My First Appointment With the Nutritionist

The appointment was at 10am on Monday and I was told to expect it to run about two hours. It went until 1130. I got there at just before 10 and checked in. When I got to the window, she gave me a bit of information I hadn’t been expecting. The first (and second) appointment costs $55. And they couldn’t bill me, I had to pay right then. Ugh. (Looking at my paperwork now, I realize that it IS written on there, so this was completely my mistake.) I explained here that I need to see them three times before I can move forward with the surgery.

Thankfully I have been saving money for my No Spend Challenge, so I had the money to cover it. I paid and went to the room the meeting was in. I also took a picture of the sign that explained the pricing. The first two sessions are group sessions (which I hadn’t known) and each cost $55. The third, and usually final, appointment is a one-on-one and costs $50. Any subsequent one-on-one appointments also cost $50.

There is some good news here. I was expecting a fee, and knew it could be upwards of $150 per appointment. So this isn’t a bad price. Also, I had the money to cover the first appointment, and time to save the money for the second and third. I just wish I had realized before I got to check in so I wasn’t blind-sided.

Now, on to the actual appointment. Like I said, it was a group session. It was a small room, and it was nearly full when I got there. There was only one open space, in the middle of the front row. If there is anything I hate more than being in the front row, it’s being sandwiched between two people. Especially two strangers. She had already started when I got there, but led me to the back to weigh in and get a folder then brought me to the open seat. There were a few more late-comers and then she started.

She went over a few things I already knew from my own research, such as the scale model of 5lbs of fat. She gave some figures and serving sizes, some of which I hadn’t previously known. She went through the folder, going into a lot of detail on the serving sizes and having us figure out some on our own. There was a packet and book, mostly filled with servings and nutritional information. There was also a packet with recipes.

Overall it was an informational meeting and it went really well. I had gone into it thinking she wasn’t likely to tell me anything new, and was proven wrong. I’m not mad about that. I liked the nutritionist, Joan. She wasn’t condescending, and she didn’t try to belittle us. She was open and seemed genuinely interested in helping us along our journey.

I’ll be happy to go back. Honestly I’m mostly happy with the price. I was expecting to pay $150 per meeting, for three meetings, so totaling $450. Instead, it’s three meetings totaling $160. My second appointment is already scheduled (yay!) but I most likely will have to reschedule (boo) because I just got a second job (yay!!) I’m going to talk to the scheduling people there to see what the earliest and latest appointments they have are. Hopefully I can make this work.

That was the entire appointment. It went pretty quickly and was decently educational. Let me know what you think and if you’ve got any tips for me in the comments below. Bye y’all!