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Does your doctor comment on your weight?

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  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
    edited October 2021
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    P.S. I do think doctors as well as PAs, NPs, nurses, etc. should have more training in nutrition than they get.

    I cannot agree more. Unfortunately, the general attitude is to rely on Nutritionists or fake it because "I am the doctor and I *should* know this." The insurance companies have not made it any easier for the doctors or the patients. Prevention is NOT a focus. There is no $$$ in it.

    @KeithBarrows: I saw in your other thread that you were a Marine. I'm former USAF myself. Are you getting your health care through the VA? I am, and my doctor immediately referred me to a Registered Dietitian, presumably realizing she did not have the background to be of much use.
  • KeithBarrows
    KeithBarrows Posts: 34 Member
    @kshama2001 - No. While I served for 13 years too much of it was Reserve time so I ended up with zero VA coverage.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited October 2021
    33gail33 wrote: »
    nooshi713 wrote: »
    Doctors should tell pregnant women when they are gaining too quickly. No reason to get offended. I say this having recently been pregnant. My baby is 3 months old.

    Why? Does it harm the baby somehow to gain weight quickly vs slowly?

    I remember my doctor telling me the same thing (many years ago) when I gained 7 lbs one month. Made some snide comment about "eating too much ice cream" and how I'd just have a lot more to lose. But everyone I know who has been pregnant has been like that, big jumps in weight some months. I think I ended up gaining 32 lbs total, at 5' 10" and starting weight of 130. Sometimes doctors are just *kitten*.

    (He also told me my 10 lb baby was going to be "average size" - I switched doctors for the next two.)

    Yes. Rapid or excessive weight gain during pregnancy is associated with increased risks for macrosomia, shoulder dystocia, increased rate of c-section, and gestational diabetes among others. So yes, doctors SHOULD say something.

    Oh and most pregnant women I know did not gain a ton of weight unless it was due to fluid/edema.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    Just popping by to say hello to a fellow Scadian.

    Hello m'Lady (as I have no idea your rank - yet.) Lord Iohannes at your service. Once of An Tir, then the Outlands where I became the 2nd Squire to Sir Leifr, now residing in Trimaris (Shire of Sangre del Sol). But shhh! We never told anyone we were here since we moved in 3 years ago.

    An Tir here. But my tiny shire in the middle of nowhere didn’t survive the pandemic, sad to report.
    Fortunately my son and his wife now live in the thriving Barony of Baltha An Oir. So there are still events in our future.

    In my years of medieval re-enactment I’ve been a Pied Piper, a herald - mostly field heraldry, which is great fun and lots of walking - but also book heraldry and illumination/scribe, and court herald on occasion. Many times an event autocrat, which is fun if you delegate properly :D,
    I’ve entered arts and science competitions, but mostly to ensure there were the minimum of three entries, so someone else had a chance to be a champion.

    I spin, and weave, and sew. I can sing a ribald tune, or an inspirational filk, depending on the occasion. All thanks to my SCA participation.

    Fun story, re your proper use of m’lady.
    I have never taken the game (it is a game) so seriously that I thought pretend nobility were more important than pretend peasants (my persona is a peasant).

    And so, on Thursday night, during 30 year,

    No (kitten) there I was….
    I had my then ten year old son with me. My husband had to work most of that week, so it was just the two of us, in a tiny tent.
    I chose to set up very near a large group of portable toilets. That way my son would have a good geographic marker to find our tent should he ever get lost.

    Anyhow…. Southern Washington State, Thursday evening in late April, 1998…

    We’re sound asleep. Because we’re in the quiet camping section . Y’know. Where the families are camped.

    Around 3 AM there is noise on the wide path outside the tent.

    Lots of noise.

    Lots and lots of drunken noise.

    I peeked out of the tent, and saw a couple hundred people. All lined up for the porta-potties. They kept getting louder and louder.

    Imagine a rave. Right outside your bedroom window. A medieval rave. Complete with hurdy gurdies and belled jesters.

    After half an hour (yes. I timed it) I had had enough. I stuck my head outside the tent and screamed at the top of my lungs “SHUT UUUUUUP!!!!!!!” and then pulled my head back inside and went back to sleep, in the blissful silence.

    Fast forward a decade. My son and I were at a black smithing class. SCA, of course. The instructor was a BIG DEAL, rather high up in An Tir’s Order of Precedence.

    He began a story about how it really is all a game. And how, at 30 year, on Thursday night, it was the night the King and Queen of Drachenwald had finally arrived on site. So all the Kings and Queens, and every Baron and Baroness, and most Pelicans and other High Muckity Mucks were partying.

    They decided to tour their world, such as it was. And they got drunker and drunker as they went along. Eventually forgetting there was a quiet section. Where children were sleeping. Mere yards away from the large collection of portable toilets.

