even when they are to my own detriment.

Yes I miss sweets, potatoes and squash from time to time, but the gains of not eating carbs make it worth it 100%. It was such a struggle to lose any regain, I am scared to put myself in a position of gaining it back.

K

What about by starting the appointment by talking about your worries/frustrations and how you want to work in partnership with them--them being the experts on nutrition overall and you being the expert on you. This might start the conversation in a way that honours both of your knowledge and that there may be places where you will need to agree to disagree or work on a compromise that honours both of your expertise. My two cents (or two nickels now I guess since we no longer have pennies lol):)