Am I Really Obese??

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hoopdancer11
hoopdancer11 Posts: 19 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all!
I went to the doctor on November 21, 2014 after reaching my high weight of 162 (I'm 5'1"). I made the appointment because I was horrified that I weighed so much. I thought there was something medically wrong with me. My doctor ran blood tests on me and it turns out I'm deficient in vitamins B12 and D3. She prescribed me Phentermine, told me to take supplements, and said to come back in a few weeks. Three weeks later and after eating 1200 calories or less per day, I had only lost 4 pounds. (Side note: I weighed 160 at the office the first day and 156 at the next appointment, but some of that I think was water weight, conveniently on my appt day). Anyways, she seemed disappointed that I hadn't lost more weight. Well, the holidays happened and I have stayed at 156. I think it's a success that I didn't gain a pound over Christmas, Hanukkah, a birthday, and New Year's. My doctor's office has all of my info online and when I went to check the diagnoses that I'm being treated for, one of them is obesity! Yeah, I could stand to lose 20 pounds, but I'm not unhealthy. I most certainly don't feel or look obese. I'm afraid to go back to the doctor because she'll see that I haven't lost a pound in 30 days even though I've been RELIGIOUSLY tracking my food (53 day streak!), weighing every day, and making a point of being more active. Oh yeah, and I pretty much quite drinking alcohol. I'm afraid that if I make another appointment she'll just weigh me and judge me like I'm a big fatty sitting up on that table covered in paper. Like I have no self-control. I've limited my use of Phentermine because it only worked for a few hours and I had the worst cottonmouth in the world. This whole "obese" label has really got me down and makes me want to quit holding myself accountable for what I eat. I'd love to sit down with a bottle of vodka, pizza, and pasta and quit trying if I'm not losing up to her standards. Right now I'm just aiming for 145! Should I let the "obese" diagnosis get to me? How long should I realistically expect to lost 10 pounds?
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Replies

  • da_bears1008
    da_bears1008 Posts: 354
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    They are probably going off of your BMI which MAY say that you are obese. BMI is a complete BS unit of measure when it comes to heath. It does not take into account muscle that you have. I would set our weight loss ticker to lose 1 lb a week and either set your activity level to sedentary and log your exercises or adjust your activity level to include your exercising.

