to think this GP is a total idiot!!!

[ButterflEi]

hello

so i went to see one of the GPs in my practice today as i am wanting to take control of my weight issues and was looking for advice.

the GP asked me general questions about lifestyle etc and what i eat on an average day which i answered thinking to myself that finally i was going to get somewhere (i have struggled with my weight since i was about 15, im now 27). he said he would refer me to a dietician but that could take a matter of months for that referral to materialise.

the conversation went as follows:

me: so can you help with what i should do in the meantime??
idiot GP: i would sggest restricting your diet as much as possible
me: ok...meaning what??
GP: dont eat
me: huh? you mean eat less??
GP: no dont eat
me: dont eat??
GP: yes dont eat. excercise and dont eat.
me: is that not called ANOREXIA??
GP: no it is a medically sanctioned diet plan
me: no it is called anorexia...thanks for nowt.

i then stormed out in a bit of a huff and went home. i have since called the surgery and made another appointment with a different (nice lady) doctor for later today!!

i just wondered if IABU to think that doctor is a complete incompetent arse or is my fat addling my brain??

and yes agree morloth I have been seriously shocked by the attitudes on here. If these attitudes were displayed about other issues there would be an outcry. It's utterly bizarre and very depressing.

exactly Badgers. The fact that everyone isn't thin because they are not being starved shows you that for many people, there are complex issues at play. I mean, if it was easy people would do it, wouldn't they?

I know it's hard.
It's hard for us all.
I'm a greedy fucker who, if I really let go, would do nothing but cook huge meals and drink vats of wine and margaritas every night.

But I don't because the results would make me so bloody miserable [or in the terms beloved by cheap magazines 'I would develop self esteem issues'].

So, I lay off the food and do some bloody exercise, even when I want to a.] stuff my face and b.] lie in bed all day.

It's called

SELF DISCIPLINE

" The thing is with some people, giving up crisps/biscuits is not actually going to help them lose weight. Specially someone like the OP who has a thyroid disease one of the symptoms of which is weight gain. Other habits, (such as for example eating late in the evening, snacking in the evening even on healthy things, skipping breakfast, or eating just a bit too much of even healthy food on your plate on a daily basis, or having one extra cuppa a day with one sugar, or having semi skimmed instead of skimmed milk etc) are going to have such a cumulative effect that giving up a bag of crisps is NOT going to make a difference
"
Actually giving up crisps and biscuits will help them lose weight, this isn't complicated maths. Also it doesn't matter WHEN you eat your calories it's the amount of calories you eat so this not eating late in the evening thing is bullshit and the difference between skimmed and semi-skimmed is something like 13 calories per 100ml.
I will agree that breakfast is important.

right. not everyone is like you. like everything there are things people find easy and things people find harder. No doubt the OP can do something well that you can't. Despite all that, it doesn't make it right or understandable for a GP to patronise her and issue stupid advice.

For you, it is moondog. for others, there are more complex issues at play. Some people are not eating huge meals and drinking vats of wine and margaritas and still have a weight problem. Why IS that so hard to understand that some people need some guidance and for some it's not so 'simple' as it is for you?

Anyway I must dash - dinner is ready

If OP hadn't stormed off, maybe he was about to explain the cambridge/lighterlife diet, you don't eat on those

Self esteem can come into being overweight and can hinder weightloss and make a vicious circle but losing the weight is usually a good way to stop that.

All diets work if you stick to them and keep going. It's rubbish that diets don't work, even with underlying health issues. They work in getting the weight off, longterm you need a change in lifestyle and attitudes to food

I don't get someone going to the doctor and then a dietician to lose weight, it isn't necessary at all. You are advised to to see one if you are very overweight and have other health issues before you embark on a serious exercise programme or a radical diet but not necessary for your average fat person

Moondog is right, eat less/move more is the only way to get the fat off...you dont need a Dr for that and it's daft to go to one

(I am morbidly obese, before anyone shouts I know nothing about it, I just don't have the willpower to practise what I preach)

and you don;t think being overweight causes you to feel crap about yourself? (if you're happier with that phrase) And feeling crap can lead to generally not feeling up to doing anything about it.
YES the answer is not to let it happen in the first place but it has happened and the OP is trying to deal with that.

