To expect fat nurses to have some insight?.

[Vikingess]

Just had a routine health check today at my GP surgery. Two nurses - both considerably overweight - dispensing advice on diet. I
am not overweight -AIBU to expect health professionals to demonstrate the the standards they recommended or at least admit to falling short.

What do you think when you see doctors and other hospital staff smoking outside?

She was given healthy eating advice, not weight management advice. There are plenty of health conditions that could be exacerbated with a poor diet, even if you aren't overweight. Sounds like you need some education on the matter yourself.

I am sure the NHS will totally benefit from making 'having and maintaining the right BMI' an additional requirement for getting and keeping a job. No one is going to be put off by the threat that anyone taking too long to shift that baby weight is out the door, or will be sacked if they have something like thyroid cancer, or even just gain some weight due to menopause. Not like there's a shortage of nurses, right?

I'm guessing working for the NHS doesn't help these nurses maintain a healthy lifestyle

If you’re not willing to reduce your calories to a point that you will lose weight - that’s fine, but that’s the reason you can’t shift the weight, it’s not some kind of menopausal mystery.

Equally walking 3 miles a day, when the average person walks 1.5-2 miles just going about their life, means your additional exercise is merely a mile a day.

Weight loss isn’t meant to be sustainable, as you wouldn’t want to lose weight indefinitely, but long term dietary changes would need to be sustainable and indeed sustained.

Lol. I had a fat dietician once and I almost laughed when he told me about portions as it was clear we eat the same amount.

This sounds a lot like women in healthcare should be sacked if they get above a certain BMI.
A bit like how women would have to leave their job to get married, because
a) no longer available as totty
b) will get pregnat (yuk)
c) makes space for a younger model.

fwiw I do think lot of the standard healthcare advice is delivered in a bit of a condscending impersonal way, but it's nothing to do with physical appearance of the worker.
I do find myself wondering if my answers to the questions are even recorded when I am asked exactly the same ones by the same person when I ring up for my results 5 days after they asked them when taking the blood.

You want me to reduce my calories to below 1200 a day? And walk more than 3 miles a day?

Ah, I get where you're coming from and it is not from anywhere healthy so I will ignore you from now on.

Yes, it makes me despair. I’m out.

It does surprise me how many health care workers can be overweight or those who smoke, surely they see the catastrophic effects enough to know not to do it themselves.

I don't know, OP, do they get money each time they tick a box that says they gave dietary advice? I questioned when a midwife ticked the box that says she gave advice about stopping smoking (even though I have never smoked and she never actually raised it in the meeting) and she said the hospital gets funding every time they tick that particular box.

I was told to lose weight by my running coach. I'm a size 10.

Depends on how it's said. A nurse (more well covered than me as it happens but not very overweight) who I saw recently was talking to me about diet, and mentioned crisps were an especially bad thing- but also said she knew she ate more than she should of them because she liked them too much. That seems empathetic as well as good advice- and has helped me resist having some. Someone far more overweight telling me the same thing but in a patronising way would put my back up, and not be as convincing.

It's not just about eating excess calories -

Overproduction of cortisol can cause belly fat... As your cortisol goes up, so does your blood sugar. And when our blood sugar goes up, our pancreas is going to output insulin. Cortisol itself can cause weight gain, but then the increased insulin can add to weight gain as well. On top of that, high stress and greater production of cortisol can lead to a breakdown in your muscles.

(https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/23/health/cortisol-weight-wellness/index.html)

But reducing to fewer than 1400 cals a day has significant negative effects on the body. Albeit old, the Minnesota Starvation Experiment shows this very well.