    When the “crazy woman” stuck her head out of her teeny tiny tent and told basically every pointy hat in the entire known world to “shut up” it was a hilarious, but necessary reminder.

    I laughed so hard, and admitted it was me. And that they had woken up my son.

    Had it not been a game? It would likely not have ended as a funny story the Barons and Pelicans tell each other over their camp fires.

    😉

    OK. That’s enough time off topic.

    This is a great story, thanks for this!
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    It seems that most heavier people in my own circles have this same misconception, that they do need to lose some weight but that they're just "built big" and that their ideal weight is only 20-30 lbs away when that goal would still leave them in the obese category.

    Edit: I sadly think this is a symptom of skewed perception due to the average size of the general population. When average is overweight, overweight seems "right."

    I think some of it's that it's perception from the population being largely overweight, but I also think it's that we only see the fat in the most obvious places on ourselves. Even at obese (barely) I could not quite grasp how much I had to lose. I always carried most of my weight VISUALLY in my torso - breasts, back, stomach, and upper thighs. So when I thought 'lose' I'd look at those bits and go 'There's not X amount of pounds there'.

    Well, no, but I had viceral fat and my even comparatively twiggy arms and legs and face and fingers all had fat they lost. So my 'There's not 50-60lbs of fat in my stomach' was accurate -- especially since I didn't expect to lose cup sizes - but the thought that there wasn't fat other places that needed to go was NOT.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,393 Member
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    It seems that most heavier people in my own circles have this same misconception, that they do need to lose some weight but that they're just "built big" and that their ideal weight is only 20-30 lbs away when that goal would still leave them in the obese category.

    Edit: I sadly think this is a symptom of skewed perception due to the average size of the general population. When average is overweight, overweight seems "right."

    The SO is a very tall man who, in his younger years, was a skinny twig who could eat mountains of junk food and never gain weight, so he just kept eating that way. Fast forward to middle age and his doctor just informed him he is pre-diabetic and has him trying a low carb diet.

    He started out at close to 260lbs. I think he's around 230 now and says he only wants to lose 10 more. I have no idea why 220 is the magic number but that's his goal. BMI for his height says normal weight is 180 to 220 and I'm not sure parking yourself on the uppermost threshold of normal is the best way to avoid diabetes. Too easy for that to creep up again.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited November 2021
    ythannah wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    It seems that most heavier people in my own circles have this same misconception, that they do need to lose some weight but that they're just "built big" and that their ideal weight is only 20-30 lbs away when that goal would still leave them in the obese category.

    Edit: I sadly think this is a symptom of skewed perception due to the average size of the general population. When average is overweight, overweight seems "right."

    The SO is a very tall man who, in his younger years, was a skinny twig who could eat mountains of junk food and never gain weight, so he just kept eating that way. Fast forward to middle age and his doctor just informed him he is pre-diabetic and has him trying a low carb diet.

    He started out at close to 260lbs. I think he's around 230 now and says he only wants to lose 10 more. I have no idea why 220 is the magic number but that's his goal. BMI for his height says normal weight is 180 to 220 and I'm not sure parking yourself on the uppermost threshold of normal is the best way to avoid diabetes. Too easy for that to creep up again.

    If he’s like my husband he may be afraid of looking scrawny. My husband also went from a twig to a shlubby guy and thinks he looks better at a heavier weight - which is honestly true - but he looks even better at an appropriate weight with some muscle added back.

    Also, lifting heavy is excellent at improving insulin resistance. Maybe you can persuade your husband to trade fat for muscle?
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Just popping by to say hello to a fellow Scadian.

    Hello m'Lady (as I have no idea your rank - yet.) Lord Iohannes at your service. Once of An Tir, then the Outlands where I became the 2nd Squire to Sir Leifr, now residing in Trimaris (Shire of Sangre del Sol). But shhh! We never told anyone we were here since we moved in 3 years ago.

    An Tir here. But my tiny shire in the middle of nowhere didn’t survive the pandemic, sad to report.
    Fortunately my son and his wife now live in the thriving Barony of Baltha An Oir. So there are still events in our future.

    In my years of medieval re-enactment I’ve been a Pied Piper, a herald - mostly field heraldry, which is great fun and lots of walking - but also book heraldry and illumination/scribe, and court herald on occasion. Many times an event autocrat, which is fun if you delegate properly :D,
    I’ve entered arts and science competitions, but mostly to ensure there were the minimum of three entries, so someone else had a chance to be a champion.

    I spin, and weave, and sew. I can sing a ribald tune, or an inspirational filk, depending on the occasion. All thanks to my SCA participation.

