Fri, Apr-04-03, 09:04
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New Member
Posts: 22
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Plan: atkins
Stats: 147/136/124
BF:
Progress: 48%
Location: Id
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Dukin' it out with the dietician!
I think this is the appropriate forum? PLease move if I am wrong.
a little background...I am a nurse in long term care. My job is restorative care (therapy including re-teaching walking, range of motion and general palliative care) I also sit in on meetings involving weight loss (not a good thing in this population) and wound/skin issues.
yesterday, in the wound meeting we were discussing a pt with a decubitus ulcer (bedsore) on her coccyx (butt) This pt is diabetic and overweight. She also had some lab tests done (albumin and pre-albumin) that says her protien stores are really low. So, she is diabetic, overweight and losing protien (probably because of this big sore on her butt.) The dietician was suggesting upping her protien intake with a diabetic "shake" but as I am reading the ingredients on this shake I see that it has tons of carbs. and is very high calorie and relatively low in protien. so I say "I don't think she needs all these extra calories. What she really needs is just protien. Could we try a "body-builder" protien shake? They have some with relatively no sugar and are very high in protien" This is met with a few questions regarding body building...I then open my big mouth and say "atkins makes a really good shake that is high in protien and low in carbs--it also has no sugar" The dietician went completely nuts on me! Everyone is sitting around the table with jaws on the floor. She is ranting "I will quit before I see this company spend one red cent on that fools diet products" "he is just greedy and out for money" "the only difference between him and scarsdale is no one has killed him yet" I say "I don't think this needs to be a debate about atkins, I was trying to help come up with a way to increase this persons protien intake without increasing sugar" She goes off on another rant about how "if you want to lose wieght you need to take in less calories than you use-and exercise--using fad diets and introducing such stupid diets into this elderly population is just plain irresponsible nursing and you should know better"
I am still just sitting with my jaw on the floor. But then I got MAD. I said "if you want to discuss atkins with me, I would be happy to, if you have read the book. If you haven't read the book, I will lend you my copy and we can discuss what the studies say, but, this isn't the time or the place, can we return to patient care and figure out a solution for our patient?" The director of nursing tries to bring the discussion back on track, but the dietician is furious! We finally get through the meeting and in the hall she approaches me. She is completely misinformed about so many aspects of the diet. I give up arguing with her and try to walk away. SHE FOLLOWS ME! unbelievable. Eventually she "apologizes" (sort of) and tells me she is concerned for my heart and my health.
She is a very educated woman. She kind of scared me a little with her vehemence on the "anti-atkins" wagon. I'm sorry that this turned into a novel, but I wonder if any of you meet with so much resistance towards your woe? and if you do, does it change the way you are thinking about your diet?
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