    I also would probably look for a different medical provider if she is prescribing you Phentermine when you weigh 162 lbs.
  • hoopdancer11
    hoopdancer11 Posts: 19 Member
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    That's kind of what I was thinking. I was actually surprised when I did some research and discovered that it's usually prescribed for people that need to lose like 50+ pounds instead of about 20-30. I'm hourglass shaped and when I did the hip-waist-chest ratio, it says that I'm on the low normal end of the spectrum. I swear each boob weighs 5lbs and each butt cheek is 10lbs haha It's nice to have confirmation that I'm probably getting anxious over nothing. I still have weight to lose, but this app is keeping me accountable...especially when it comes to drinking. I used to drink a half bottle of vodka a day (if not more) and now I'm not drinking at all, I mean minus about 5 days or so since Nov 17. I try not to log my exercises into the app because it changes how many calories I can eat for the day and I don't want to be lured into overeating. When I change the per week settings in the app, it still sets my cals for 1200. If I go over it, I'm in the red, but if I'm under it, it says I'm eating too little. Make up your mind, MFP! Thanks for the advice :)
  • al142
    al142 Posts: 35 Member
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    The obesity diagnosis may have been recorded in order to qualify you for the phentermine. Even the modest amount of weight you have already lost puts you below that level on the BMI, so although it may have technically applied to you before, it does not now. You're doing fine, just keep at it. It may go slow, but it will go.
  • hoopdancer11
    hoopdancer11 Posts: 19 Member
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    You're right. When I first came in the office, my BMI was 30.2 and currently it is 29.5 which bumps me from being obese to just being overweight (I just did the calculations now). It's crazy that a weight loss of 4 pounds can medically put you in a different category.
  • chrissievet
    chrissievet Posts: 11 Member
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    Don't let it get to you. As al142 said, it was probably required to be put down to let the doctor prescribe you phentermine, which the doctor probably did because she could see you trying hard to lose the weight and having difficulty. Also, lots of medical software programs MAKE you put a diagnosis in from a prescribed list of problems, and what you want to choose isn't always there, so typing in "unable to lose weight" may bring up obesity as the "diagnosis", and your doctor has probably just selected this without thinking twice about it. Don't stress :)
  • titianwasp
    titianwasp Posts: 139 Member
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    There's also the "healthy" range, vs the "ideal" range. Healthy means you are at less risk for health issues as long as you are active and not living on fast food. Ideal indicates best health and longest predicted lifespan on average. at 5'8" my "Ideal" range is 120 to 140. Perhaps she was going by that metric.
  • 1healthyme1
    1healthyme1 Posts: 9 Member
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    it is just a label...don't let it get you down. if you went in and your only complaint was weight gain, the doc had to classify that visit somehow. i wouldn't worry about feeling judged, and also don't feel that you have to continue taking the medication-especially if you don't feel it is working. Sometimes the medicines are useful to "jumpstart" a new routine/way of life, but not necessary long term. You are doing everyting right, and with patience and persistence you will get where you want to be :) Good luck!
  • hoopdancer11
    hoopdancer11 Posts: 19 Member
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    I have good blood pressure and don't get easily winded by physical activity (unless my asthma is bad and I haven't been on top of using my steroid inhaler everyday). I don't eat fast food because it grosses me out, but I do have a bad habit of eating frozen processed foods. Quitting drinking and limiting these foods has been helpful even if I don't lose weight as quickly as I want. I did struggle with an ED about 10 years ago and even when I weighed about 40 pounds less than I do now I still thought I was fat, which is ridiculous to me looking back because I looked too thin even though I was in a normal weight range (BMI). I'm concerned that I won't be "happy" at any weight, and I'm pretty sure that's why the whole obesity thing rattled my brain so much. Thanks for the support!
  • kaylajane11
    kaylajane11 Posts: 313 Member
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    Four pounds in three weeks is great! Especially when you only have 20 pounds to lose. And maintaining over the holidays is also a success.
    Keep at it! Losing half a pound to a pound a week is awesome progress, even if it seems slow.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    hoopdancer11 wrote: »
    Hi all!
    Anyways, she seemed disappointed that I hadn't lost more weight...

    ...Yeah, I could stand to lose 20 pounds, but I'm not unhealthy...

    ...I'm afraid to go back to the doctor....

    ...she'll just weigh me and judge me like I'm a big fatty...

    ...I've limited my use of Phentermine...

    ...This whole "obese" label has really got me down...

    Just a few quotes from you. You sound like you're trying to justify yourself to your doctor. Obese is just a medical diagnosis, like anemic. Weight is a factor in health. You can be obese and otherwise have good health markers, but the obesity itself is not healthy. It sounds like you're judging yourself (isn't that why you went to the Dr. in the first place?) and then projecting your insecurities on the Dr.

    The only thing she can be legitimately disappointed in is your discontinued use of a pharmaceutical that she prescribed you. If you are having side effects, you should talk to her. If you are concerned that your goal is 20 lbs and the drug is for people with 60+ lbs, talk to her.
  • annavalente
    annavalente Posts: 119 Member
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    The 'label' is only down to the completely flawed BMI scale. Your the same height as me and when I started I was 181lbs...I spoke with my doctor who also kindly gave me the obese label and off I trotted feeling like total *kitten*!
    After 20 months of healthy eating and exercising 3x a week im down to 132lbs...with NO help from my doctor as I refused to go back...unless he magically turned into a nutritionist or doctor that specialised in weight!

    What your doing is perfect...dont let this nonsense put you off..ur doing amazing!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    what possible difference can the label make?
    1. do you need to lose weight? [ ]yes [ ]no
    2. do you need to lose a substantial amount of weight? [ ]yes [ ]no
    3. did you already know that you needed to lose a substantial amount of weight before walking into the doctor's office? [ ]yes [ ]no

    if the answers to the questions above are Yes, then why spend time fretting over this term or that term is used? this thread can come up with 100 different excuses about why BMI isn't really accurate and outdated and blah blah blah, but you still need to lose weight and you know this.

    do what you already know needs to be done to protect your health.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I've been morbidly obese for years. I am looking forward to reaching the obese range. I've got a few thoughts on what is going on here. First of all, I think the doctor is ignorant of how difficult it can be to achieve even a modest weight loss. Your results are very good; not disappointing at all. Second of all, own the diagnosis. Third, difficulty losing weight is no reflection on your character or your ability.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I was "obese" when I started out. I was right on the bubble of obese and overweight and yea, I had a hard time believing that. I carried the weight well and compared to others, really didn't consider myself obese...but by BMI standards as well as waist measurements and BF% I was indeed obese.

