Meeting the dietitian

So I met with the dietitian this morning. I have mixed reviews on the meeting.

The dietitian reviewed my six week eating history that I recorded daily on www.myfitnesspal.com and the good news is:

• I understand that it if I want to lose weight I have to burn more calories than I take in. 
• I understand how to read food labels. 
• I understand what I should be eating and how to make good food choices. 
• I am doing a great job controlling my daily calorie intake. 
• I have a good balance between carbohydrates, fat and proteins. 

The bad news is I understand too much - her words, not mine. Typically what the dietitian teaches people is:

• The basic science of losing weight
• How to read food labels
• What they should be eating
• How to measure and track calorie intake
• What are carbs, fats and proteins

As you can see I already knew the things the dietitian typically teaches. So we talked more about the where I went wrong in the past since I tend to yo-yo every three years.

We discussed that I feel I am good at losing weight and that I feel I am great at gaining weight. I however am horrible at maintaining my goal weight. This is where my problem truly lies. Once I get to my goal weight, I get lax. I allow small slips that lead to large slips. I stop tracking. Basically I take my eye off the prize. I allow bad habits to become my routine. I eat larger portions. I eat less balanced meals. I eat sweets too often.

So what should I do? I need to set a realistic goal for myself. I need to allow myself a 5 pound swing, but if I go above that 5 pound swing by 1 pound then I need to go back to tracking my food and monitoring what I eat. There can be no exceptions. If I do not do this I will gain back the weight. It happens time and time again. This is good advice. This is where I need the most help with accountability. This is really where the problem lies.

So what next? I have lost nearly 20 pounds since January 1st. I need to stay on that path. I need to lose 30 more pounds. I need to add more activity into my routine. I need to stay focused.

So there you have it...I did not learn a lot of new advice, but she did help me isolate where my biggest struggle lives (which I really already knew too) and helped me put goals and guards around it - so that is good.