In Which Your Humble Correspondent Discovers Why LinkedIn May Be a Force for Good...

[liz_marcs]

Sooooooo, I was a-thinkin' of once more trying Weight Watchers.

Then it hit me: that high fructose corn syrup problem I've got. As in: I can't have it, and almost all of the "low fat" food Weight Watchers pushes on you is loaded with it.

Yeah, yeah. They do the whole "eat your fruits and veggies" thing. Which I do already. But all that food is supplemented by, you guessed it: low fat and no fat food. Which is fine. Great even.

Except when you can't actually have it because...well...see high fructose corny syrup problem.

The I got to thinking: Hey! What about a nutritionist?

Well, why not give it a shot? Plus a nutritionist would actually be able to work with me on an individualized program wherein my weird dietary problem could be taken into account. Wheeeeee!

So, I head over to my friendly local BlueCross site (my BlueCross plan kind of rocks...I can hire a nutritionist without asking permission first and get a nice little discount) and look up nutritionists.

I get a dozen.

Rather than just throwing a dart at names I...Googled their names...

Look, I'm hiring a healthcare provider, right? Might be kind of helpful if I found out what medical papers they've written, where they've been published, what their overall philosophy is, right?

Because some nutritionists go for that New Age-y thing. Now, I have nothing against New Age-y, but I'd like to know if I'm going to be fending off a hard sell for AcaiBerry drinks.

In any case, this exercise cut the list down to 3. Yay!

Which very quickly got cut down to 1. Why? Because only one of the nutritionists had her resume on LinkedIn.

There it was in black-and-white. Her entire work history, her education history, the specialties in which she's been licensed, her publications...

Oh, hi there new nutritionist person you! I want you to be my paid nutrition educator!

Anyway, I've made an appointment. I also made sure to tell her that her LinkedIn profile was the deciding factor in choosing her. (She was pleased to know that.)

So, yeah...LinkedIn has already turned out to be kind of useful.

Unlike Facebook, which...what is Facebook for again? Aside from stealing 100% your content for all eternity, that is.

Comments

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

What a great idea! We had to cut out HFCS a few years back which resulted in me making all our own bread. Fortunately I like doing that, but jeez.

And I hope this turns out to be a great thing for you - why NOT use knowledge, you know?

[rin-x-x.livejournal.com]

I'm doing p90x, which is a fitness program rather than a diet program. You do have to do it more than once unless you are in shape, but otherwise it works and Im going to be doing it at least twice over the summer. Its really intense but it works (as I trust the word of several goalies I know).

Imho, fitness program > diet prorgam.

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

That was one of my main problems with WW--all anyone wanted to talk about was "cheap sweets"--trying to cut as many of them out of my diet as I can, thank you very much. I prefer to save my sweets for serious stuff, like high-quality dark chocolate. :-)

I've picked up a couple of the "Eat This, not That" books put out by Men's Health, and they are quite helpful, since they really hate HFCS as well.

Good on you for getting a nutritionist! Mine helped me make some much better choices about what I eat.

[midnightfae.livejournal.com]

.... WW doesn't really push their food on your anymore. Just in case you were interested. They still have it, they still talk about it, but it's perfectly feasible to do the program without it. I don't buy their stuff cause it's overpriced, personally.

And I've cut a lot of HFCS out of my diet, and continue to do just fine on the program.

Then again, I can't afford a nutritionist in terms of time, which would be my preferred option. But, regardless, just thought I'd put that out there.

[midnightfae.livejournal.com]

Also, Facebook is for chatting with your classmates during lecture. And posting senseless status updates. And Mafia Wars. Obviously.

[lostakasha.livejournal.com]

Count me in as a LinkedIn fan -- I'm just starting out over there, but it seems like a pretty important place for independent contractors. I view Facebook as LJ for those of us with wee tiny attention spans. Thanks for the link to the consumerist. That's extremely helpful!

[frogfarm]

For the past nine months, I've minimized or eliminated:

• sugars (all kinds, including "natural" ones from fruit)
  
• refined/processed 'stuff' (I don't call it food)
  
• carbohydrates with a high glycemic index
  
• grains
  
• vegetable oils
  

What I do eat: Meats, veggies, nuts (no legumes), and natural fats (animal fats, olive and coconut oil). I work out no more than 15 minutes a day -- bodyweight exercises only, in bursts with brief rests -- no equipment, no cardio. Also semi-random intermittent fasting for a day or so (maybe once every week or two). Results? Pushing forty (this year!), and feeling better than since I was a teenager.

Mark's Daily Apple is my one-stop go-to site for nutrition and exercise.

ObDisclaimer that Of course, everyone is different. Wishing you more health and happiness, no matter what way of eating you use to achieve it!

[auntyk.livejournal.com]

I have a great nutrionist/dietician who is working so well....except that she's more a fat person who is now thin and is helping hundreds of us to lose weight. But I'm in OZ, so you're only recourse would be internet/email.

Good luck with the one you've chosen!