    Fun story, re your proper use of m’lady.
    I have never taken the game (it is a game) so seriously that I thought pretend nobility were more important than pretend peasants (my persona is a peasant).

    And so, on Thursday night, during 30 year,

    No (kitten) there I was….
    I had my then ten year old son with me. My husband had to work most of that week, so it was just the two of us, in a tiny tent.
    I chose to set up very near a large group of portable toilets. That way my son would have a good geographic marker to find our tent should he ever get lost.

    Anyhow…. Southern Washington State, Thursday evening in late April, 1998…

    We’re sound asleep. Because we’re in the quiet camping section . Y’know. Where the families are camped.

    Around 3 AM there is noise on the wide path outside the tent.

    Lots of noise.

    Lots and lots of drunken noise.

    I peeked out of the tent, and saw a couple hundred people. All lined up for the porta-potties. They kept getting louder and louder.

    Imagine a rave. Right outside your bedroom window. A medieval rave. Complete with hurdy gurdies and belled jesters.

    After half an hour (yes. I timed it) I had had enough. I stuck my head outside the tent and screamed at the top of my lungs “SHUT UUUUUUP!!!!!!!” and then pulled my head back inside and went back to sleep, in the blissful silence.

    Fast forward a decade. My son and I were at a black smithing class. SCA, of course. The instructor was a BIG DEAL, rather high up in An Tir’s Order of Precedence.

    He began a story about how it really is all a game. And how, at 30 year, on Thursday night, it was the night the King and Queen of Drachenwald had finally arrived on site. So all the Kings and Queens, and every Baron and Baroness, and most Pelicans and other High Muckity Mucks were partying.

    They decided to tour their world, such as it was. And they got drunker and drunker as they went along. Eventually forgetting there was a quiet section. Where children were sleeping. Mere yards away from the large collection of portable toilets.

    When the “crazy woman” stuck her head out of her teeny tiny tent and told basically every pointy hat in the entire known world to “shut up” it was a hilarious, but necessary reminder.

    I laughed so hard, and admitted it was me. And that they had woken up my son.

    Had it not been a game? It would likely not have ended as a funny story the Barons and Pelicans tell each other over their camp fires.

    😉

    OK. That’s enough time off topic.

    Meridies here, many years past. Great story!
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,393 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    It seems that most heavier people in my own circles have this same misconception, that they do need to lose some weight but that they're just "built big" and that their ideal weight is only 20-30 lbs away when that goal would still leave them in the obese category.

    Edit: I sadly think this is a symptom of skewed perception due to the average size of the general population. When average is overweight, overweight seems "right."

    The SO is a very tall man who, in his younger years, was a skinny twig who could eat mountains of junk food and never gain weight, so he just kept eating that way. Fast forward to middle age and his doctor just informed him he is pre-diabetic and has him trying a low carb diet.

    He started out at close to 260lbs. I think he's around 230 now and says he only wants to lose 10 more. I have no idea why 220 is the magic number but that's his goal. BMI for his height says normal weight is 180 to 220 and I'm not sure parking yourself on the uppermost threshold of normal is the best way to avoid diabetes. Too easy for that to creep up again.

    If he’s like my husband he may be afraid of looking scrawny. My husband also went from a twig to a shlubby guy and thinks he looks better at a heavier weight - which is honestly true - but he looks even better at an appropriate weight with some muscle added back.

    Also, lifting heavy is excellent at improving insulin resistance. Maybe you can persuade your husband to trade fat for muscle?

    His arms and legs have stayed very thin, all the extra weight went to his abdomen and he started having back issues. Which sort of semi-motivated him to lose weight, but not to the extent of giving up his junk food habit, Not even the prospect of having to increase his pants size (it's very difficult for him to find clothing!) really prompted any change,

    I've lifted for 5 or so years now and he's never had any interest, plus he's concerned about his back even though I did say that strengthening his core could help that. Deliberate exercise is not his thing, although I can usually get him to come out on hikes with me. He was given a very nice treadmill and used it for maybe a week.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,061 Member
    edited November 2021

    Moved...
  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    Eh, people misinterpret or misreport what their doctor says all the time. I can totally see the doctor saying try to lose to at least 200 as an attainable goal and the truth is (a) it would be a healthier weight and a huge improvement, even if they just maintained there, and (b) very often once you start losing weight you adjust the goal weight once you are there and see you could still lose more/it wasn't the end of the world to be dieting/you aren't as skinny as you assumed at the weight.

    I never get why people get so focused on what the goal weight is or should be. Mine was 120-125 because I had been that weight as an adult and liked how I looked at it, but if I'd started with 140 (just into my healthy weight range) or even 170 (not obese), it wouldn't have made my process much different.

