Who's the crazy one?

I think you need to find a new doctor. I'm sure he knows his medical stuff, but I don't think he knows his people stuff. You went to him for help and he sure didn't give you any.

Like others have said, I'm no doctor, but even I know that "food is food" is a load of hooey! I know how I feel after I eat fast food, and it is not good! I feel sluggish and weighed down. How can I exercise after that? If I eat good, healthy foods, I feel much better and have more energy.

As for exercise: Just move? yeah, I'll roll over in my sleep, is that moving? I don't think so. I know I need to do cardio to get my heart rate up just to burn calories, fat, etc. And I need to do strength training to be strong enough to keep my body moving during cardio. And as for injuries, a person can hurt themselves just walking.

bottom line is: you know your body better than anyone, and if something isn't right, then it isn't right. Get a 2nd opinion.

Excellent thought about the sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea can sleep for hours and never rest because they wake up many times a night that they don't remember. It's very sleep related.

You have a lot of weight to lose and you're young. Treat yourself. Go to a dietician or nutritionist and get a good workup from a professional. Your doctor can give you a referral. Often if you have health insurance they will pay for it because it saves them money in the long run.

It will make you feel better, it will keep you healthier, and it may save your life.

In the mean time, if you feel that bad following your doctor's advice, don't do it. Things that make you feel that bad are not good for you.

I think you need to find a new doctor. I'm sure he knows his medical stuff, but I don't think he knows his people stuff. You went to him for help and he sure didn't give you any.

Like others have said, I'm no doctor, but even I know that "food is food" is a load of hooey! I know how I feel after I eat fast food, and it is not good! I feel sluggish and weighed down. How can I exercise after that? If I eat good, healthy foods, I feel much better and have more energy.

As for exercise: Just move? yeah, I'll roll over in my sleep, is that moving? I don't think so. I know I need to do cardio to get my heart rate up just to burn calories, fat, etc. And I need to do strength training to be strong enough to keep my body moving during cardio. And as for injuries, a person can hurt themselves just walking.

bottom line is: you know your body better than anyone, and if something isn't right, then it isn't right. Get a 2nd opinion.

How you "feel" does not affect how calories work. When he said "calories are calories", i'm pretty sure he meant she could eat x amount of burgers or x amount of healthy food and lose or gain the same amount of weight.

I basicly told him I was experiencing an inconsistency with my sleep (sometimes I sleep too much and sometimes I sleep too litle) and that I never feel rested when I wake up, that I have low energy and depression, in addition to the stalled weight loss.


Also apparently it doesn't mater if fast food / soda is part of that number or not. "food is food".

He also told me that tracking calories burned for steps/exercise is a waste of time and not even to time myself, to just "get up and move and don't worry about how many cals you burn or what the muscle group is, just move"

But when I told him I elliptical 3 times a week and then jog/run once or twice he got upset and told me not to do activities like that because I'll injure myself, and that weight lifteing at my weight is dangerous because of bad form, so I'm not sure what he expects me to do. When I asked he said "just move!".



Additional details,
5'10''
350 lbs
female
23 years old
lightly active
underactive thyroid (40mcg synthroid)

OK- I quoted everything I think is very pertinent.

You need consistent sleep for muscle repair and general well being. I personally wouldn't think that was hormonal either. The "food is food" comment was just him being *kitten*. In theory- yeah, when you have that much weight to lose, it is a matter of calories in calories out to just get the process started, but he didn't need to be an *kitten*. And in the beginning, you do need to just move, and get to a weight where you aren't getting in the way of yourself to do something in the correct and healthy manner. Once again, he was being an *kitten* with his delivery, but I think what he really meant was "Focus on one thing at a time. Lets get the relationship with food down pat, and then we can worry about jogging etc." Quite frankly, at that weight, you COULD hurt yourself. I have 2 inches on you and you have 150 pds on me. And I just started feeling comfortable jogging without hurting my knees. I'm not trying to be an *kitten*, just honest. And you have an under active thyroid. Huge factor.

Start by trusting MFP for a little bit. That is the beginning. Go for a walk, keep moving your body. Don't hurt yourself. Breath. Give it time.

Oh, and get an ACTUAL second opinion from a doctor or nutritionist Best of Luck!

I am 315lbs and mfp has me eating 1600 cals a day. Now when I calculate my BMR from any formula it is way up over 2000. Many months on mfp I would eat 1600 c plus my excersise cals back and didn't drop 1 lb. So now I eat around 1500 and do not eat my excersise cals back and I dropped 7 lbs in one month. I believe that since we are bigger we can go below are brm and be okay. just drop your cals a little every week until the scale starts moving..


My beleif is that counting steps is ok but it is not the best becasue it does not factor in effort. Take the number that your armband gives you. I have the same one and that is the only thing that I look at.

I basicly told him I was experiencing an inconsistency with my sleep (sometimes I sleep too much and sometimes I sleep too litle) and that I never feel rested when I wake up, that I have low energy and depression, in addition to the stalled weight loss.


Also apparently it doesn't mater if fast food / soda is part of that number or not. "food is food".

