To expect fat nurses to have some insight?.

I’m quite pleased to read most of the comments are supportive though it is a shame the support isn’t the same when we’re talking about people in general, rather than when defending HCPs.

YABU. They would have gone through studies and training in order to give you that information. What they do in their own time is up to them.

Would you expect an assistant in a supermarket to have ate all the food in order to give you advice on the nicest products?
Would you expect an assistant in Currys to have personally used every washing machine?
Would you expect a PT in a gym to do the same routine that they teach you?
Does someone who work in a bank mean that they're good with money themselves and have hundreds of thousands in savings?
Would you expect a cleaner to have a pristine home themselves?
Would you expect someone who works as a maid in a hotel to make their own bed every morning to the same hotel standards?

No, no, no, no, no, no.

As part of the screening questions, she asked me about my diet and then she asked about exercise e.g. how many hours a week, do I do DIY and gardening. I then said that my diet was not great and I only did two or three hours of mod exercise a week and needed to improve. She then came out with that comment. I am not sure what you are struggling to understand here.

Or are you saying that doctors never need medical advice because they apparently know it all? (We don’t btw). Despite having knowledge, we are human and the chance to discuss stuff objectively with a third party is invaluable.

The basic problem with a fat person giving you advice on healthy eating is that the advice clearly doesn’t work

Thank goodness for people like you who can state the obvious. Perhaps you could petition for them to be removed from their jobs until they meet your body shape standards. How dare fat people be in jobs helping others when they have human flaws.

Back to the 'good old days..'
There is a real need for clinical staff to be able to move quickly - cardiac arrest, haemorrhage, etc. Not as easy if you are bulky.
This applies to all emergency services - how some police, given they are v large, plus the excess of accouterments, run after a crim, is beyond me.

I sort of know what you mean. If you struggle with weight gain ( as I have all my life), you ar emaybe looking for success stories and empathy.

Its their job to give you medical advice regardless as to if they follow it themselves.

Did you know that the occupation with one of the highest rates of alcoholics is doctors? Yet they will also tell you to cut out drinking etc.

Its not a moral issue - its literally their job.

I’m a somewhat overweight nurse - I have chronic health conditions and put on 5 stone in pregnancy due to a mixture of not being able to move and medication I was put on. The weight is starting to go but I’ve a long way to go yet. You’ve no idea of peoples situations are, I think you are being incredibly judgemental yes

Actually this is woefully misinformed. Stress levels have historically been very cyclical. Get stressed then destressed, this is actually a very normal situation for humans. be hungry-stressed. Get food destress. Fear of being attacked, stress kicks in the fight/flight - get away then destress

in modern life people are constantly stressed, there is a constant assault on our senses and emotions. You can’t get away from stressors. Work emails pinging on phone, online bullying etc etc.

Theres a lot of work looking at the role of chewing in stimulating the vagus nerve. Which helps regulate stress.

The obesity crisis is extremely complex. The rather pathetic uneducated response of it being down to greed/laziness is alienating the people it needs to help. Obese people aren’t stupid. They know carrots are good, crisps are bad and exercise is good. The question is why isn’t this knowledge helping and in 99.99% of cases it isn’t simple greed/laziness. Whilst this greed/laziness /stupid narrative exists the real causes of this crisis will not be addressed

PE teacher who can't even run 100meters
I actually had exactly that in school, an obese guy who struggled to walk, but oh boy did he shame any girl who had just a bit of chub on her, or was not as sporty as the top performers in class. He probably thought he is doing a good thing and motivating students.

They should give advice, that's their job...but I think they should have some self awareness if they are very overweight themselves.

For example, they could smile and say ' believe me I know how difficult it is' or something similar .

Knowing something and doing something are completely different things. Nurses generally work long shifts and this is a factor to weight gain as people who work long hours are time poor so may not eat so well or have a chance to exercise.

You try not to judge with a post almost entirely devoted to being a nasty little judgy pants. The irony.

I don't dispute the value of blood tests (although I have issues with them delivered and interpreted as a part of generalised screening, but my objections are of statistical nature rather than medical).

But your post says you were expecting a lifestyle advice about cutting off sugar and UPF, and were disappointed the nurse did not provide it? I found it very peculiar that a doctor would go and seek that advice.

My parents live next door to their GP surgery. The docs recognise them. The one who is known to be a heavy smoker and likes a fag break in the surgery back garden knows that my dad - who also smokes- therefore knows he's a heavy smoker. His no smoking advice always starts "now, I don't need to tell you that smoking is bad for you as you must have seen the adverts etc". The po faced bitch who went on about the wonders of giving up and didn't appreciate being asked what went wrong for her then as we could see her puffing away many times a day no longer works there.

Wrt to your initial post OP, I try not to judge or presume after knowing my amazing junior school headmistress and her thyroid struggles.

Because they know they are being flattish judgemental and twats and are happy to agree anonymously but not actually comment on it because they know how vile it is

Sometimes I just want to be a patient.

And taking up a routine nhs health check is virtue-signalling? What an odd little opinion to have. The surgery invited me and I was grateful for the offer.

I don’t have a ridiculous ego that means I know everything about my health. And despite my ‘superior medical education’ I can’t guess my current potassium levels or HbA1C 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm a medic and would say the 2 flaws with that are:

a) many Drs are of average range intelligence (many people are, that's why it's average) but have been encouraged through by family expectations and developed a lot of knowledge. The theory isn't that hard, you just need to stay on top of it.

B)I have come across many nurses who I am confident would have been more than capable of entering Medical school, completing it, and becoming excellent doctors had they chosen to do so. Their knowledge and reasoning is superb.

That's not to diminish nursing, it's a different profession, not a lesser one. But the fact is that becoming a Dr as opposed to a nurse is in large part to do with background, opportunity and aspirations rather than capability. For many, not all, to be clear.

I was called for a routine over 50 health check. BP, bloods etc. Why wouldn’t I take that offer?

Sounds like run of the mill discrimination to me. Keep your opinions about weight out of the professional arena and your nose out of people’s lifestyles, OP. The medical advice applicable to you does not alter regardless of what qualified person is delivering it.

Well, considering the NHS diet advice seems to be to join one of the 'cult ' slimming businesses, I think you should take diet advice from HCP's with a pinch of salt anyway!

Years ago, when we went to a 1 GP village practice, it was the joke of the village that the GP would tell people to give up smoking. It was well known that he smoked and even funnier that he had one of those jars with a mock tarred lung on the window sill in his surgery.

You’re all assuming if you are thin you must be healthy. There’s much more to a healthy diet than starving yourself, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes to stay thin. It’s stupid to assume a thin person is eating a healthy diet.

YABU

@westernlights do you have a thyroid problem? Because it's hellish trying to get medication for it
My TSH was "fine" apparently at 6. I was only diagnosed when I accidentally ended up at immunology and even then my GP refused to refer me and put me on 25mcg levo when I'm 5ft 10
It did nothing but they insisted it was fine
I eventually had to move doctors and am now on 100mcg levo, it's woefullly under medicated for most people, and they're being told a TSH of 7/8/9/10 is "fine"