Talk to Your Doctor about Losing Weight

Talking to your doctor about losing weight can be a difficult proposition.  Do you fear that he or she will just "blow you off" with the general statements about eating less, exercising more and staying away from sugar? Maybe you want to talk about gastric bypass or diet pills and you are afraid of the answers. Maybe, you are on prescriptions that will require monitoring as you lose weight. Maybe you have a heart condition that makes you afraid of exercise.

Once you make up your mind and make that appointment with your healthcare provider, sit down and make a list of questions and concerns.  List all your prescriptions and all the herbal supplements you now take. Keep a record of everything you eat between now and the day of your appointment. 

When you make your appointment find out if you will be doing any tests on the day of the appointment.  If so will you need to be fasting. Fasting is a good reason to try and get the first appointment of the day.  If your provider has not recently done so, a cholesterol test will be made and that is a definite fasting situation.

Your first appointment will be a fact finding one.  Your healthcare provider will want to do testing for thyroid function and insulin levels. He or she may do a tape test or bmi calculation. You will want to discuss all the issues you have written down.  Present any symptoms you may have as well, such as being tired or difficulty sleeping and especially any stressful conditions you are dealing with.

Weight loss is very important, regardless of why you are doing it --- for cosmetic reasons or for health reasons.

Talking to a doctor about weight loss can be embarrassing.

No one likes to admit having a problem with this issue. However, if you identify it, your doctor can know that you want to change and make lots of suggestions for you. Your physician may want to do a stress test on a treadmill to evaluate your heart and general condition.  You will want to learn how to take your own pulse to evaluate how hard you are working when you start your exercise program.

If you are dealing with a lot of stress, your healthcare provider may recommend that you make an appointment with a psychologist.  Do not be embarrassed by this. Learning how to deal with our emotions and learning how to properly de-stress without eating is a major step toward health.

One thing that may be stressful is the worry about money. Will your insurance cover the cost of treatment for weight loss?  Because the medical and insurance world has finally figured out that being over weight leads to deadly complications, 99% of insurance companies and Medicare will cover the cost of whatever treatments your healthcare provider decides are necessary.  Of course you will still have your copay.

So ---  stop putting it off --- make that appointment.