# Woman offended by truthful advice from doctor **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 24, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435 "2005-08-24T15:54:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/248 "2005-08-30T17:05:39Z")
_sigh_ Why is it that every time one of these threads come along, the same crew show up to rant about how everyone would be thin if they would only eat less and exercise more. Well, yes, that’s true. And if it were so easy, don’t you think everybody would do it? God it gets old - 80 cites are provided showing multiple reasons why weight loss is more difficult for some people, sometimes to the point of being impossible, and the same group show up and spout “Exercise and eat less! Exercise and eat less!” It makes me wonder about their reading comprehension. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/249 "2005-08-30T17:23:11Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > 😃 > > Me, I suffer from a common condition known as ETFM[sup]\*[/sup], which is the single most reliable predictor of excess weight in the human race. I too didn’t put it all on in a day, but in 25 years I haven’t been below 210 pounds > > [snip] > > And there ain’t no-one who can fix me, in this respect as in all of my other horrible flaws, except me. Out of curiosity, are you attempting to lose weight, or are you one of the people who are content to weigh whatever they weigh, even if they’re heavy? I recall an earlier poster questioning the existence of the latter? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/250 "2005-08-30T17:24:40Z")
Maybe they’re just robot programs that pop up and type in the same response every time this subject comes up. ---
**Author:** ![OrangeJumpsuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OrangeJumpsuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrangeJumpsuit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/251 "2005-08-30T17:26:43Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > _sigh_ > > Why is it that every time one of these threads come along, the same crew show up to rant about how everyone would be thin if they would only eat less and exercise more. > > Well, yes, that’s true. And if it were so easy, don’t you think everybody would do it? > > God it gets old - 80 cites are provided showing multiple reasons why weight loss is more difficult for some people, sometimes to the point of being impossible, and the same group show up and spout “Exercise and eat less! Exercise and eat less!” > > It makes me wonder about their reading comprehension. There were also cites from doctors telling people to make new, healthy lifestyle changes. Not just about going on some stupid “diet,” but changing the way one LIVES in order to combat obesity. Nobody saw those? No one said it was easy, it’s hard to change the way you’ve been living for the past X amount of years. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Doesn’t mean you have some genetic deformity by which calories mean nothing to you. Change the way you live. It WORKS! Just do it! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/252 "2005-08-30T17:34:24Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > _sigh_ > > Why is it that every time one of these threads come along, the same crew show up to rant about how everyone would be thin if they would only eat less and exercise more. > > Well, yes, that’s true. And if it were so easy, don’t you think everybody would do it? > > God it gets old - 80 cites are provided showing multiple reasons why weight loss is more difficult for some people, sometimes to the point of being impossible, and the same group show up and spout “Exercise and eat less! Exercise and eat less!” > > It makes me wonder about their reading comprehension. It’s interesting how this thread morphed from being about obese people with insulin resistance and other legitimate medical problems to people with ETFM disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Jenga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jenga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenga)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/253 "2005-08-30T18:11:35Z")
Not really. ETFM is what it generally comes down to. I know it’s difficult for fatties to lose the weight but _difficulty_ is not a recognised medical disorder. It’s difficult because they have become accustomed to never doing anything that burns off the excess kilojoules. What they _believe_ should be sufficient and what _is_ are completely different things. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/254 "2005-08-30T19:18:26Z")
