Maintaining a healthly weight is very important

Currently I am a medical resident and have been using this website as a resource to track my nutritional intake mainly of cholesterol, sodium, sugar and daily vitamins. I'm not using it to lose weight since I am at a healthy BMI of 20. It will help me to be more compliant with my workout routine as well as sticking to a healthy regimen especially while on call. Anyway, I just want to stress the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. While I was on various rotations in medical school weight was a significant factor affecting people health both physically as well as emotionally. For instance while completing a cardiology rotation it was certainly apparent that weight played a significant role in determining which patient eventually ended up in the cath lab due to clogging of the arteries and would have to undergo balloon angioplasty. Also during an orthopedic rotation it was mainly overweight patients who would end up receiving cortisone injections especially in their knees to help with the pain from arthritis and to try to prevent knee replacements before the age of 65. In addition while completing a psychiatry rotation depression was rampant among overweight patients. Many times doctors especially specialists will not stress the importance of losing weight however they are there to help and provide support if you show a willingness as well as progress to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Many times we do not take much effort in stressing weight loss because we have done it numerous times in the past with no results from our patients. I just want to stress the importance of maintaining a healthy weight because it can affect many aspects of your life. This website can be very helpful in providing information about food, but I must also stress the importance of portion size. I am providing this information not to scare you but to help you realize that weight can affect many aspects of your life and knowing this it may provide you with the incentive to achieve your goal weight.

I'd just like to say that weight/body type and mental health are NOT related. Sure depression is common among the overweight, but it's plenty common among the thin too. One reason that so many people being treated for severe depression are obese is that it makes it darned hard to take care of your body, and eating right is usually the first thing to go. If you don't have the energy to get out of bed or comb your hair, you're not going to be going to the gym and chowing down on salad.

Thanks I did wonder why I came here so often.

Great info, D, but you're preaching to the choir here.

Heh. Med students.

kajikit, exactly.  Neurosis is why I failed to take care of my body, not the other way around. 

It used to be a common belief that overweight and obese people were all either compulsive eaters or anxious, depressed, under stress or trying to compensate for deficiencies in their lives like low self-esteem.

But, as obesity reaches epidemic levels in the U.S. and other affluent societies, experts are dismissing the idea that weight gain is due purely to personal emotional problems. It's true that many obese people are depressed but they may be trapped in a vicious cycle whereby they eat a poor diet and fail to get regular exercise in the first place, making them overweight which, in turn, makes them even more depressed.

The American Psychiatric Association has never regarded overeating or excess weight as a psychiatric disorder and most obese people do not qualify for a negative psychiatric diagnosis. However, while previous research presented conflicting results as to the link between obesity and mental illness, including depression, a new study suggests that there is an association.

"The study of more than 9,000 adults found that mood and anxiety disorders including depression were about 25 percent more common in the obese people studied than in the non-obese," according to an article in the July 2006 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry (1).

I second the preaching to the choir statement.

While most of us don't have medical degrees (we do have at least one other MD on the board that I am aware of) we all know the dangers of obesity and are here because we want to either learn how to live a healthier lifestyle or to maintain a healthier lifestyle.

It was very kind of you to come and offer us free advice.. being a resident can't possibly offer you a whole lot of free time! But as a patient, I hope you'll take this into consideration because I believe a lot of overweight people avoid seeking advice from doctors because so many of them can be so "off putting" when it comes to weight.

In fact, I have met only one doctor who while definitely lectured on the importance of weight loss, also took the time to gather literature and information and offer support to help me out. Unfortunately, more often than not, I've had doctors with zero bedside manner throw rather heartless lectures about how I'm sick because I'm fat. Once, even though I caught strep throat from my son who caught it from my husband who caught it from my other son, the doctor basically told me if I wasn't fat I might not have gotten sick. Another one blamed my hair loss on my weight and only after my insistence ordered a test on my thyroid (I've been hypo since I was a teenager) and my numbers were crazy high!

I'm sorry to direct a rant in your direction.. your post just reminded me of why I tend to avoid doctors when I'm in the overweight category.

I'm so sorry you were treated that way. That makes me so upset when I see other doctors treating their patients in that manner.  This was one of the reasons I chose to specialize in psychiatry. Many specialists only focus on one aspect of a patient's anatomy and do not realize how these medical problems can affect a patient's lifestyle.  They also believe that being overweight can be cured just with diet and exercise and do not take into account the emotional aspect and how much one has to fight to overcome their battle with weight.

There is definitely a psychological aspect. I mean, when it's pounded in your head to finish every thing on that plate before you can get up from the table (or your mom forcing 2nds and 3rds because you need "meat on your bones")  how can it not be part of your thought process as an adult? It is SO difficult for me not to finish everything in front of me. I've often wondered if I need to see someone just to rewire my brain when it comes to meals!

I can completely empathize with you, maryjmoon, about eating everything on your plate. I have, however, arranged a satisfactory solution for that problem, at least for me.

I use saucers! When I'm assembling a balanced meal, I arrange everything on a little 6" saucer instead of a dinner plate. That way, I can finish what's on my plate without feeling like I'm binging. It has also helped me eat several small meals each day instead of two huge ones.

Good luck and goodwill!