    Also, if my doctor had said "if you would just lose enough to get out of the obese range it would probably help with health risk factors," that wouldn't have been untrue.

    No he bragged about his healthy weight being 200 because his doctor said so. He really believes at 200lbs he's not going to have another pound to lose.

    It's possible that he misinterpreted what his doctor said, I can't verify that.

    Another coworker of mine is 5'5 230lbs and he says his healthy weight is 160, even though it's clearly overweight for someone 5'5. It is common with dudes :D
  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    A coworker of mine is 5'7 260lbs, her doctor told him that his healthy weight is 200. We're talking about a dude who doesn't workout.

    I don't know if she said that to give him a reasonable goal or she really thinks 200lbs is his healthy weight. Maybe she doesn't think he can lose the weight. Who knows.

    Now the guy thinks he is large framed and that 200 is what he should shoot for.

    Just an anecdote.

    Just for reference this guy is a couple inches taller at 5'9" and a bit heavier than your co-worker's goal of 200 pounds at 208. If the co-worker gets to 200 and and looks like this he's probably okay. If not, he still has some work to do.

    lu0mc2ka0o0q.png

    I said he doesn't workout. And 200lbs lean at 5'9 is incredibly hard to achieve without certain substances.
  • makinlifehappen
    makinlifehappen Posts: 110 Member
    Last year my doc told me my sleep apnea may improve if I wasn't fat.
  • xrj22
    xrj22 Posts: 216 Member
    No, my doctor never mentioned how much weight I had gained over the years. Now, being diagnosed as diabetic, it makes me angry. When my annual A1C results were 8.5, she said unfortunately now you will always be diabetic. Then followed up with would you like to lose weight? It would have been good to know before I passed the point of no return. I would rather you hurt my little feelings and save my life! So I jumped right on the path and have lost 47 pounds in less than 8 months, my A1C is 5.6, I exercise every day and haven't felt this well in 7 years. And best of all, no diabetes meds; cut my blood pressure meds in half and may end up off them altogether. So yes, doctors should say something about weight!


    I can't believe that any doctor told you that you would always be diabetic. That is just untrue. In fact the research shows that MOST diabetics will no longer be diabetic if they can get into the desirable weight range and stay there. I have known many who have seen dramatic improvements with weight lost and improved diet even if they remain above "optimal" weight.

    I do think there is a bit of a quandry about whether to try weight loss first or whether/when to start the meds right away and then see if you can wean off once weight loss is achieved or sustained.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    xrj22 wrote: »
    No, my doctor never mentioned how much weight I had gained over the years. Now, being diagnosed as diabetic, it makes me angry. When my annual A1C results were 8.5, she said unfortunately now you will always be diabetic. Then followed up with would you like to lose weight? It would have been good to know before I passed the point of no return. I would rather you hurt my little feelings and save my life! So I jumped right on the path and have lost 47 pounds in less than 8 months, my A1C is 5.6, I exercise every day and haven't felt this well in 7 years. And best of all, no diabetes meds; cut my blood pressure meds in half and may end up off them altogether. So yes, doctors should say something about weight!


    I can't believe that any doctor told you that you would always be diabetic. That is just untrue. In fact the research shows that MOST diabetics will no longer be diabetic if they can get into the desirable weight range and stay there. I have known many who have seen dramatic improvements with weight lost and improved diet even if they remain above "optimal" weight.

    I do think there is a bit of a quandry about whether to try weight loss first or whether/when to start the meds right away and then see if you can wean off once weight loss is achieved or sustained.

    This isn’t valid. Many diabetics can achieve normal blood glucose range with diet weight loss, but they will never recover the ability to consume large amounts of carbs without a blood sugar spike. The initial insulin response which keeps sugar level is usually gone and stays gone.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,514 Member
    Yes exactly.

    Unless it is gestational diabetes - yes you are always going to be diabetic.

    You can sometimes lose weight such that you need less or no medication and can control your blood sugar levels on diet alone - but that isnt becoming non diabetic.
    It is becoming diet control only.
  • MaggieGirl135
    MaggieGirl135 Posts: 1,054 Member
    By no means am I am overly knowledgeable about this, but I do believe that if you have/had gestational diabetes, you have a higher probability of developing T2 diabetes later in life. Meaning, although you may no longer have diabetes following the birth, you will need to be aware of needed behaviors/monitoring to ensure it does not come back.
  • Mom24_2021
    Mom24_2021 Posts: 42 Member
    My doctors have not brought it up but when I ask if it would help they have all said a resounding “yes”. I know they run a business so I’m okay that I have to ask to get an answer but they should tell everyone these things regardless of what the reaction would be if they have an illness, disease or physical complications that could be made better or resolved by losing weight. As long as they say it respectfully, it’s not personal, it’s their job to help you get better.