> [@OrangeJumpsuit](#): > > No one said it was easy, it’s hard to change the way you’ve been living for the past X amount of years. Doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Doesn’t mean you have some genetic deformity by which calories mean nothing to you. Change the way you live. It WORKS! Just do it! How inspirational. Anyhow - I agree that eating less and exercising more works very, very well for most people, and they will lose weight. However, perhaps they won’t lose “enough” weight to be considered thin. Or perhaps their one of the people for whom exercise and less food WON’T work. Or perhaps they eat too frikin’ much, and they’re so depressed they can bairly get out of bed let alone go for a walk so they eat more. I dunno. All I know is that there’s a lot of fat people in the US, and a lot of them are pretty unhappy about it, and if “Eat less! Exercise more!” was such an easy solution, that wouldn’t be the case. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/255 "2005-08-30T19:37:14Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > All I know is that there’s a lot of fat people in the US, and a lot of them are pretty unhappy about it, and if “Eat less! Exercise more!” was such an easy solution, that wouldn’t be the case. Right? From now on, I pledge to call it a simple solution instead of an easy one. It sure wasn’t easy for me to burn off those 40 pounds over those 18 months, but the process itself was pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![OrangeJumpsuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OrangeJumpsuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OrangeJumpsuit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/256 "2005-08-30T19:45:21Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I dunno. All I know is that there’s a lot of fat people in the US, and a lot of them are pretty unhappy about it, and if “Eat less! Exercise more!” was such an easy solution, that wouldn’t be the case. Right? Just because people won’t do it doesn’t mean it’s not the solution. Just because it’s not easy to stop and change the way you live isn’t easy doesn’t mean it’s not the solution. It IS the solution. Making lifestyle changes WORKS. You are not genetically defunct, if you are still obese it’s because you have not made the necessary changes for whatever reason. You’re depressed, you’re lazy, you don’t have the time, you like hoagies too much, you hate exercising, you’ve gone accostumed to your lifestyle. What. Ever. There are a million excuses, reasons, justifications (whatever the current term we’re using here is) for why people are overweight. People can change their lives. They CAN but WON’T. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/257 "2005-08-30T20:06:51Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > From now on, I pledge to call it a simple solution instead of an easy one. That seems reasonable to me. However, zealotry is almost never effective to get others to do what you want. YMMV, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/258 "2005-08-30T21:01:51Z")
[The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism](http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/6/2462) > [@](#): > > \*\*The maximal weight loss achievable with any current dietary or pharmacological strategy for treating obesity varies with the individual but appears to be no more than 10% of initial weight. \*\* As this threshold is approached, or perhaps as the time spent below initial weight increases, physiological mechanisms acting to preserve body fat mass cause a progressive increase in appetite and decrease in energy expenditure. [American Family Physician.](http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000715/419.html) > [@](#): > > A feedback loop for weight loss has been postulated to explain why **patients can cenerally lose only 10 to 15 percent of their body weight.** As weight is lost by restricted energy intake, fat cells shrink, reducing expression of leptin, a product of the ob gene. As leptin levels fall, metabolic rate decreases, and appetite increases, thereby impeding further weight loss. Diet “works” but doesn’t make a fat person thin. Willpower doesn’t create miracles. That’s just wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/259 "2005-08-30T21:04:55Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > It’s interesting how this thread morphed from being about obese people with insulin resistance and other legitimate medical problems to people with ETFM disorder. Hmm… No. This thread was about a woman who got offended by her doctor’s medical advice. Which by the way is the same thing my doctor has adviced me to do, even if I am not obese (yet), but with a family history of high blood pressure, diabetes and a tendency to gain weight is as good advice as I expect from any doctor worth his salt. Anyways… I plead guilty to not having any reason for my excess weight other than loving good food entirely too much. On my defense I must say I eat fresh, healthy and home-cooked food… just a bit more than I need to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/260 "2005-08-30T21:34:01Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Hmm… No. This thread was about a woman who got offended by her doctor’s medical advice. Which by the way is the same thing my doctor has adviced me to do, even if I am not obese (yet), but with a family history of high blood pressure, diabetes and a tendency to gain weight is as good advice as I expect from any doctor worth his salt. More specifically, he told her (in so many words) she would die fat, unloved and alone. This is what you expect from your doctor? I don’t blame a doc for doing their duty and covering the subject of my weight. Making assumptions about my personal relationships and happiness therefrom is going too far. ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/261 "2005-08-30T22:19:15Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > (Don’t believe me? I give you the [earliest known sculpture](http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/s/images/stoneag_willendorf.lg.jpg) - from at least 25,000 years ago) You are joking, right? The Venus de Willendorf is a fertility symbol, she doesn’t represent an actual woman. Look at her body porportions, especially those teeny tiny arms, there is no way a person could exist with a body like that. All the hunter-gatherers I’ve seen have been rather thin. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/262 "2005-08-30T22:27:31Z")