    Also, I wouldn't be so quick to just say BMI is flawed or a bunch of BS and completely discount it...I wouldn't use it in a vacuum, but it's worth being mindful of and BMI is a pretty reasonable way to look at things for the vast majority of people. Where I think people frack BMI up is that they don't understand the range or how to apply that range to themselves.

    yes, it is true that some people may be overweight by BMI standards but not over fat...I would be one of those people...per BMI, I'm just barely overweight, but I'm about 15ish% BF, I pump iron and pretty much train like there's no tomorrow. If I were to actually get to the very high end of my range I would be even more awesome because I'd be around 10% BF which would kick *kitten*...

    Point is that unless you're training like a mo-fo, it's likely that BMI is not something you should ignore...and even if you think it's flawed you should look at those numbers in conjunction with your BF% and lean mass rather than just disregarding BMI and your doctors advice. I honestly didn't realize how fat I was until I really started dropping weight...and now I look back at pictures and I can definitely see that i was obese and then very overweight.

    If you want to lose weight then just keep on keepin' on...it's a slow process. Your category really shouldn't make a difference here.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    hoopdancer11 wrote: »
    You're right. When I first came in the office, my BMI was 30.2 and currently it is 29.5 which bumps me from being obese to just being overweight (I just did the calculations now). It's crazy that a weight loss of 4 pounds can medically put you in a different category.

    That's very true. When I started out my BMI was 40.0, which is considered morbidly obese. I'm now 5-6 pounds from a 30.0 BMI. Now, I know the scale isn't for everyone, but it's shocking seeing how much I've dropped in a year.
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
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    da_bears1008 wrote: »
    They are probably going off of your BMI which MAY say that you are obese. BMI is a complete BS unit of measure when it comes to heath. It does not take into account muscle that you have. I would set our weight loss ticker to lose 1 lb a week and either set your activity level to sedentary and log your exercises or adjust your activity level to include your exercising.

    I also would probably look for a different medical provider if she is prescribing you Phentermine when you weigh 162 lbs.

    Agree! Especially the part I bolded. I'd be concerned with being prescribed phentermine if I were you.
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,031 Member
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    I'd refuse to take the Phentermine, personally...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phentermine#Adverse_effects

    Especially for just getting into the "obese" side of things.
  • Of_Monsters_and_Meat
    Of_Monsters_and_Meat Posts: 1,022 Member
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    BMI has a wide range for categories and most of the population will fall into the correct category. There are of course outliers such as body builders. If in doubt invest in some calipers and a tape measure and take bodyfat %.

    At 156 lbs and 5'1" you are overweight not obese, with a BMI of 29.5. Congrats!
    http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm
  • hockeymomrw
    hockeymomrw Posts: 35 Member
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    I saw the word 'obese' too, on the doc's paper. Ouch. (I'm 5'3", 175.) It prompted me to get out here so I figure it's a good thing. :-) I figure as long as I am doing something to improve myself, I can't feel bad. I wouldn't worry about pleasing your doctor though. She doesn't have to live your life! You are doing good so I'd say, carry on and don't worry about how she feels about your weight loss.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    edited January 2015
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    We live in a world of drive-thru solutions and microwaved expectations...

    If you only have 20 pounds to lose, you need to realize that those 20 pounds are not going to disappear overnight. I think you realize that already - you seem to have a good head upon your shoulders. I am a bit alarmed that you doctor is prescribing a drive-thru solution... getting the weight off quickly is not the solution. Learning how to adjust your life so that you can lose weight in a healthy manner, in a way that encourages you a sustainable lifestyle - THAT is the solution you need.

    And THAT is the solution you are correctly following.

    Based on what I've read - you are attacking it the right way. Keep it up. Don't focus on the scale or the term, so much as continue to make wise food choices. Continue to be active, continue to track your food (and log it accurately). If you do those, you'll end up losing the weight, being healthy, AND doing it in a way that was not medically enhanced.

    You are a beautiful woman... keep up the good work!

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