MovieChat Forums > My 600-lb Life (2012) Discussion > "there's no such thing as a healthy snac...

"there's no such thing as a healthy snack."

posted 9 years ago by XxXThePhantomsRoseXxX
16 replies | jump to latest

Was Dr. Now's response when asked, "No snacks? Not even like, carrot sticks?" Now then, I know he's the Dr. and he probably knows what he's speaking about, but I have to disagree with that. In my family, there's blood sugar issues. If we don't get something healthy to snack on between meals, we start to feel very sick and get very short tempered. My grandmother used to carry a small little snack bag of almonds in her bag for that very reason. My mom keeps a protein bar in her purse. I keep a granola bar on me.

Now I know he might have said that because these people lack self control and if he says they can snack, they might eat 6 bags of potato chips or something. But like, to me, I think allowing them to have healthy, limited snacks, it'd help them loose weight so that they eat smaller meals as opposed to being so hungry that they gorge themselves when it's finally meal time.

And if he's saying this for that reason, then it really doesn't make any sense because they won't listen to him regardless so who's to say they'll listen to him on anything else. I just thought his statement about absolutely no snacks was a bit odd.

Also, the quickness they're expected to lose wieght, along with the very low calorie meals, and the no snacking seems almost borderline annorexic. and yes, you can be overweight and still have an eating disorder.

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"Chaos is what killed the dinosaurs, darling."

[–] novastar_6 9 years ago

Doctors lie to their patients and Dr. Now lies to his patients too. He says that because he knows these people are addictive eaters, compulsive eaters, if they're allowed snacks then their eating habits will get the better of them and they'll overeat, especially given so many have a history of eating even once they're full, or a history of never feeling full when they eat. Just like when he tells them don't drink soda because it will inflame your stomach, not true, he just tells them that so they won't drink it and gain weight from it.

[–] dhendo 9 years ago

He straight up rejected them from eating the carrot sticks. That's when you know you're bad off lol.

[–] Dollhouse_89 8 years ago

"Can I have a single bite of raw cabbage and a few ice cubes for a snack?"

"No. You'll die".

Lol!

[–] guyhere 8 years ago

Lol!

[–] Gabe1972 9 years ago

No snacks means just that. No snacks. I'm sure his refusal sounds funny because it's carrots, not Doritos. He's trying to break the habit, as well, not just the food and amount. The habit is half of the problem, and breaking it is one of the hardest things. The carrots aren't the problem. The ACT of snacking is.

If you were trying to quit smoking, how much help would it be to have a couple of puffs of an e-cig a few times a day? None. It would be completely detrimental to the effort.

It's like the alcoholics who try to quit by drinking non alcoholic beer. Who are they trying to fool, because it certainly isn't helping.

Time wounds all heels.

[–] novastar_6 9 years ago

If you were trying to quit smoking, how much help would it be to have a couple of puffs of an e-cig a few times a day? None. It would be completely detrimental to the effort.

Problem is you CAN quit smoking cold turkey, food you CANNOT, it's not just the snacking that's the problem, it's also the meals, some of these people eat meals for 3-4 people in 1 sitting, but he's not saying no meals either just because 'the food isn't the problem, the ACT of eating meals is'.

[–] disinter 9 years ago

I looked at that statement differently. I thought he meant for her size and weight loss plan, there was no healthy snack for her. Not a general statement because obviously there are healthy snacks.

[–] ZGlass 9 years ago

Yea when he says things like that it's directly specifically at these types of people, not in general.

[–] Gabe1972 9 years ago

You're right. You can't quit eating food, but you CAN quit the habit of snacking in between meals, and that's most likely the reason he said what he did. Breaking the habit is the hardest thing, and if snacking is acceptable, but only with certain things, then the habit isn't broken, and you also risk those certain things becoming other things, and the next thing you know those carrots have turned into a king sized Snickers bar, and that snacking becomes a constant snack.

So, no, carrots are not unhealthy, but for a person like the patients he deals with, a snack of carrots is not a healthy thing, because of what the act sabotages and what it eventually becomes.

Time wounds all heels.

[–] mobygrape 8 years ago

I watched a show one time where the guy gained like 30 lbs. In a month. The gut said how did I gain weight? All I am eating is tons of oranges. Those are healthy. The doctor said well you are eating a bushel a day. That's too many. I imagine Dr. Now tells them that because they could still gain weight eating carrots. If I ate 5 lbs of carrots a day, I would gain weight probably. They are full of sugar.

[–] novastar_6 8 years ago

If I ate 5 lbs of carrots a day, I would gain weight probably. They are full of sugar.

If they're full of sugar, why are they so tasteless?

[–] ElphieDefyingGravity 8 years ago

There are different issues with these people than with you and I. They have had their stomachs reduced and Dr Now doesn't want them eating high volume food no matter how few calories it contains. The goal is to keep the stomach very small so the patient will feel full much sooner. Sure, you can eat a big bag of baby carrots for 100-150 calories but they'll stretch your stomach.

Oh what a falling off was there.

[–] miss_kitae-971-650846 8 years ago

According to the bag in my fridge, a 3 oz (85 gram) serving of raw, plain baby carrots is 35 calories. There are about 5 servings in the bag.

About 5 grams of sugar per serving.

Even noshing on the whole bag won't derail your calorie intake, but it will add 25 grams of sugar.

[–] hodie1 8 years ago

I'm guessing he isn't giving them much wiggle room because they will take that and run with it. I lost 65 pounds in the last year (I was obese but not morbidly so, though I was headed that way). I eat 6 small meals/snacks a day because I feel less hungry that way.
So while I disagree with Dr. Now's "3 meals a day," he knows his patients better than I do.

[–] hodie1 8 years ago

Without snacking I assume they'll just eat bigger meals. And they were on highly restricted calories, so I guess they got to eat more at a sitting than I would. I guess the point was to get the weight off asap.

[–] rubydragonfly88 8 years ago

I've doubted some of his advice in the past, but lost serious respect for him when he told one of his patients to continue losing weight (post-surgery) while she was pregnant. He's getting them used to life after surgery where they won't have a choice about how much or what they eat without getting sick, then they prove to him that they can handle it, and he does the surgery. Plus, when you're as big as his patients are, you lose a ton, especially in the beginning.