If u have a Doctor's appointment, do they bring up weight?

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Replies

  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    You probably should. It's a doctor and they are paid to help you, not judge you.

    ^^This. I'm paying my doctor good money for medical advice. If they for some reason DIDN'T want to weigh me or let me know if it's in a healthy range (or any other metric, for that matter), they're getting fired.

    For my entire adult life (until recently), I didn't keep a scale at home, so the doctor was my means of keeping track of changes. I'm glad he straight up told me that I had gained 20lbs since my last yearly, and that some lifestyle changes were in order. He gave me some general advice and a referral to a dietician.

    I have yet to schedule with the dietician, but I think I'm doing alright so far (14 weeks of MFP, 14 lbs down), and his advice is echoed here, anyway: move a little more, eat a little less, get enough protein and eat yer veggies.
  • wallelf1
    wallelf1 Posts: 36 Member
    I had one doctor that I saw years ago. His staff were real scale ***ches. I finally said, "Look, I was just here 2 weeks ago. I weighed xxx. I'm not getting on these things every time I hit the door". The only scale that counts is the one in my bathroom that I step on once a week. Once my issue was resolved, I found another doctor. I don't mind 4x a year, but these gals were just horrible.
  • MinimalistShoeAddict
    MinimalistShoeAddict Posts: 1,946 Member
    what I don't understand is most of the doctors I have seen are very very overweight.

    Doctors are human like everyone else. Don't worry about being judged. They are capable of giving you good advice even if they are not in perfect health themselves.
  • ashaalt
    ashaalt Posts: 6
    She is after all the doctor, so it is good if she brings it up especially if it concerns the patients health. Most may not discuss it unless it is affecting the health, but for a general physical they do check the weight for records but may not discuss it.

    My doc put it in a milder way, asked me indirectly if I am the weight he thought I should be, when I said no, he said its advisable to lose some to avoid health issues. There was nothing embarrassing abt it, I want my doc to tell me frankly whatever it is. It has motivated me to work out and diet now.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
    It's a number. It tells you if you need to lose weight or are in a good range of healthy. It's not the only indicator of health but it's a good baseline.

    I will never understand people who don't want their doctor to advise them on their weight. Your body weight is a fairly big part of your health. Like I said above it's not the be all and end all but it tells the truth most of the time.

    Last time I went was for some pre-conception advice and the doctor hemmed and hawed around it until I finally had to say 'are you trying to tell me to lose weight?' And he confirmed yes. The best thing I can do for my fertility is to lose weight. It's that simple. The fact he feels he as to jump around the issue is a dad indictment of our society and it's attitude to excess weight.
  • ebailey710
    ebailey710 Posts: 271 Member
    I've never argued about the scale, myself. I'm sure it's not 100% necessary but some medications require body weight for proper dosage so there's that.

    ^^ This. Especially for antibiotics.

    I know a lot of people have a lot of anxiety going to the doctor, but my nurse practitioner never brings up a negative about my weight. They know I work out, so they just ask what kind of activities I do. Her assistant (or nurse or whatever) always says when I go to get on the scale "you are looking slimmer every time you come in here" and that makes me feel great even if the number doesn't move.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    OT but I can't actually remember the last time I was ever weighed in a Doctor's office. Not sure if the making you get on a scale is an American thing (I'm in Australia and yes we do have a massive obesity problem too) or it's because I'm visably within the 'healthy" weight range.

    To the OP - please don't let the possibility of a discussion about your weight put you off going to see the Doctor. If they're bringing it up it's not about judgement it's because they want the best possible outcome for your health. If you're on here I assume you're aiming for weight loss and probably weigh yourself regularly so maybe you could just let them know that if it gets mentioned. Something like "I know my weight is an issue and I'm working on it. I've lost x amount of lbs in the last month through exercise and healthy eating". They'll likely welcome your initiative as I suspect they deal with a lot of people with obesity-related diseases who won't help themselves.
  • If your going to the doctors, get your money's worth. Get your weight, blood pressure, tests,advice, as much as you can. And when you mention the weight you have already lost, you will get nothing but praise and support, especially if you say you are doing Mfp and on the program. If this doesn't happen, change doctors.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I have been weighed at every doctor's appt I have ever been on and they never made it optional. I am pretty outspoken & assertive but honestly it did not even occur to me to turn down the weigh-in.

    Anyway, when I was a little kid starting around age 8-9 I was hounded so badly by my doctor and he was very rude & mean. Mostly he would talk about my weight problems to my mom very loudly like I wasn't in the room. I was 5'6" 130-135 lb as a kid so I WAS enormous for my age...but being so height/weight proportional, I was a pretty normal size for an adult woman, but the doc would always make every appt about my "major weight problems" and I learned to fear and hate doctors due to this.

    So given that experience...as an adult woman way over 200 lb and even hitting 300 at one point...doctors do comment, they suggest a weight loss, but they have all been super tactful and polite about it, so I am already bracing myself for the worst and then it's not so bad. Of course now that I am down 130+ lb I will tell them that when I next go to the doctor (I don't have a regular family physician currently). But in the past, to be quite honest looking back I feel that most doctors I've had as an adult really downplayed my weight, especially because I didn't have any health issues or problems with lab work when it was run. In fact when I was around 290, the doctor I saw told me that he'd love to see me lose 10-15% of my body weight which would have been around 30-40 lb. That actually made me feel BETTER and spurred me toward further weight loss because I was afraid he would say something like, "You need to lose 150 immediately, let's get you scheduled for gastric bypass". I almost wish he hadn't retired and moved away so I could see him again ;-)

    Good luck at the doctor...don't let them upset you! You have your health at the top of your mind and that will come through in your attitude to a good doctor. Do let them know you are serious about your health and weight and I think it will be all good. A lot of physicians are sick of telling people to make positive changes when the patient just wants a magic pill.