FitnessGoal AchievementNutrition

The Dreaded Talk

DoctorIt begins when you walk through the door.  You might blush and your knees might shake.  You might feel faint when he asks you to take off your shoes.  No matter what, you avoid eye contact at all costs. What follows next is the dreaded talk.

It’s one thing to suffer the dreaded talk as a child.  You expect adults to tell you what to do and how to do it.  As an adult, however, you get used to sovereignty.  Until another adult shakes a finger in your face and dresses you down.  You get the uncomfortable feeling that you’ve failed.

The dreaded talk is not about the birds and the bees.  Hopefully, you figured that one out already!  The talk is an annual lecture from the only adult who can still tell you what to do. That adult is your doctor.

With healthcare dollars expiring soon, many people have lined up their annual doctor’s exams before they lose their chance.  For some of these people, the weigh-in is the most dreaded part of the exam.  It was for me.

Every single diet or exercise plan cautions you to talk to your doctor first.  I can honestly say that not one doctor in my life has helped me lose 100 pounds.  Actually, when I asked my ob-gym for advice on how to lose weight after I had my daughter, he had nothing to offer.

Here are my top two reasons why your doctor is not who to call when it comes to weight loss:

  1. Doctors diagnose disorders or diseases that they can prescribe drugs for.  Just in case you were wondering, there are few FDA-approved drug for long-term weight loss.  Previous attempts at a miracle weight-loss drug resulted in significant physical complications and lawsuits.
  2. Doctors do not have any specific training in nutrition or fitness, and might even struggle with their own unhealthy habits. You wouldn’t go to a surgeon for cooking advice, would you?

See your doctor for your annual exam.  Do a blood test to check your numbers.  Talk about any physical or genetic challenges that are specific to you.  But, don’t believe that your doctor has the answers when it comes to weight loss.  Save that conversation for someone who has lost weight and knows what it takes.  Someone like me 🙂

Do you feel your doctor is helpful to your weight loss attempts?

8 thoughts on “The Dreaded Talk

  1. Want help losing weight the natural way find someone who has lost it themselves. I even went to a nutritional counselor who was certified in nutrition who had great promises of assistance and got nothing but “eat more vegetables”.

    1. Exactly, Dee! I can’t believe the nutritionist told you to eat more veggies. What a disappointment that must have been. Thanks for sharing!

  2. It took me a long time to realize that nutritionists, dieticians and doctors are not always the ones that are there to “help” you, but to just put a bandaid on whatever is wrong with you.

    I went to school to be a health coach so I can educate folks on the right and easier way to lose weight. I hope one day more doctors employ health coaches in their offices to help educate individuals in the world of food and nutrition.

    1. Hi,Jody
      Congrats to you for deciding to become a health coach. There are many people who can benefit from what you will be able to offer. I hope that more doctors will team up with health coaches in the future. Some employers are teaming up with health coaches as part of wellness programs, but that does not have the same authority stamp as a doctor’s office.
      Thanks for sharing!

    1. I hear you, Diane. I actually had a pediatrician who would regularly tell me to eat right and exercise more. She was extremely obese and asthmatic. It just didn’t sit right that she was advising me to do something that she herself did not!

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