1. “Semi-Starvation Period (24 weeks until July 28, 1945): During the 6-month semi-starvation period, each subject's dietary intake was immediately cut in half to about 1,560 calories per day. His meals were composed of foods that were expected to typify the diets of people in Europe during the latter stages of the war: potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, bread and macaroni. On July 30, 1945, a photo published in Life Magazine showed the shirtless bony participants.[8]

Among the conclusions from the study was the confirmation that prolonged semi-starvation produces significant increases in depression, hysteria and hypochondriasis as measured using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Indeed, most of the subjects experienced periods of severe emotional distress and depression.[1]: 161 
The rehab phase proved to be psychologically the hardest phase for most of the men with extreme effects including self-mutilation, where one subject, Sam Legg, amputated three fingers of his hand with an axe, though the subject was unsure if he had done so intentionally or accidentally.[8]Participants exhibited a preoccupation with food, both during the starvation period and the rehabilitation phase. Sexual interest was drastically reduced, and the volunteers showed signs of social withdrawal and isolation.[1]: 123–124 The participants reported a decline in concentration, comprehension and judgment capabilities, although the standardized tests administered showed no actual signs of diminished capacity. There were marked declines in physiological processes indicative of decreases in each subject's basal metabolic rate(the energy required by the body in a state of rest), reflected in reduced body temperature, respiration and heart rate. Some of the subjects exhibited edema in their extremities, presumably due to decreased levels of plasma proteins given that the body's ability to construct key proteins like albumin is based on available energy sources.

This is actually true, I had very high cortisol during my separation/divorce and my hair fell out and I put on two stone. And yes a lot of it was belly fat.

But with calorie counting and exercise it came off - eventually.

It’s not a life long illness

I don’t care what you do. I simply said that lack of weight loss isn’t a mystery in the circs.

Weight loss isn’t unhealthy of itself if it’s done in a balanced way.

larger size doesn't necessarily mean unhealthy, nor does smaller size necessarily mean healthy.

I highly doubt they were providing the advice to single you out in any way, it's usually a routine part of their role especially dependant on why you were visiting in the first place.

However if you feel the advice was unwarranted you can always raise this with the practice manager or seek second opinions, it's not unheard of for peoples weight to be used as a barrier to accessing treatment, however in your words you state that you are not overweight so perhaps you could ask why this was recommended to you when you are in a healthy weight range?

But if your aversion to the advice is that it came from people you deem unfit to give it, based off your own assumption that they are not practicing what they preach then this is highly judgemental of you and yes you are being unreasonable.

People always come up with justifications as to why it’s better to stay overweight than lose it. So it’s unsurprising our population is as it is.

How many calories anyone needs depends on BMI, height, weight etc, gender etc.

For people who are unhealthily overweight, or knocking on diabetes or high blood pressure etc - the long term benefits of weight loss far outweigh the short term disadvantage of a diet.

Indeed in the US overweight + obesity is now the third biggest risk factor cancer. In the U.K. it is said to cause 1 in 20 cases. Link

I agree with this. The entry requirements for nursing are low compared to other courses. I have met many nurses who are kind and competent, but I can't recall any who I would describe as highly intelligent.

That is the biggest pile of vitriolic daily mail claptrash that I have ever read

In the 50s, 60s and 70s, I heard of relatives (no longer with us) saying they saw their doctors and some were smoking in the doctor's office.

My husband says the same thing, so many overweight nurses around.
😬

If you call it 'dieting' it isn't gonna work nope. If you think you are depriving yourself every day it becomes a chore impossible to sustain. It is not 'dieting' just learning to eat healthy amounts. If you say you're on a diet you're setting yourself up to fail. Just change your norm.

Post after post on here full of defensiveness and excuses. I do not loathe fat people at all but I cannot tolerate someone like a pp likening the limitations caused by obesity to the the limitations caused by disability. One is controllable, the other isn't.

It isn't easy to eat less, no-one likes to feel hungry but we are in control of ourselves and its no good saying, for example you eat 1400cal a day do loads of exercise and can't shift it because that is not possible.

I could eat a massive chocolate cake right now but I won't because if I did that every day I'd soon be piling on the pounds. That is not called 'being on a diet'.

How is this an excuse? This is what happens physically and psychologically when people eat less than they need.

And in my case, trying to lose weight CAUSED my fatness. And my eating disorder. For me to try and lose weight again, would be DANGEROUS in terms of my eating disorder. Not to mention I can’t exercise due to chronic illness (not caused by weight in case you go there). So I’m stuck. But you fat bashers carry on thinking everything is so straight forward and judging me and others because you’re so superior. And of course, if I get cancer or any other disease I’ll be sure to blame myself.

Really, it’s tedious.