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Does your doctor comment on your weight?
Tweaking_Time
Posts: 733 Member
in Debate Club
Has your doc ever suggested you lose weight? If so, were you offended?
I asked my doc if she ever suggested people lose weight, eat better, exercise more, etc. She said that her answer would be mostly "No." When I asked her why she explained that being a doctor is a business and if she would critique each patients weight, she is sure she would lose patients, especially the easily offended ones. She also said if the patient asks her opinion about their weight, should would gladly help them with a diet/exercise plan.
I asked my doc if she ever suggested people lose weight, eat better, exercise more, etc. She said that her answer would be mostly "No." When I asked her why she explained that being a doctor is a business and if she would critique each patients weight, she is sure she would lose patients, especially the easily offended ones. She also said if the patient asks her opinion about their weight, should would gladly help them with a diet/exercise plan.
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My doctor never said anything and in hindsight that really irritated me.
Every single physical complaint I had in the past was cured (yes, cured) by weight loss. Instead of her suggesting that I needed to lose weight, she gave me pills.
Now I'm off all my medications, no thanks to my doctor.
It's really bad healthcare when they tippy-toe around HEALTH issues. Don't get me started.
Oh...90 -
My doctor commented year after year that I should, and engaged in thoughtful conversation with me about how I should try to do it. I was never offended. It was only after a 'bad' blood test that I decided to do something beyond talking about weight loss. Since then, she has commented, "You're doing better than anybody else in here. Get out of here!"44
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The only comment was on my "obese midsection" at my first meeting with My doctor I was about 185 at 5'8". Definitely overweight and with a puckered belly button from multiple pregnancies, but obese? I had never applied that word to myself so I was a bit shocked snce I was not obese by most standards. I was a bit offended but I do carry weight in my middle so he had a point...
The next time I saw him I was over 30 lbs lighter and had followed the LCHF diet he recommended. He said he should put up a wall of fame success stories so he could put my picture on it.
I think doctors should comment on it. It is a health issue and people often need help on it. If the easily offended left - fine. If their next doctor also commented on their weight, maybe they would actually do take some help and try to do something effective about it.37 -
Yes. Not in a telling me off way but in a "this is going to affect you and probably soon" sort of way. But I'm the UK with the NHS, she doesn't care about losing my business because healthcare isn't for profit. It's part of her job to keep me well to warn me about the things I can control to manage my health.62
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I've never had to have my doctor tell me to, but if I had a weight problem, I would expect them to.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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No, never. Most doctors I've been to don't talk to me much at all, they are pretty perfunctory and usually in a hurry. My pet's veterinarian is much more caring than any doctor I've ever gone to.44
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My Doc usually comments on how fit I look and how she wished her other patients were more focused on nutrition. That said, I'm an athlete and weight wise I'm at a very good place.
I do think that it must be very difficult for docs to discuss this with patients, especially when they are on an extreme end of the spectrum.6 -
That's how I got into all this good livin' business. Went for my 38 year checkup and came out with a bunch of bad blood work and my doctor informing me that I was now officially obese which was also likely at the root of a lot of other nagging aches and pains.
He informed me that eating a healthier diet, exercising regularly, and losing some weight would likely result in reversing a lot of what was going on health wise...he also informed me that staying the course would likely result in me being very sick if not dead by 60...so it was a no brainer really.
That was 5 years ago. I'm one of his favorite patients because I actually did something and I've kept the weight off for about 4.5 years. I was not offended...I was grateful...I have two young boys at home who need their dad...I had no idea what was going on in my body and after finding out, the prospect of not being able to be here for my boys was simply unacceptable.44 -
VintageFeline wrote: »Yes. Not in a telling me off way but in a "this is going to affect you and probably soon" sort of way. But I'm the UK with the NHS, she doesn't care about losing my business because healthcare isn't for profit. It's part of her job to keep me well to warn me about the things I can control to manage my health.