He also told me that tracking calories burned for steps/exercise is a waste of time and not even to time myself, to just "get up and move and don't worry about how many cals you burn or what the muscle group is, just move"

But when I told him I elliptical 3 times a week and then jog/run once or twice he got upset and told me not to do activities like that because I'll injure myself, and that weight lifteing at my weight is dangerous because of bad form, so I'm not sure what he expects me to do. When I asked he said "just move!".



Additional details,
5'10''
350 lbs
female
23 years old
lightly active
underactive thyroid (40mcg synthroid)

OK- I quoted everything I think is very pertinent.

You need consistent sleep for muscle repair and general well being. I personally wouldn't think that was hormonal either. The "food is food" comment was just him being *kitten*. In theory- yeah, when you have that much weight to lose, it is a matter of calories in calories out to just get the process started, but he didn't need to be an *kitten*. And in the beginning, you do need to just move, and get to a weight where you aren't getting in the way of yourself to do something in the correct and healthy manner. Once again, he was being an *kitten* with his delivery, but I think what he really meant was "Focus on one thing at a time. Lets get the relationship with food down pat, and then we can worry about jogging etc." Quite frankly, at that weight, you COULD hurt yourself. I have 2 inches on you and you have 150 pds on me. And I just started feeling comfortable jogging without hurting my knees. I'm not trying to be an *kitten*, just honest. And you have an under active thyroid. Huge factor.

Start by trusting MFP for a little bit. That is the beginning. Go for a walk, keep moving your body. Don't hurt yourself. Breath. Give it time.

Oh, and get an ACTUAL second opinion from a doctor or nutritionist Best of Luck!

The elliptical is what I used before I was in good enough shape to go jogging. It's much lower impact.

I'm not going to judge the doctor after only hearing one side of the story, but I don't see that he said anything that was hugely crazy. I mean, essentially he said:

1. You aren't losing weight because you are eating too much. You need a calorie defecit to lose weight -- he recommended you eat 1500 calories. Maybe that's too low; I don't know. Did you tell him you felt sick at that number? His point is that your eating 2200-2400 isn't working -- you need to decrease.

2. You lose weight via a calorie defecit, and it doesn't matter if you eat soda and fast food as long as you keep this defecit.

3. He wants you to get moving, but is concerned you might injure yourself by doing what you are doing now. I think this is a valid concern at your current weight. His box example is trying to tell you that by doing almost anything you will be burning calories which will help you lose weight. From what you've said, he wants you to worry less about exactly how many steps you are taking and how many calories you are burning and more about just moving more.

If you disagree with him, or don't like his manner, then go ahead and find a new doctor or get a second opinion. In fact, you should, because you obviously already feel that he doesn't know what he is talking about, and that is never good in a doctor/patient relationship. But, I really don't see that anything he said is that crazy. Of course, I could be wrong since I'm not a doctor, nutritionist, or dietician either.

First of all, you need to find yourself a new general practitioner. The interaction you described proves that this medical "professional" has horrific bedside manner. Moreover, he seems very negative. He told you a lot about what you shouldn't do but not much about what you should do.

I noticed you mentioned that you take medication for a hypothyroid. Is your condition monitored by your general practitioner or an endocrinologist? Your condition really needs to be carefully monitored by a compassionate endocrinologist, as he/she is better versed than a general practitioner in the particulars and new findings regarding hormones. Your constant tiredness, inability to feel alert when rising from sleep, and the lack of weight loss despite genuine effort suggest that you may need a higher dose of medication. Recent research has shown that a young woman's TSH level should be 1.0 and that anything 2.5 or higher indicates unresolved hypothyroid. Either way, a good endocrinologist will see the goal of treatment as finding the dose that alleviates your symptoms and lowers your TSH level to 1.0 - 2.0. IMPORTANT NOTE: I offer this advice as someone recently diagnosed with and being treated for hypothyroid; I am not a doctor. Moreover, since every person is unique, acceptable hormone levels vary from person to person. I offer this information for informational purposes only and to recommend that you consult with an endocrinologist to confirm or rule out the hypothyroid or other hormones as the cause of your issues.

Regarding caloric intake, I highly recommend that you let MyFitnessPal calculate the "magic number" for you or you consult a nutritionist to help you with that task. I hate to agree with your horrible general practitioner, but a caloric intake of 1500 calories a day sounds reasonable; I currently weigh 230 lbs and consume 1280 calories a day. Some people will say that it is not enough, but it works for me. Play with the caloric intake and find the magic number where you are shedding pounds but not feeling hungry constantly.

As for exercise, do whatever feels comfortable for you. Obviously, you want to make sure that your exercise routine doesn't overly stress your joints, but you'd feel it in your joints if that was the case. Again, if you are concerned, a nutritionist or trainer would be a better source of information than the general practitioner in this matter. If you are really concerned, try aqua aerobics because it allows you to lift the weights while taking pressure off the joints.

Good luck and make sure to get opinions from compassionate specialists and not your jerky general practitioner!

These are the things I would do if I were you.