You know what? Fuck this. I’m overweight, you know why? Because I have more important things to do with my life (and willpower) than avoiding being called a ‘fatty’. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/263 "2005-08-31T01:18:24Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > [The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism](http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/6/2462) > > [American Family Physician.](http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000715/419.html) > Diet “works” but doesn’t make a fat person thin. Willpower doesn’t create miracles. That’s just wishful thinking. I’m glad I wasn’t listening to the medical establishment (or y’all) when I decided to change my lifestyle and, as a result, lost 25% of my bodyweight 5 years ago (and kept it off). > [@Malacandra](#): > > And there ain’t no-one who can fix me, in this respect as in all of my other horrible flaws, except me. Amen. We all have our flaws, and being overweight ain’t a particularly bad one. It is by far preferable to desperately denying your own free will in an attempt to excuse lesser failings. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/264 "2005-08-31T01:55:24Z")
> [@kimera](#): > > You are joking, right? > > The Venus de Willendorf is a fertility symbol, she doesn’t represent an actual woman. Look at her body porportions, especially those teeny tiny arms, there is no way a person could exist with a body like that. All the hunter-gatherers I’ve seen have been rather thin. :dubious: You mean were there when they carved it? Come on, nobody really KNOWS that for sure, they can only speculate. And perfect proportions are pretty damn hard to get when your carving tools consist of a sharp rock and another rock. It’s hard enough with soapstone and a Dremel. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/265 "2005-08-31T04:46:07Z")
> [@](#): > > **Metacom** : I’m glad I wasn’t listening to the medical establishment (or y’all) when I decided to change my lifestyle and, as a result, lost 25% of my bodyweight 5 years ago (and kept it off). Which medical establishment, which physician, which Doper has said that it isn’t desireable to eat healthy foods and exercise? It’s great that you have been successful in changing your lifestyle, losing 25% of your bodyweight, if that was desireable, and keeping it off for five years. I assume are one of the success stories. They do happen with lifestyle changes for a small percentage of people. (I have read in several sources over time that from 2 to 5% of people who lose weight are able to maintain that weight loss for longer than two years. Sorry, no cite.) For me, losing 25% of my bodyweight would only have been a good start. I lost 50% and still would like to round that out at a little over 60%. The problem is that your solution does not work for most people. My solution is not for everyone either. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. > [@](#): > > **Jenga** : I know it’s difficult for fatties to lose the weight but difficulty is not a recognised medical disorder. You don’t seem to know very much about medical disorders that relate to weight loss, but I think several people have made the point that losing the weight is not the most difficult part. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/266 "2005-08-31T05:43:41Z")
The doctor said more than we originally thought. It wasn’t just that his comments were a little too personal. They were racist too: > [@](#): > > "Well, men might want you, but not the types you want to want you. Might even be a black guy. Based on the woman’s complaint as quoted at [this](http://enews.earthlink.net/article/nat?guid=20050830/4313d9c0_3ca6_15526200508301264550614) news source. (May be temporary.) _Now_ I understand. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435/267 "2005-08-31T05:50:46Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > You mean were there when they carved it? Come on, nobody really KNOWS that for sure, they can only speculate. And perfect proportions are pretty damn hard to get when your carving tools consist of a sharp rock and another rock. It’s hard enough with soapstone and a Dremel. C’mon, look at how detailed that sculpture is, down to showing representations of hair (or fabric, depending on which theory you subscribe to). Those proportions were deliberate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-offended-by-truthful-advice-from-doctor/318435.md?page=14)