Austin dietician speaks on nutrition for weight loss

AUSTIN, Texas - Many people look at the new year as a time to reset when it comes to their diet. 

Whether you want to lose weight or just eat healthier, there are some dos and don'ts to keep in mind. 

Mackenzie Foster, lead clinical dietician at St Davids Medical Center, joined FOX 7 Austin's Rebecca Thomas to discuss.

Local perspective:

REBECCA: Mackenzie, what are some of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to their diet? 

MACKENZIE: I think the biggest mistake is following a fad diet, whether that's keto at the time, low, super low-carb or just low calorie in general. You know, we want to make sure that you're doing the diet. That's correct for you. So seeing a registered dietitian to make sure that what you're doing is safe for your body and is appropriate for your body. So making sure that you're getting the calories you need to keep your metabolism up and not skipping meals or decreasing it too much, which would then shoot your metabolism down. 

REBECCA: So calories, you know, vary in need from person to person. Not all calories, though, are created equal. Talk about the differences between protein, fats and carbohydrates. 

MACKENZIE: So they're all really important. You know, protein is really great for your muscles. It's good for your brain. It's good for when you're working out. If you're losing weight, you do want to increase your protein a little bit more than an average person. Carbs are also great. I know there's a stigma that carbs are bad, but our brain really needs that to give us energy to keep us going throughout our day. So that's really important for that. And then fats as well. You've got unhealthy fats and healthy fats. And those healthy fats are great for our brain as well. It's great for our hormones. It helps us, you know, with our T3T, four regulations with that combo, with the carbs and the fat together to keep our thyroid going. 

REBECCA: So there's a lot of debate about how much protein is needed every day, and figuring that out can be kind of tricky. But what's a good rule of thumb? 

MACKENZIE: It is really hard to be able to calculate your own protein, especially if you do have other conditions going on. So I would advise having a registered dietitian calculate exactly how much protein you need based on your status, your goals, and then any other conditions that you have if you have kidney disease. It might be a little bit lower. But my recommendation as a general recommendation would be whenever you're having your meals, have your protein source pretty much be the size of your palm and that should be a good amount. 

REBECCA: How important is fiber in your diet, and what are the benefits of fiber?

MACKENZIE: Yeah. Fiber is so great for our gut. It's great for our heart health as well. You've got insoluble fiber and soluble fiber. We need both. It helps regulate our GI tract to help us go and to help get a lot of our waste out as well. 

REBECCA: I know ideally you want to eat the majority of the fiber from food or get fiber from food. But what about a supplement? Is that an ideal solution to partner with your diet? 

MACKENZIE: Definitely. I think it's very popular right now. I would definitely talk to your, you know, your doctor and your dietician to make sure you're not taking too much fiber. And to also see what fiber you're taking. I think there's a lot of marketing out there for prebiotics probiotics and just making sure that, you know, you speak with your health care professionals to know which one was right for you. If you are going to choose one, I would go more with a probiotic to help build up our gut. 

REBECCA: All right. Mackenzie Foster, a lead clinical dietitian at St Davids Medical Center. Thank you for sharing your time and your expertise with us tonight.