My doctor told me I should lose 7-8 pounds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP you're the top end of the "healthy" BMI so perhaps he is being pre-emptive and wanting to stop you going over into "overweight" and all that comes with that.

I don't think this is an insult as some people are suggesting, or entirely unreasonable. It's not like he said "lose 30lbs" which would be much harder work. I know, I did that last year.

Honestly, 7-8 for a moderately healthy person at a reasonable weight is much much harder to lose than 30 for an obese person. Not discounting all the hard work you did--and congratulations. But when one is not overweight and already has a moderately caloric intake, losing a few pounds is really tough. You have to go to under 1000 calories a day and that is not easy. I feel you OP!

I wasn't even obese when I lost that 30lbs I was actually in the "normal" range still.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m early 50’s woman, 5’4”, 135 lb. I think that is within healthy BMI, but apparently still not enough. I mean, sure, I’d love to lose a couple pounds around my middle, but I think of myself as pretty average, not overweight. To remain 135, I don’t drink much, rarely eat out, rarely eat desserts, pasta, bread, none of which are huge sacrifices for me. Getting to a lower weight would probably require being hungry. I told him that I thought it was unlikely and he said it should be easy.

What's wrong with trying? Your weight is not bad only because everyone else is so fat, not because you have nothing to lose. I'd give it a try.

Why? Do you always do what you doctor says even if it doesn't make sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really don’t understand what is annoying about this. The issue may not be just the current 7-8 pounds at issue but the overall trend that your doctor is seeing in your weight. Perhaps you have been gaining a few pounds (or more?) every year, and your doctor thinks it would be a good idea to change your eating habits before it gets to the point where you have 20 pounds or more to lose. Why not give it a shot and see how you look and feel? Most people who succeed in losing weight don’t regret doing so.

Then that's what he should have said. Saying that she needs to lose weight now is not the same as saying that she should check her diet and exercise to avoid additional weight gain.

Well, that’s not what he said, and that’s not what I said either. He suggested she lose 7-8 pounds. Why? She thinks her weight is fine. I am suggesting that maybe he’s looking at her chart and seeing a trend of 1-2 pounds a year, and he’s suggesting that she lose 7-8 to get back to baseline.

Look, we’re all just guessing here. No one would argue there was poor communication by both doctor and patient.

[Anonymous]

GPs are conduits for access to testing and other specialists. Mine was worthless when I actually did need to lose weight. I go see him now as a wellness tool. You gotta figure this stuff out on your own with the limited time they have for you with how insurance billing works anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m early 50’s woman, 5’4”, 135 lb. I think that is within healthy BMI, but apparently still not enough. I mean, sure, I’d love to lose a couple pounds around my middle, but I think of myself as pretty average, not overweight. To remain 135, I don’t drink much, rarely eat out, rarely eat desserts, pasta, bread, none of which are huge sacrifices for me. Getting to a lower weight would probably require being hungry. I told him that I thought it was unlikely and he said it should be easy.

What's wrong with trying? Your weight is not bad only because everyone else is so fat, not because you have nothing to lose. I'd give it a try.

Why? Do you always do what you doctor says even if it doesn't make sense?

DP but this is just an oddly belligerent take on expertise. I hire doctors (and other professionals) based on the fact that they have expertise that I do not have. If what they say doesn’t “make sense” to me, I might seek clarification or a second opinion, but generally, I don’t cherry-pick which medical guidance to follow and which to ignore. I have an excellent doctor at an excellent practice, and if they give me medical guidance, whether it’s to lose weight, get a vaccine, or take a medicine, I am confident that it is based on their years of training, expertise, and clinical guidelines for their entire profession. I don’t just blindly deviate based on an informed notion of what “makes sense” to me, a person who has zero medical training. If you think your doctor is an idiot, you need a new doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I almost don’t believe this story. I just can’t imagine a doctor saying this to a normal weight woman.

I gained 15 pounds due to SSRIs (went from thin to average BMI for my height), and every time I expressed concerns, the doctors would point out that my BMI was in the healthy range. They were like, you might prefer to be at a lower weight, but you are still at a healthy weight. (I lost the extra weight so I didn’t have to buy a new wardrobe, but from a health standpoint, a doctor should be focusing on actual health factors not whether you look a certain way.)

Like others have said, the doctor should have at a minimum explained why he wanted you to lose this weight.

I don't believe it either. I am going to guess that the OP thought that a PA or NP was a doctor.

[Anonymous]

I am 50 and same height 5’4”. I lost about 14 lbs during COVID and then another 6 or so pounds over the last year. At my heaviest, I definitely needed to lose weight. My weight is now about OPs. Lowest has been 132, today I weighed about 134.4 lbs. I now firmly fit into size 4 clothing. I would not heed what the doc says at this weight w/o serious medical reasons. Everyone has such different body types. I am pretty muscular and have pretty defined leg muscles (take after my dad). Pre kids I was about 135 lbs and a size 2. I also think there’s a set point that your body wants to stay at so losing 7-8 lbs can be a lot harder the less you have to lose.

[Anonymous]

Lose the doctor. He’s probably going to blame every future issue on your (not a problem) weight.

[Anonymous]

Your first problem is going to a make Dr. I would have zero tolerance for some dumba** male doctor telling me it’s easy to lose weight in menopause - especially if you aren’t already overweight. Um. No it’s not d*ckhead.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he thought you would look better with some thigh gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I almost don’t believe this story. I just can’t imagine a doctor saying this to a normal weight woman.

I gained 15 pounds due to SSRIs (went from thin to average BMI for my height), and every time I expressed concerns, the doctors would point out that my BMI was in the healthy range. They were like, you might prefer to be at a lower weight, but you are still at a healthy weight. (I lost the extra weight so I didn’t have to buy a new wardrobe, but from a health standpoint, a doctor should be focusing on actual health factors not whether you look a certain way.)

Like others have said, the doctor should have at a minimum explained why he wanted you to lose this weight.

10 years sgo, I was 5'7 and 142 and a male doctor casually said, during a physical, "You could lose 10-15 pounds!". I was stunned and actually gained 10 pounds in 2 months after that. Some male doctors are a holes and I think ops doctor is one of them.

I actually had a similar experience. I needed a physical for something work-related and it wasn't my regular Dr. I was within a healthy BMI range but he made a similar "you could lose 10lbs" comment. Didn't give any medical reason, I honestly felt like he was just saying "you could be hotter". He was an immigrant and English wasn't his first language so I kind of wrote it off at the time as cultural/language mismatch. But it was very jarring and made me feel gross

I also had a similar experience--from a female doctor. This was a couple of years after the birth of my second (and last) DC, I was 5'9" 150 lbs, as the result being up about 10lbs from my previous weight. I think she also suggested I look into losing 7-8 pounds. It made me feel like crap, especially since I was aware of the sentiment expressed by PPs (incorrectly it seems) that doctors never bring up weight, so I was wondering if I looked like a whale or was on the verge of blowing up in pounds or something. I still have no idea why it came up--perhaps she saw in my chart that I had previously been around 140?--but I have no health issues & did not raise the topic. So yes, doctor's do bring it up out of nowhere...

Coda: Its 5-6 years later, still haven't lost that weight, still excellent health. 

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK? Why don’t you actually try it and see how it goes? Then if it doesn’t go well even though you are being reasonable and healthy, you at least can report back to your doctor that conscious and healthy habits didn’t move the needle.

I don’t understand your attitude here. If you want to disregard his advice, disregard it and move on with your day. If you want to take his advice, at least try before saying it can’t be done.

Why?