So I had my appointment with the nutritionist last night.  She reminded me that I am a hormonal mess, which is what is contributing mightily to my weight gain (plus, the fertility drugs do that too) – and I found her words comforting.

Just a few things I learned during our brief session:

1. Calories count, so count calories.  Interestingly, while she encouraged eating foods high in fiber, she basically said the nuts and bolts of weight loss come down to calorie consumption. Not surprising, but you hear so much about gimmicky diets, it’s refreshing to hear it said so plainly.
2. Exercise does not burn as many calories as they would have you believe.  Exercise is important in maintaining weight and metabolism, but is not the primary reason people lose weight.  Elliptical and treadmill machines overstate the calories burned.
3. Writing down what you eat is the cheapest, most effective way to lose weight.
4. If every day you eat 100 calories more than what your body needs to maintain its weight, you will gain 10 lbs in a year.  Americans have slowly been gaining weight – and it’s because of this simple fact.  That’s basically cutting 1 can of regular coke out of a diet.

Anyway, it was a good conversation.  I am starting to write down my eating habits.  Hopefully it won’t be too atrocious!