Idle musings: would you take advice from an obese nutritionist or a depressed therapist?

[GeriKellmansUpdo]

Just idly thinking about this because on my social media feed there are:
Nutritionists who advise on weight loss and diabetes control but are obese themselves
Therapists who are constantly saying how depressed they are
Financial advisors who are saying how bad they are with money

Does this make them more relatable to ordinary Joes or Janes? Personally, I think I wouldn't. Though on the other hand, I know a lot of doctors who smoke.

I wouldn’t take advice from an overweight HCP, nor would I take advice on smoking cessation from someone who smoked.

No!

When you say you wouldn’t take advice from an oversight HCP, you mean you would do the opposite of what they tell you? Or you mean you would leave the room and end the appointment?

Not from an obese nutritionist. Maybe a depressed therapist if I was seeing them about something other than depression.

I wouldn't have confidence in the advice. I would think it was either unachievable or unimportant if they are not up for taking their own advice.

A client wouldn't know if a really good therapist was depressed or not, it wouldn't come across in a session and shouldn't affect the therapy. An overweight HCP advising on diet etc would be difficult to ignore and I think I may struggle with that but ultimately if they are well trained and well regarded then I would take their advice. We would have no idea what other factors were affecting their weight issues.
Smoking cessation advice from a smoker though I don't think I could take seriously, I would ask for a change of practitioner.

I might. All these things can have many causes. For instance the nutritionist might have an unrelated health problem that stops her exercising, which makes it harder for her to lose weight than most people. Doesn’t mean her advice is bad and it might mean she is more empathetic and understanding of the challenges of weight loss.
You can know the theory even if you’re no good at putting it into practice and if what I am paying for is the theory they might still be good at it.
The best maths teacher in my school had barely scraped through her degree, which gave her a far better understanding of how to teach anyone who struggled than the ones who found it effortless.

I think it means they understand the pitfalls and are more relatable.

I'm a marketing professional. I'm great at advising businesses but I do find marketing myself a bit embarrassing so I'm not as good at that. I suppose that's similar.

My friend is functioning alcoholic and tells frequently her patients to stop drinking.

I’m rubbish at making decisions but great at supporting others in their decision making and do this as part of my job. I recognise the blocks and challenge these.

Meanwhile, I can’t decide what to have for lunch!

Yes.

You can know what's good for you without having the strength to follow through with it.

I wouldn't take health care advice from an obese hcp. I would have zero trust in what he/she was telling me. Likewise the financial advisor who is bad with money. The depressed therapist is I think less clearcut.

Yes, I would listen to an overweight trainer.

My personal trainer is a typically buff guy. Lovely, genuinely nice guy and always willing to listen and help. He comes from the background of someone who was naturally skinny and has had to eat and eat and eat to put on weight/muscle. He gives great training & nutrition plans BUT he has absolutely no experience in how my hormones affect my training or my cravings. He has no experience of being a fat person navigating a gym. He has no experience of emotional binging and why its actually not as easy to just "stick to the plan"

He's a good trainer, I'm making headway in my journey but I wouldn't discount the experience and advice that someone who has had similar experiences as myself could offer.

I know heavier PTs. Often, you'll look back on their social media and they've been super fit at some point and had pregnancies or life events that have altered things. It's like they're on the journey with you. OR, you get people who started out fatter and grew to love the health & fitness industry and want to help people like themselves.

My son's friend's mum is a life coach and training to be a therapist. Her son (teenager) stayed with us for 3 weeks last summer due to her attempt to end her life. I've got to know her fairly well in the last year and I'd imagine she'll be a good therapist; she's quite intense and a very good listener, even if the conversation isn't particularly deep.

Wow. I am not sure I want my therapist to be that intense.

Interesting responses from others.

My GP sent me to the nurse when my cholesterol was high. As she was talking to me I couldn't take my eyes off her rolls of fat. The only bit of her speech that I remember is when she asked me how I make gravy. I use the meat juices and she acted horrified and I just wondered what she did.

I'm not sure I'd take weight loss advice from an overweight HCP. I'd be wondering why they didn't take their own advice. I'd be wondering why the advice they were giving me hadn't worked for them.

Absolutely not.

But it might be unachievable for them, but perfectly achievable for you. Presumably health care workers are giving advice based on what they've been trained in/research based/healthcare policy etc. They're not giving you advice based on their own personal ideas/eating habits.

But if someone is telling you how important it is to lose weight, yet they're overweight/obese, you might think, well, it can't be that important or you'd be doing something about your own weight issues.

It's all a bit 'do as I say not as I do', which is never a great place to give advice from.

I wouldn't no. If people cannot practise what they preach then no.

I was wary to see an obese reflexologer one time even. I did see her twice but she kept referring to her course notes so felt put off.

Maybe they have no interest in losing weight but are happy to support you doing so?

Standard NHS advice: try and lose a bit of weight.
Standard NHS staff: a little bit overweight.

I think the part you say ‘on my social media feed’ is telling. I could be a renowned nuclear physicist on my social media, except I’m not 😁

No, sorry, clearly I didn't explain it very well. They are under their real names and with links to their ( apparently successful) businesses as well.