I think my GP may have mentioned it in passing, but he genuinely seemed shocked at just how much I weighed (and had put on) when I went to ask for help losing weight at 290lb. Mind he was about as helpful as a chocolate teapot, telling me the only way I'd lose weight was surgery. I refused to go back and see him for a long time, but had to take one of my children to see him and all he talked about was how did I manage to lose weight and how I'd "bucked the odds".22 -
He never mentioned it at all when I was fat, and that was for almost twenty years. He mentioned it a lot as I lost weight.10
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My doctor is pretty straight forward. When my blood results came in out of norm he basically said: you're carrying a lot of extra weight, and I'm sure you know that. Losing weight may help correct your results, and if it doesn't we could think medications. Would you be willing to lose weight first or would you rather be prescribed medications now? Your choice. I told him I would rather lose weight and here I am. I wasn't offended in the least.40
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I brought it up to my GP first.... actually booked an appt to discuss it when I saw it happening. By the time it came back around to see her again, I was losing and she complimented my progress. My OB actually expressed shock when she saw how much I had gained in a year and suggested I lose...by then my GP and I had already discussed it. It didn't offend me tho....125-197lbs in less than a year was shocking to me, too!7
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Weight is the NUMBER INDICATOR of health risk, so I don't see why people would be offended by their doctor mentioning it. I mean, you're there for your health in the first place, so it SHOULD be covered.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition 24 -
My doctors have all discussed weight with me, at least after I've asked them to. I figure if they're going to take my blood pressure and discuss that with me, and put me on the scale to weigh me, then we had better talk about how my weight impacts my health. Good grief, how could you not? I'm paying a professional to help me understand my body. Was I offended when I was told I was overweight? Um, no. Was I offended when I was told my cholesterol was too high? Um, no. I guess science doesn't offend me.21
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I wish mine had said something... I saw my medical records recently, and saw that years of visits had included the insurance code for "morbid obesity". If I was clinically that bad, she should have raised the red flag.23
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My doctor approached it "gently" by mentioning 30 minutes of exercise a day and printing off information on diet and light exercise. He never said obese.
The funny thing is when I went back one time after losing 40-45 pounds, he said nothing. I had to bring it up, and then he asked if I did it intentionally. Mind you, I had gone from 184 to about 144ish, so it was extremely noticeable. I gained it all back, so now he is back to gentle reminders. 7 -
My GP has never commented on it, presumably because they seldom weigh me. I have had nurses tell me I was overweight at registration appointments, though. I think they're obliged to mention whether you are over or under weight, but I've always just found it a bit insulting as they never say 'you're over weight and here is our leaflet for weight management' or whatever. Just that I'm fat, like I didn't know.10
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My doctor is GREAT. His nurse comes in and chats with me and then he comes in, sits down and has a real conversation with me. He takes at least 20-40min with each and every one of his patients. His nurse knows me and my hubby (we both go there at my suggestion my hubby switch) without having to look at our chart to see who we are. We are all on first name basis.
When I turned 30 I realized that the only doctors I had been to from age 15 on were OB/GYN and only when I was pregnant. So, I figured that it was time to "man up" and go see someone. When I went to see the doc he did a full work up and some of my blood results were of concern. We discussed a number of things including losing weight, changing my diet and working out. Each time I have gone back he has been very encouraging, even if I only had a minimal loss he congratulates me on it and makes sure to note in my review to "keep up the great work"
I think that it is important that your physician discuss weight with you as a part of your overall health.15 -
Mine comments every time.
In our Doctors foyer there is a weight/height/blood pressure machine. I use it once a month when I collect my sons injections.
It puts the data on to your electronic records.
If I have an appointment he always comments how great my weight is and how little the very expensive equipment gets used.
I'm UK. NHS.17 -
The majority of my doctors have always tried to tell me I was perfect and had nothing wrong with me, even when I was obese and had lupus, asthma, diabetes, and a giant honking softball sized ovarian tumor. I am not a fan of the medical profession. I had an ER doctor try to put me on opiates and just send me home with an actual ovarian torsion, with my ovary literally dead and rotting inside me. I only got anyone to pay attention when I told him I would kill myself if he sent me home in that much pain. That worked surprisingly quickly. I had the hospital administrator in my room in about ten minutes.
I live in one of the fattest cities in America, and I tend to carry my weight pretty well, so I guess my doctors have seen people so much fatter than I am that it wasn't even on their radar. My ob/gyn said, "You're about 200 pounds, right?" when I weighed 272. The advice I got about my diabetes was pretty basic, too, I think the nutritionist at the hospital was used to people who just would not make any sort of effort so she had mostly given up. I had to educate myself.
I'm down 94 lbs presently and everyone has expressed astonishment.29 -
My orthopedic specialist referred to me as "well nourished " as he recorded his notes. I thought it was funny. I weighed about 310 at the time.
My PCP was always tactful and shuttered genuine concern. Eventually I became a patient she used as an example of it never being too late to change.