1. Get an HRM. (Heart Rate Monitor). The Polar ft4 is easy to program and use, is reasonably priced and accurate. It measures effort (your HR)...not what a machine thinks it the average persons cals burned for your weight" That way you can watch your heart rate so you dont over-do or under-do. I really think its the safest way to start out for someone like you.

2. Cut your calories down...2800 is a lot. I can understand eating that amount if you go to the gym and burn 800+ HRM calories a day but not for someone who is just starting out. I started out on a 2000 calorie a day diet and it worked great for me.

3. The type of food you eat is important. I would love to see your diary. I am so proud of you for cutting the soda and take out but there are many types of food at home that are just as bad if not worse. If your carb loading, fat loading or eating heaps of sugar...well, that will do it.

4. Exercise. Honestly, do whatever you feel you can do. That doctor is covering his own butt. If it burns, keep going it. If it hurts...stop. Try all the machines and if all else fails, go to aqua therapy or water aerobics. Its so awesome and super easy on your joints.

5. Make sure your drinking enough water and measuring everything...and I mean everything.
Sorry to edit

I don't think MFP will set your calories below your BMR unless you force it too. I know it adjusted my weight loss per week to keep me at my BMR until I forced it to recalculate. Am I wrong about that?

Yes, it will go down to a floor of 1200. For most of us, that's below BMR.

OP- I don't mean any of this meanly. Feeling a little tired and headachey, etc. is considered a normal side effect of eating at a new, lower level. It goes away. It can take a few weeks. Unfortunately it helps a lot to have the patience to get past it if you believe your new lower calorie level is the healthy route for your long term goals and health. That's sort of impossible to do if you believe everything you read here and not your doctor, though. Which is why I rant and rail.

I'm only going to comment on one thing in your post:

I wanted off the depo provera shot but he argued with me claiming the symptoms were not hormonal.

Get a new doctor. That shot is the devil and having trouble with weight is one of the most common side effects of that shot. I could go into more details about the rest of the side effects (including early menopause) but since weight is your main concern right now, that's enough of a reason to get off of it. And don't get Mirena because it has the same hormone and while it's less common for Mirena to affect weight, it can and does in some people.

Uh... I've been on the Depo shot for a year now and I'm losing weight just fine. No side effects either. I'm not saying the Depo shot doesn't *kitten* some people up, but the same stuff that messes some up, works just fine with others so I wouldn't be going around calling anything the devil until you have a survey where 100% of those who were on something say it's horrible and no those random websites with a comment section don't count.

I'm definitely not a doctor, but I have strong opinions on the depo shot.. I porked on 20 pounds after that thing, as well as everyone else I know that took it. Go to your ob/gyn for your b/c. There are MANY other b/c options out there now that don't cause the weight gain.

Number 2.. second opinion from a different primary doctor.. he sounds like a *kitten*.

Number 3.. ask for a referral to a nutritionist

You are on your way!

I don't think your doctor is crazy or being a jerk. The box analogy is a very good analogy. It is going to take more work to move 350lbs than it is to move 150lbs. This is just science. So just you moving your frame is going to burn more calories than someone who weighs less.

Jogging is a bad idea at that size. Your body's joints are not equipped to handle an over abundance of weight like that. If you lift or jog on legs that are not equipped with the muscles to handle that weight, you will hurt yourself. Walking for an hour a day and keeping a calorie deficit will probably help you a great deal more than trying to jog or lift weights.

Your doctor is equipped to give you advice on weight and nutrition. What he was saying is valid, the calories are calories thing is true, but if you are eating big portions, or lying to yourself, or omitting calories it is not going to work. You have to keep an accurate count of everything you put into your body.

At the end of the day, in my opinion it seems as if you think your doctor is being a jerk or mean because he didn't say what you wanted to hear. At the size and age you are, at some point you are going to have to accept some tough love from your doctor, or get real with yourself. You have an enormous journey ahead of you if you want to get healthy. Good luck.

Well...no expert here...but seems to me if you are questioning your doctor's advice, you aren't all that comfortable with him and it may be a good idea to get hold of a different doctor or a nutritionist for guidance.

^^my thoughts exactly. second opinion.

I'm not going to pretend to be a doctor but your doctor sounds like a jerk.

I agree. From what you have told us, I would go seek a second opinion. He doesn't sound helpful at all!

I agree with the other comments - sounds like your doc is jerk. You deserve better medical advice than "just move!" If you're comfortable walking and swimming you can definitely start there, but if you have the time/money to have a few sessions with a certified personal trainer they can help you find exercises to safely build muscle, which will really help burn fat. My advice is always set mini-goals and then reassess when you reach those goals.

Great job on cutting out the soda! Do you have access to a certified nutrition specialist (maybe your insurance provider can recommend one in-network)? It might be worth sitting down with someone who can help get your diet, calorie goals, etc in line with your current body composition and have them help you focus on how to safely lose weight. I'm not an expert, but I think 1500 calories is too low and 2800 sounds a bit high.

You can use the MFP tools to help calculate your number so you have a ballpark idea of what you have to work with based on your goals. If you need help and/or support, please feel free to add me! Good luck on your journey to a healthier you!