No, I haven't been helped by a physician with weight control. I have, however, been helped by a registered dietitian. Diets are generally not something that most physicians are expert at, although maybe with the management of the new weight loss drugs. Plus, the 15 minute medical appointment doesn't allow for the depth of information and discussion required.

Everything I know about managing my weight I learned from GoaD and WW meetings. The only way I could be considered an autodidact is that I will occasionally learn from my mistakes.

I will just say the medical profession has not been influential - positive or negative - in my journey, and leave it at that.

As a physician, I can confidently say that most physicians are quacks! Ha ha ha!

We got limited training at best on diet and nutrition. I can tell you all sorts of biochemical pathways and enzymes involved in the breakdown, uptake, circulation, and utilization of macro- and micronutrients. However, applying that to specific dietary details is not something we spent much time on in my training.

I, too, learned most of my practical "how-to" from WW and GOAD. Plus, trying to understand things myself pushed me to do a fair amount of reading the primary medical literature and other associated literature on the topic. I feel like I learned a lot along the way, but much of how I operate is based on trial and error.