I heart beer....

This week I saw a nutritionist to get feedback on my diet. I had been wanting to talk to a nutritionist for a while, but whenever I researched it, I found it cost prohibitive. Then, on advice from Kelsey, I called my primary care physician and told them I wanted a referral to a nutritionsist. They said "Ok, here's your confirmation number. Call this person..." It was crazy easy! And my appointment (and up to 3 follow-ups) was free! 


I had a few goals going into this appointment. Most importantly, I am still trying to lose fat while gaining muscle and training at ever-increasing intensity and duration. So I want to make sure that I'm fueling my body enough for my workouts, but not over-fueling and preventing fat loss. I keep really good records of everything I eat and my workouts so it was pretty easy for him to evaluate what I've been doing so far. And according to him, there's not much that I can improve about my diet. Most of the goals he gave me, I am already meeting regularly:
1. 1300 calories/day on rest days
2. 1700-1950 calories/day on regular workout days 
3. <10g saturated fat/day. This should be really easy now that I've discovered that cheese upsets my stomach. Without cheese, there's pretty much no sat fat in my diet.
4. 100-130g carbs/day
5. 52-117g protein/day. This is a really big range, but since I'm training a lot, I'm mostly staying around the top of that range. 
6. Once a week I should keep a pen-n-paper log and compare it to the app on my phone. At first I thought this was a silly suggestion, but I tried it Wednesday and my app said 1398 calories and 111g protein vs my paper diary said 1527 calories and 127g protein. It's tough because mostly I eat produce and lean meat/fish, which don't have nutrition labels. So my app results vs googling "brussels sprouts calories" comes out pretty different. Something to keep in mind when I'm aiming for really specific calorie goals. If everyday I'm eating 125 calories more than I think I am, that's an extra pound/month that I could be losing/gaining.


One thing he noticed from my food log that's not so great: I drink beer 2-4 times a week. I love beer. And there is nothing better than a delicious cold beer after a long workout.

Notable beers from my travels. Clockwise from left: England, Alaska, Half Moon Bay, Nashville (Sportsman's, obviously), and Paris. 

Me: If you tell me that I won't be able to reach my goal unless I give up beer completely, I will. 
Nutritionist Dude: I can't promise that.
Me: Ok good. I'm going to continue drinking beer. 


I have definitely cut back on the drinking since the beginning of January and I haven't been getting drunk very often at all. But the benefit of giving it up completely is not worth the suffering! So I'm glad that he didn't think this was too big of a deal. Although I didn't even mention the bloody mary issue!

They're so pretty and delicious!

So the bottom line: I'm pretty much doing all the right things already. Lots of veggies and fruits and lean protein. No refined carbs, very minimal carbs at all, actually. And I eat small meals often. I'm seeing him again in a month to see my progress. Hopefully knowing that someone else is monitoring my weight will keep me focused on days when I really just want to hang out with the guys in lab drinking beers. 


Have any of you seen a nutritionist before? What do you think of the goals he laid out for me? Leave me a comment!!