Dr H on the Biggest Loser

Love it! Glad that you posted this; I wish more doctor's were like him.

If I had Cancer, my health insurance would spare no expense and surround me with doctors and nurses to help me. If I broke my leg, my health insurance would pay for rehab therapy. If wanted marriage counseling, my health insurance will pay for unlimited sessions with a counselor (co-pay still applies). If I wanted to quit smoking, my health insurance will now spare no expense to help me quit.

I'm fat and my health insurance will give me ONE free doctor visit PER YEAR and a crappy discount at the YMCA. I think I can get a blood test free every 5 years, too...

I wish people would give weight loss more than just lip service. It's a freaking disease and I'm barely surviving it with no help from anyone (financially). Imagine if the medical insurance community treated weight loss as seriously as they do cancer...

Walking and jogging are free. So are YouTube videos. Exercise doesn't always cost money; medicine does. That's the difference.

Right, but walking and jogging require YOU to self-motivate. Driving to a chemo clinic requires nothing at all. You walk in and then they give you the medicine and support, etc. The only real parallel to that would be hiring a personal trainer and nutritionist. My point is that if you have an illness or disease that insurance pays for, you get customized personal hands-on support. Weight loss requires self-motivation unless you're rich.

My gym is owned by a large hospital, and there are a number of members there who have insurance paying for them as part of their physical therapy or part of some kind of healthcare plan. There's one member who is very overweight, and he comes in, scans his card (so the doctors can track his usage) chats it up with the ladies at the front desk, then just leaves. Every once in a while he'll go into the gym and walk the 1/12 of a mile lap around the track.....but last time I saw him he was telling the girls at the front desk how he was going to Costco to buy a case or Oreos (no joke!) and offered to bring them one too. I guess my point is that I don't believe having insurance pay for it motivates people who don't really WANT to get healthy.

I watched that episode but didn't catch what he said. Thanks for sharing and it will make me think about getting more exercise in my life!

We are a nation with a lot of obesity. Here is thanking media, entertainment , public focus on this. We lead more sedentary life styles with more fast fattening over processed foods. You're right that we need help relearning, support to stay focused and on track, but insurance can't do it all. At some point we each need to take individual responsibility for ourselves. Fat is something we give ourselves. I'm obese and can blame the quick descent into the sedentary, fast food multitudes on current culture. What we all want is help and we can get it from each other. Many people can't even get insurance these days. I can help me from needing to use healthcare dollars by taking care of myself. Self discipline is hard for me, but I'm pushing and learning and sometimes hanging on with my teeth. But doing it, slowly and consistently.

Wow no more excuses for me. 1440 minutes in a day I never thought about it that way.

This whole "getting fit costs money" stuff is ridiculous. Since July 2012 I haven't spent a penny more on being healthy than I would on being "unhealthy".
Running is free, walking is free, workouts on YouTube are free... Get a Netflix account for $10 or whatever a month and rent workout DVDs straight to your door.
Stop making excuses.