Doctor lecturing you about your weight: what's the least overweight you were & still heard it?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I was thinking earlier today about how I’ll need to have a physical soon, and that I’m glad I didn’t end up seeing a doctor when I was at my heaviest (about 25lbs more than I ought to have been) a few years ago because a lecture would have been painful to bear. But then I realized I have no real sense of when you’re “so” overweight that a doctor lectures you for it…

So what’s the least overweight you were when a doctor decided to take you to task for it? And if you’ve weighed more than that, did it feel different to be lectured then? Somehow it seems like being less overweight but still hectored for it would make me feel more indignant than I would with more to lose.

#2

It depends on the doctor. I’ve found male doctors to be worse about this than female ones, personally. I went to a very kind female doctor last year who didn’t make me feel like a fat piece of shit, even though I was one!

#3

I went to the doctor for a knee problem. I was 6 lbs over the top weight to be “healthy” according to those standard BMI charts. I was so not even close to being fat. The doctor told me I wouldn’t have a knee problem if I lost some weight. Knee problem cleared itself up and to this day isn’t a problem, despite the fact that I never lost that 6 lbs, and have gained some since then.

#4

This is partly of a factor of where I live, rather than the doctors giving shitty advice. Asian populations tend to have health problems at lower body weights than most other ethnicities. The height/weight tables for Japan have me at an ideal weight of 67.8 kg (roughly 150 lbs.) At my heaviest — nearly 200 lbs. or 20 kg heavier than this “ideal” weight — I was unquestionably fat. The only times I have been within spitting distance of this weight were when I was 14 years old and much shorter and slighter, and at the beginning of this year after being sick with something that spiked my fever up to near-dangerous levels for a week, followed by a bout of rotavirus (thanks, son!) that gave me the shits and made it basically impossible to eat for a week. Coming from a starting point of sub-10% body fat from consistent diet and exercise.

So yeah, I’m not impressed with medical recommendations for weight when I’ve got other stuff like perfect blood pressure and lipids, a 48 bpm heart rate, and near-ideal body composition going for me.

#5

I’m 5’4 and weighed 126 (clothed) and this stupid doctor told me to keep my weight at 125 max! I changed doctors very soon after that. I had wanted to lose a few pounds but I knew my weight was perfectly healthy and she was an idiot to say anything about it.

#6

Oddly enough, I heard about it at about 10 pounds over my ideal weight, and then total silence for many many pounds (and several doctors) and no one said another word until I was 100 pounds over my ideal weight.

#7

I’m about 35lbs over my ideal weight and at my highest I was about 50lb over but I’ve never had a doctor initiate a conversation about me being overweight.

I did, many years ago have several conversations with my doctor about me being underweight. I think he thought I was anorexic or something but I was just very active and had a fabulous metabolism. I miss those days :slight_smile:

#8

I don’t remember exactly how much I weighed, but I had a Dr. one time ask “How do you feel about your weight?” I was maybe 20 lbs. heavier that I am now, but I had little muscle tone and quite a gut. So it was justified.

#9

I once got lectured BEFORE I was overweight - a doctor told my parents that I needed to lose weight even though I was on the high end of normal because I was going to go off to college that fall and they dorm cafeteria food would cause me to blimp up incredibly.

I actually lost 10 pounds my first six months at college.

What can I say? Some doctors are idiots.

I also dread the BMI tyranny. I’m always scoring in the “mildly overweight” category, yet my measurements like waist-to-hip ratio are actually in the good range. It’s because I’m more muscular than most women, no doubt the couple years I spent doing things like hauling 80 pound roofing rolls 20 or 30 feet up and down ladders has something to do with it. Yeah, yeah, according to BMI I “need” to lose 10-15 pounds. My last few doctors might have entered the room intending to speak to me about that number on my chart but when they actually see me they say I’m OK.

Well, there was that time in 2005 after a serious illness where I’d lost 30 pounds in a month when a doctor told me I needed to gain weight, but that wasn’t a lecture so much as sound medical advice. It was the only time in my life I could be described as underweight.

#10

My doctor told me I was significantly overweight (~310) and that he wanted me to lose what amounted at the time to about 100 pounds*. I got down to about 250 at one point, but he still had the same goal in mind. To be fair, it’s not purely about the weigh: I have a fine assortment of weight-related health issues that losing weight should help with tremendously.
*His stated goal for me was 210, I got him to agree that if I got to 225, he’d quit nagging me. :slight_smile:

#11

I wouldn’t continue using a doctor that lectured me about anything. Doctors are technicians, they can provide factual information, or even medical opinions, but I’ll decide what I should or should not do.

#12

As a doctor, I will vouch for this depending on the doctor’s individual attitude. Even though there is a technical cut off for morbid obesity, it’s not like we’re told in med school to start lecturing at a certain weight. :slight_smile: Some doctors are quite prejudiced and lack empathy for the overweight - because doctors are just people, and unfortunately those attitudes are very common still among all groups of people.
Myself, I typically do not lecture patients (even my drug addicts, alcoholics who drink a case of beer a day, heavy smokers, etc.). My view is that they’ve likely heard it before, they probably know that what they’re doing isn’t good for them, and if it were that easy then they would have stopped overeating, over-drinking, etc. a long time ago.
That doesn’t mean I ignore the issue. I DO try to make sure that we talk about things like what benefits there would be if they stop, because some people really don’t realize that their weight affects how easy their diabetes is to control or that alcohol abuse can cause problems with sleep and mood in addition to the many, many other nasty problems it can cause. However I try to approach it in a positive way and not like I’m thinking they’re a horrible person or idiot for doing it.

#13

Yeah, I don’t know if other people are as avoidy as I am, but if I think a doctor is going to lecture me about something I have no intention of changing, it just makes me avoid seeing a doctor at all, or lie if it’s something I can lie about.

#14

I don’t think I have ever had a doctor lecture me about my weight. My neurologist recently told me the pseduotumor cerebri has been shown to be related to elevated weight and that losing some might make it better but he wouldn’t guarantee it. I think that’s the closest anyone has come to lecturing me about it and I"m 90-100 pounds overweight.

#15

I am surprised at how many people have been confronted by doctors about their weight. I find this surprising, for one, because most all of the doctors I have had in my life have been overweight themselves to some varying degree. The idea of any of these people giving me weight-loss suggestions or lectures seems strange, to say the least.

#16

And I’m surprised most of the doctors you’ve had have been overweight. Almost none of the doctors I’ve had were at all overweight. I was just thinking about it recently because I met a very, very overweight doctor and I was surprised. I can’t think of one other one that was even chubby.

#17

In high school my doctor told me I was obese and put notes in my chart to that effect. I was 5’9", weighed 135, and was a four sport athlete.

#18

In my early 20’s my (male) gynocologist nagged me about being overweight until I stopped seeing him. I was 5’5’ and 128 lbs with a fairly stocky build. A couple years before when I weighed 117 a different doctor told me I was on the verge of being dangerously underweight and should never go below 125 lbs. Come on guys, you aren’t giving me a lot of gray area here.

#19

I got my first lecture at age 9. I wasn’t fat - I was actually really gangly little girl. But my dad was fat and my mom was overweight so I guess he thought he was being preventive. He was a huge douche about it. I still remember one thing he said, “Well…you can’t have both jelly and butter on your bread, if you know what I mean.” Of course, at 9 I had no idea what the hell he was talking about until he spelled out for me that I needed to watch my weight.

#20

I’m still confused. I can see that it would be difficult to spread the butter on top of the jelly, unless it was warmed up and pretty soft. But if you butter the bread first, then put the jelly on, it should be pretty easy.