No more worries about high cholesterol or borderline A1C.11 -
When I developed an obesity-related complication (chronic venous insufficiency, aka 'veins in legs collapsed under the weight of the rest of me' which led to a bout of cellulitus, followed by lymphedema—complete with a weeping wound that needed daily dressing changes and multiple doses of antibiotics before it healed up some three months later and has stuck me in compression stockings for the foreseeable future), my doctor was pretty up-front about telling me that if I lost weight, I could minimize future flare-ups. That was last year. I've had two checkups since starting MFP and now his comments are pretty positive. Even effusive. Dropping 80 lbs (slightly less than 1/3 of my SW) tends to do that...14
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It probably depends where you live. My experience in Asia and Europe shows that doctors would talk about weight. I know that from my family members that are a bit overweight n the doc recommends to loose. One of my family members that is obese had this topic discussed with several doctors n I think its the doctors responsibility to do so.2
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I once had One Of Those Doctors who insisted that everything wrong with me was because of my weight. I started restricting myself to under 1,000 calories per day (measured for accuracy) and found myself still gaining weight. Talked to him - he put me on appetite suppressants instead of trying to get to the bottom of it.
About a year later I started seeing a different doctor, who found out my metabolism was *kitten* up (obviously) from years of dealing with undiagnosed celiac disease. Adding insult to injury, my weight was the only atypical symptom; everything else pointed to it like a neon sign.
My body behaves a lot more normally now, I'm down 100 pounds, and almost every problem I saw him for is gone. My current PCP doesn't talk about my weight except when I have a concern relating to it - and I have a much easier time staying healthy now.
What a lot of weight-obsessed doctors fail to realize is that the majority of the time, weight is a symptom of a problem, not the cause. Sure, a lot of the time the cause of whatever other concern a patient is there for is, in fact, a nutritional issue, and their weight is another symptom of that...but when a patient comes in telling you they're measuring what they eat and taking in less than 1000 calories per day and gaining, you MIGHT want to look into a cause other than overeating.21 -
When I was a child around 8-11 years old (already overweight but unusually tall for my age, too) my pediatrician harped on my weight nonstop and in a very cruel way and actually made fun of me. When I was sick with chronic bronchitis he would make the entire visit all about my weight. My parents would have to do serious damage control after every doc visit because I'd be so upset. Why they didn't find a new freaking doctor, I have no idea. I was taken to a nutritionist and she was far less "concerned" than my pediatrician. But the comments stuck and made me borderline terrified of doctors for many, many years. Even to this day I'm extra nervous in any type of medical situation.
But to answer the Q more directly...when I was morbidly obese, ranging from 260 to 300 lb (5'8" female), most of my doctors expressed surprise and/or praise at my overall good blood work and vitals, and then proceeded to suggest weight loss of "10% of body weight" or "30 lb" as a good start for me and overall suggestion to become healthier. I took it really seriously, but did not usually lose more than 10-15 lb and usually regained sooner or later.
With my last physician before my major weight loss, he suggested a 30 lb loss from the 270-something I weighed at the time, and told me he didn't think I'd be a good candidate for gastric bypass because I was walking miles per week and eating healthier and had dropped about 14 lb in the past year. I was shocked, because I went to the appointment thinking I would probably be headed the WLS route. It actually made me feel really positive and hopeful about my healthier path, and that physician retired and moved to another state but I feel like his approach was great for me and I sometimes wish in the back of my head that he could see me at a healthy weight now!12 -
Last time I saw my neurologist (yes, my NEUROLOGIST!) I told him three times that he had to tell me to lose some weight before he told me to lose some weight. I've known I could lose 50-75 pounds for YEARS and I finally talked with my neurologist because he's the only doctor I see with any regularity.
He's going to be shocked next time I see him -- I've lost almost 30 pounds and still dropping.
I'm 63 years old, 5' 11" tall and today I weigh 217 pounds.13 -
Well the last nurse practitioner I saw asked if I would "like to see the nutritionist?" I did not bring up my weight, I was there for plantar fasciitis.
I would have liked her to read the notes for the past 3 months that I had been in to the MD monthly regarding my weight and had lost 30 lbs.7 -
Tweaking_Time wrote: »Has your doc ever suggested you lose weight? If so, were you offended?
I asked my doc if she ever suggested people lose weight, eat better, exercise more, etc. She said that her answer would be mostly "No." When I asked her why she explained that being a doctor is a business and if she would critique each patients weight, she is sure she would lose patients, especially the easily offended ones. She also said if the patient asks her opinion about their weight, should would gladly help them with a diet/exercise plan.
I understand what your doctor was saying, but she also isn't doing her job.
My doctor didn't suggest I lose weight, but he said I was at high risk of a heart attack or stroke and wanted to put me on meds for high cholesterol and high blood pressure. That woke me up fast. I lost the weight. Then he piled on the praise. He's overweight himself and so are half the nurses.0 -
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