Stay in Your Lane
On a winter morning, I walked across cold tiles to the indoor pool, wrapped in my towel and adjusting my swim cap and googles. The first thing I’d always do is scan the lanes to see if I would have a lane to myself to swim laps. Lap swimming at the downtown Asheville YMCA in the mornings usually meant you’d have to plan on sharing your lane with someone. Some people were quite good about sharing a lane, politely moving close to the lane buoys or being considerate about not trying to do the wide reaching butterfly stroke or limiting the span of the frog-like kicks of breaststroke. Others, not so much. As they thrashed past me I’d cringe against the lane ropes to avoid being hit in the head by an errant arm, scratched by a set of nails or bruised by wild kick, and I’d think, ‘Why is it I can share the space with some with no problem and with others lap swimming becomes a contact sport?’ It would almost seem as though the person was unconscious of me being there or wanted me out of their way.
In the nutrition world there are lots of people trying to share the same lane, after all, everyone eats. Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, trainers, athletic coaches…it seems like everyone has something to say about food. Some of these professionals limit their advice to very basic information and know when to refer to people educated and trained in this space — that would be a dietitian. Others, much to the annoyance of dietitians, give advice that is unwarranted, or worse, unsound and unscientific.
When someone calls or writes to me with a nutrition question but prefaces it with: “My doctor/friend/dentist/trainer said…..” I sometimes wonder, what if that professional had to counteract advice in their lane? How many times have you, lacking any sort of medical or professional credentials, advised someone, “That doesn’t look like a cavity. ”, or “You may have a brain tumor.” or “I can turn you into a triathlete!”.
I get it, people that are in these fields want to be seen as helpful and to answer questions, after all, that’s why we’ve become caregivers. However, if you’re asked about something where you may only have superficial or limited knowledge or experience it’s time to qualify your responses and refer to someone else. Understand how to “share your lane”, when to move to the side, when to get out of someone else’s way …and when to just stay in your own lane.