Secrets From My GLP-1 Dietitian

Today I want to lay down some of the great advices I’ve picked up from my lovely dietitian.

When someone mentions "working with a dietitian," your first thought might be "sounds boring." I get it. It might sound like the less fascinating part of the journey, but believe me, the lessons I learn were fundamental to my long term success.

Once you reach your weight goal and enter the maintenance phase, your ability to avoid regaining the weight will be extremely reliant on how effectively you've transformed your daily eating habits. And in this realm, registered dietitians are the undisputed experts.

Registered Dietitian vs. Nutritionist

You might be wondering about the difference between a registered dietitian (RD or RDN) and a nutritionist. It's an important one.

Registered Dietitians (RDs) have fulfilled rigorous education and professional requirements, including a degree in dietetics, a supervised internship, and obtaining a national exam. They are also trained to provide medical nutrition therapy, making them capable of treating medical conditions with customized diet plans.

Nutritionists can be anyone - someone who spent years in school or someone who attended a weekend workshop. The title isn't protected in most places.

1. Nothing is Forbidden

My dietitian's philosophy is that there are no forbidden foods, only foods that must be consumed in smaller amounts. We worked on keeping my focus on what I should be eating, not what I shouldn’t. If chocolate is something that I crave, then I can have it, but I will also add some nuts and strawberries to make it healthier. If I am craving pizza, I will eat it with a protein and salad.

To put it in a memorable way, the advice is: eat what you want, add what you need.

Simple, but so liberating, especially at family dinners.

2. Tune Into Your Emotions

I learned how to connect my eating with my feelings. My dietitian encouraged me to track my emotions whenever I felt hungry, and this helped me spot triggers. I discovered that many times I was eating not out of true hunger, but because I was stressed, bored, or simply acting out of habit.

This exercise showed me that emotional eating isn't a failure. It's a chance to become more self-aware. Now I can pause and make a conscious choice. That shift has given me a new sense of confidence.

3. Protein is Key

I knew I needed to consume enough protein and, just as importantly, spread it out over the day. Yet it's not just about hitting a protein target - it's about overall balance. I learned that fixating on protein while neglecting fiber can create problems. Finding the right balance of protein and fiber has been an important part of my learning.

4. Carbs Aren't the Enemy

For a long time, I believed that carbohydrates were something to fear. But the right approach is to make them work for you. High-quality, complex carbohydrates are essential for energy. The key is to choose unprocessed sources like brown rice, beans, oats and whole grains, which provide sustained energy and are rich in nutrients.

Another important piece of advice: never eat carbohydrates alone. By pairing proteins with carbohydrates, we can help flatten blood sugar spikes and help the body avoid storing fat.

5. Fiber!

I was surprised to learn that while most Americans come close to hitting their protein goals, nearly everyone falls short on fiber. The recommended daily intake is between 25 and 30 grams, but most people fall far short of that.

Fiber is essential for digestive health, helps you feel full and satisfied after meals, and plays a role in fat loss. A simple hack I used was to add a scoop of benefiber to my morning shake. But the real benefit comes from whole foods - fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains.

6. Balance Your Plate

Meal planning doesn’t have to be complicated. I learned a simple, flexible approach that finally made sense. This formula is flexible, making it easy to mix and match from a simple grocery list, recipes, and create a variety of meals (based on your taste). These meals can be bowls, wraps, salads etc.

I actually did a separate post about it, and it is one of the most popular articles, see it here: No-Stress Meal Planning on GLP-1: A Formula That Works

7. Timing & Order

Sequence of your meals can impact blood sugar levels. A simple but effective strategy is having protein and fiber before carbs. This makes the body slow down sugar absorption and prevent blood sugar spikes. Studies have shown that this can lead to significantly lower post-meal blood glucose.

Finding the right professional is crucial to your success. Not every dietitian will be the perfect match for your personality, communication style or specific needs.

My dietitian took the time to understand my goals, lifestyle and unique challenges. She helped me find realistic and sustainable replacements for some of my less healthy habits and never made me feel like a failure if I had a setback.

This would be the perfect spot to share my registered dietitian’s contact, but she’s already booked ahead and kindly asked me not to promote her services.

One-Liners from other GLP-1 Dietitians

I’ve seen these floating around on social media, and they’re worth mentioning:

✓ Use smaller plates - even if they're full, it's still less food.

✓ Plan meals for the week on Saturday, shop or deliver on Sunday - no more decision stress.

✓ Use the hand trick for portion size - your palm for protein, fist for carbs, thumb for fats.

✓ Cottage cheese can be savory or sweet - use it as a base for dips or fruit bowls.

✓ Read the ingredients list not just calories.

Scientific References for this article:

• ^{Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity, 2025
  Link to ScienceDirect Article}

• ^{Weight maintenance on cost‐effective antiobesity medications after GLP-1 RA therapy: a real-world study, 2025
  Link to PMC Full Text}

• ^{Healthy weight loss maintenance with GLP-1 receptor agonist followed by one year without treatment: a post-treatment analysis of the S-LiTE study, 2024
  Link to Lancet eClinicalMedicine Full Text}