Libras - sorry. Giving up crisps/biscs for some people will NOT make them lose weight, alone. Some will need other strategies too.

Really AM off, really am going to eat now!!!

The voice of reason Scared!

'Libras - sorry. Giving up crisps/biscs for some people will NOT make them lose weight, alone. Some will need other strategies too.'

Like what then, Slow?

Portion size for one

I'm with moondog (especially about the greedy fucker bit) but in a more tactful way.

i just can't see any excuse for a GP to patronise and make crap comments to someone asking for advice. Even if he sighed inwardly as he heard the question.
But apparently it's OK

"Libras - sorry. Giving up crisps/biscs for some people will NOT make them lose weight, alone. Some will need other strategies too"

Why not? Both are empty calories. What are these stratagies?

It isn't as simple as calories in/calories out (well it wasn't for me).

There was a whole bunch of head fuckery I needed to wade through and people saying "put down the biscuit" just made it worse.

Low carb worked for me, it doesn't work for everyone. There is no simple answer. I can lose fat from my body now in a "cutting" phase and I am still eating over 3,000 calories a day.

It isn't simple it is bloody hard work, your body fights to stay the same weight - it holds onto every gram of fat with a deathgrip.

what if they don't eat them and portion size is their issue??

are all my posts invisible apart from the one where I shot myself in the foot by using "self esteem"?

Well, at the risk of being shunned by all sides here -

I agree with MD, nonsense to say you dont know how to lose weight, I cant believe that for one moment. Cant believe either that a grown woman would find herself in a GPs office asking what she should do until she can see a dietician. Well what do you think you should do? Carry on as you are and add more weight or eat less and move more, thats abougt all you need to know isnt it??

But also - it is not, for some of us, as easy as knowing how to lose weight. Food addiction is real for some people. Maybe not as many as would claim...
I have given up a 10 year, 20 a day smoking addiction. I have the willpower to abstain 100% from alcohol because, despite enjoying nice drink and a boozy meal with friends and family - it just doesn't agree with me, it does very strange things to my emotions the next day.
I have been able, with relative ease, to give up these things which many many slim, healthy-eating people cannot.
However I fail every day to control my eating, I lterally cannot function normally if I dont feel full.
It is a psychological problem for me and for others. So while I agree that this "I dont know how to lose weight" stuff is balls and you would never find me in a doctors surgery asking for the ansewers, it is not always as straight forward as knowing the answers anyway.

and if you did ask, would it be ok for him to take the piss?

I can seeeeee yooouuuuu.

Well no if they are not eathing biscuits or crisps but sorry I was just using it as unhealthy food example. IF portion size is their issue then again this isn't difficult - change your portion size, and again there the information about portion size is out there.

Exercise is the main key in losing weight. You never see a fat runner! Someone building muscle will eat thousands of calories a day

You either up your exercise hugely or up exercise more gently and restrict calories. It will work for absolutely everyone

You don't need a doctor to tell you that

but Crux there are foods out there which make you feel fuller for longer which aren't unhealthy, quite a lot of people use the 6 meals a day way.

For me, it isn't just diet, but exercise. Apparently it's 80% diet/20% exercise, but I'm more 60% diet/40% exercise.

Here's what helped me. Count all your calories. Believe there's an online calorie counter.

Then get on a cycle at the gym that monitors calories burned.

Fine, have that but realize it will take you to work it off.

Think the GP was needlessly obnoxious.

GPs have better things to do than deal with people who want to lose weight. Being fat is not an illness. I know that being overweight leads to illness, but honestly- the world is full of books on how to lose weight. Why bother your GP when they have all the pressure of swine flu, over your weight?
the answer is easy- eat less, exercise more.

I suspect he was being sarcastic, or you misheard.