Writing diets for people for money... legal?

[SuperiorBro]

The laws are different in the US for nutritionists I believe. Regardless, why play with something beyond most of our comprehensions. Stick to very basic advice pointing your clients in the right direction until you get an RD

Its pretty much what im doing. Someone comes to me wanting to lose weight. For example a girl asked me about it yesterday. I just explained to her the laws of calories in vs calories out, macros, micros, and then went on to write her a balanced diet. All very simple stuff. I dont conciser myself a dietician , PT, or nutritionist. I'm just helping people lose/gain weight for pennies.

RD?

[The_Metal]

Its pretty much what im doing. Someone comes to me wanting to lose weight. For example a girl asked me about it yesterday. I just explained to her the laws of calories in vs calories out, macros, micros, and then went on to write her a balanced diet. All very simple stuff. I dont conciser myself a dietician , PT, or nutritionist. I'm just helping people lose/gain weight for pennies.

RD?

RD is registered dietitian. In most states you can't write any sort of meal plan without a license

[PeteratCastle]

Just looked up this kind of thing in the UK...

''There are different types of nutrition professionals; let's look at the definitions:

Nutritionist
This is an unprotected term. Anyone can read a few books or sit on a few short courses and then go and sell their service as a 'nutritionist' with no formal qualifications or registration. ''




Dietitian (also Dietician*)
To call yourself a dietitian you have to be registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC – www.hpc-uk.org ) and you will be a State Registered Dieitian (SRD) or simply Registered Dietitian (RD). All of these terms are protected and it is unlawful to sell your services with these terms unless you are registered with the HPC



Registered Nutritionist
Registered Nutritionists are full members of The Nutrition Society (see www.nutritionsociety.org). In order to be a member of The Nutrition Society you need a few years post graduation experience working in the nutrition field and references to prove this.



From what im reading, im doing what the first of the three are, and nothing indicates what im doing is as bad as you make it seem?

Not in any way arguing with you, i respect your advice, im just curious as im reading things that kind of contradict what your saying

You're right that nutritionist is an unprotected term. But that doesn't mean you can write out diet plans. You can give nutrition advice but that is not the same as telling people "this is what you should eat" or "eat these meals and you will lose weight".

Trust me mate, I have looked into this for ages and have to pay a registered dietician to go over any personalised meal plan I hand out. I have nutritional qualifications and certs but still need to cover my arse. For me it's feasible to do this as it sets me apart from other PTs in edinburgh and I get a good deal from the dietician as I train him but it really is not something you can just do.

[SuperiorBro]

You're right that nutritionist is an unprotected term. But that doesn't mean you can write out diet plans. You can give nutrition advice but that is not the same as telling people "this is what you should eat" or "eat these meals and you will lose weight".

Trust me mate, I have looked into this for ages and have to pay a registered dietician to go over any personalised meal plan I hand out. I have nutritional qualifications and certs but still need to cover my arse. For me it's feasible to do this as it sets me apart from other PTs in edinburgh and I get a good deal from the dietician as I train him but it really is not something you can just do.

How much do you pay him? out of curiosity

[Tylerjsmith313]

I have no idea in Scotland. I personally wouldn't do it. If you aren't certified then stay away from it. Something happens to them because of your advice then the fingers will be pointed towards you. But like I said idk how Scotland run in these type of issues but over here I'm in the process of getting PT certified. If a client asks me about what they should eat or take I will just tell them "See a nutritionist or dietitian".

I wouldn't go as far as that, give them baseline nutrition guidance such as set their macros and help them find their caloric needs; there is a difference between helping them with eating properly and just handing them a meal plan. Here in Florida we can not write meal plans it is against the law but we can give basic nutrition advice.

[JoeCannonMSCSCS]

In most states it is legal but I should tell you that there is a movement to try to ban anybody but RDs from dosing out nutrtion information
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newar...11412p46.shtml

that said why dont you save yourself time and effort and partner up with an RD in your area. Their clients need to exercise -and your clients need nutrition info. its a win win for both. You can find an RD in your area by going to Eatright.org and putting in your zip code. then you can find one that works with the people you train most.

One tip for increasing credibility. do you have a website? If no, you need one. Most trainers dont and thats a mistake. its not hard to do this. Here is my guide http://www.joe-cannon.com/ace-person...st-study-tips/ this is how I do it. You'll have a site in about an hour or so.

Joe

[PeteratCastle]

How much do you pay him? out of curiosity

I pay him £25 a pop, but as I said I also train him

[soren_xavier]

So here's what I don't understand. . .

What's so different from being a PT and making a client a meal plan and a site like bb.com incorporating meal plans into their fitness programs? Or a guy like Bill Phillips writing a book and including a meal plan with whatever program he's pushing?

[PeteratCastle]

So here's what I don't understand. . .

What's so different from being a PT and making a client a meal plan and a site like bb.com incorporating meal plans into their fitness programs? Or a guy like Bill Phillips writing a book and including a meal plan with whatever program he's pushing?

Most of the guys writing those books/bb.com program's will put a disclaimer on it essentially saying "don't sue me if you die from my ****ty advice".
They give generic advice, it is not tailored to anyone's specific need and therefore they can peddle whatever "a guy told me this once", "I saw is work for someone once so you could try this" or "I misread a study once and now I base all my advice on this" sort of crappy advice....as long as they have a proper disclaimer.