May 2, 2000 --11:02 PM EST

Today was the dietitian visit. Overall it was a good experience. Ran out of time though. At first I thought an hour was plenty but you know what? It simply wasn't!

The office was pretty cheery. A multi-colored flower wall paper...tiny blooms dotting a white background. Some botanical prints matted in greens in natural frames. Some traditional, ornately carved office furniture in mahogany as opposed to the super-sleek modern styles. It probably sounds wacked but I immediately thought Miss Marple's doctor out of my Agatha Christie books. Dr. Haydock. But it might just be me because I was re-reading Agatha's autobiography last night before going to sleep.

The dietitian fit into the room pretty well even though she wasn't an aging country doctor of fiction. She was middle-youngish... like late 30's or early 40's. Blue cardigan, khaki slacks, a crisp, white button down blouse, short blond hair and silver-framed glasses perched on a thin nose.

Karen (the dietitian, not my sister) was really nice, listened and tried to get an idea of my whole lifestyle and tried to give me personalized attention that would fit and work. I liked that a lot -- not pushing me into some program or making me buy products -- just trying to get a feel for what MY life, MY food budget, and MY schedule are like and improve my eating from there within those parameters.

Apart from the vegan thing, my biggest issues are this marathon thing and then eating on the run. She wants me on a multivitamin daily and she suggested I switch back to soy milk for the extra calories. We talked a lot about vegan analogs and what convenience foods I could rely on when in a tight jam, and what sorts of recipes I prefer and how I like to cook, where I like to food shop.

We also talked about my marathon training goals and how to work with that plus my weight loss efforts so I'm not cutting either one short. She was very happy that I'm doing a slow rate of loss. Karen also wants a copy of my training schedule next appointment so she can see what's going on there with exercise and make sure my energy needs are being met. She approved my upping the calories last week -- definitely told me NOT to go lower than 2000 because then my body would start using up muscle tissue for fuel. I already knew that but it was good to have that reinforced. She wants me to aim for the 2200 higher mark if I'd had a hard workout that day. She rearranged my proportions of fat:carb:protein a bit and wants me to try that new arrangement to see how I feel because she explained while I was doing kinda ok with my protein needs as a "normal person" but an athlete requires a little more.

I giggled in my head thinking of myself as "athletic" but I guess all this training stuff does sort of make me one, huh? Is that the face of a marathoner? You better believe it! Anyway, when I came home I hunted up the formula she gave me and all my nutrition texts confirmed it. I need more protein if I'm going to be running around marathon training. I like that she's knowledgable. I wouldn't know what to look for but after she tells me, I can easily double check.

We talked a little bit about a vegan pregnancy, but since I'm not getting too deep into that just yet, we concentrated mainly on sports nutrition for the marathon training. We touched on Paul's problems for a second, but since he has his own appointment in 2 weeks, we didn't get all into Paul never-wants-to-eat issues other than me explaining that I'm the main food shooper/maker and I need to know how to help him best.

The hour flew by and the cost was pretty ok -- $140. I have a follow-up in 3 weeks ($45) and I think after that when I have follow-ups I want to try monthly. It's easier to remember than 3 week stints! I had a good time and it was very positive.

So a definite thumbs up for anyone who wants to try going the dietitian route!