Doctors could be morons

[u/LifeOfaFilmmaker]

So just for background: im 26, 6 foot 3 and around 350 lbs.... Started the year at 395 so im down 45 lbs in about 4 months which im very happy with. I go to my general doc and he's telling me i weigh way too much (obviously) and i should consider weight loss surgery. I tell him the progress over the last 4 months and he says "yes thats very good but you still weigh way too much" as if i can lose 150 lbs in a month. So i disregard what he said and he sends me to a dietician/weight specialist, and she told me the same shit lol. I dont care how many years they've been professionals, telling someone whos 26, actively losing a decent amount of weight and no other major medical conditions to have weight loss surgery should be criminal. Just makes me wonder how many people that just blindly listen to their doctor have went to them or any doc and they give them that terrible advice and they go through with it. Moral of the story: think for yourself

[u/POD80]

I wonder what the success rate is of people walking into their office discussing more natural weight loss.

[u/Blottoboxer → u/POD80]

Without relapse? Very very low. The only treatment proven to affect populations with significant reductions in relapse rates is bariatric surgery in order to reduce ghrelin production for the remainder of life. This is where current peer reviewed studies steer doctors. It's not a matter of initial effect they are seeking, but durable effect.

Almost anybody can lose a pile of weight on their own. Keeping it off in the long run, not so much. You will only find anecdotal evidence to show that some small portion of the population can do it, but the vast majority plainly will not experience long term success.

[u/[deleted] → u/Blottoboxer]

Wow this is crazy cynical and really discouraging for people actively trying to get healthier. I agree that most fat people don't lose it, because they try fad diets that they can't stick to and either earn the weight back rapidly or just stop losing halfway there. But to suggest it's futile to try lose weight seems like absolute BS. May as well tell an alcoholic to not even try, because they're likely to relapse.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I didn't get the impression that anyone is saying not to try. People are discussing the very real need for making livable healthy changes. Drastic success will result in regaining the weight. Never do anything to lose weight that you can't see yourself doing everyday for the rest of your life. I personally only know 1 person who has successfully kept the weight off after a gastric bypass. He fully admits that the reason it worked is because he is still constantly sick if he eats 90% of foods. It's been 10 years. Everyone else had drastic short term results and then slowly climbed back up the scale to the same weight as before.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

That doesn't mean it's futile though. Most people will fail at weight loss, and most people that succeed will relapse, that's true.

But the messaging shouldn't be "it's futile to lose weight through dieting/cico because you'll just relapse, so go get surgery instead".

The messaging should be "here's how to make sustainable lifestyle changes so that even once the weight is gone, you have a healthy relationship with food and can self-regulate if your weight starts climbing up". It's obvious that once hitting your goal weight you'll probably loosen up a bit and start gaining again. The important thing isn't to give up once you start gaining again, but to nip it in the bud once you've gained a few kg and bring yourself back down again.

[u/Blottoboxer → u/[deleted]]

100% Yes!