[Tip] Why all of those diet ads say to talk to your doctor before starting a diet (and why you should probably talk to your doctor)

To start with, let’s get the disclaimer out of the way: THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. I don’t know you or your particular situation. Your doctor should. This is why this post is about going to them.

Now that that’s out of the way, welcome to the post! These are some reasons why you want to see your doctor when you start a diet, and who especially may want to call them.

1. They will not have amazing, individualized diet advice. They can refer you to a dietitian if that’s something you’re interested in, though!

2. Your weight has given you a medical condition that you don’t know about.

This could be any number of things, from high blood pressure, to diabetes, to NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). They can check for all of these things on your labs, and let you know how best to treat those. Also, your weight loss may be at least partially due to a treatable disease! (Or a med that they put you on.) This goes into point 2:

1. Your diet plan is going to harm your health, somehow.
   

If you’re diabetic and thinking about intermittent fasting, you could end up becoming hypoglycemic (too low blood sugar). If you’ve got any heart conditions, high intensity exercise may not be the best idea. If you’ve already got joint pain, they can give you recommendations for what type of exercise will minimize the strain on those joints to stop you from getting permanent joint damage.

And if you’re thinking of trying any weird internet supplements, please don’t. Depending on the supplement, your doctor can tell you what it will do to you, but anything off of the internet isn’t regulated and could have harmful fillers. (A regular multivitamin is fine.).

1. Your diet may interact with your medications.

If you’re on an anticoagulant, don’t start eating a bunch of spinach and leafy greens without talking to your doctor. If you’re on lithium or any sort of ibuprofen/naproxen, not getting enough liquid in a day will mess up your kidneys. If you’re on oral diabetes medications, you could get hypoglycemic or really sick. Your doctor can tell you what diets are okay for the meds that you’re on, and what modifications you may need to make for your conditions.

1. They can monitor your progress.

Yes, you can check your own weight. But they can check your cholesterol and blood sugars, and let you know how you’re doing on reducing your risk of disease. (Also, they should be encouraging you and cheering you on! If not, find a new doctor.)

So, who especially should see a doctor?
1) If you haven’t been in a few years.
2) If you need to lose a lot of weight.
3) If you’re already taking meds.
4) If you’ve been diagnosed with something in the past (like high blood pressure).

For my US friends, if you have insurance, you should have one of these visits with the blood tests covered under a “preventive screening/yearly well exam”. If you’re uninsured, see if your city has free or reduced-price clinics—especially if your city has a medical school, you can get free visits with cheap or free labs, with great care. If you’re out of the US, I don’t know your healthcare system.

A lot of doctors are also doing telehealth right now, which means you could talk to them from home, and then just go to the lab for the blood work. Usually these visits are a bit cheaper.

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What are your go-to meals and snacks?

I need to lose about 75 lbs, and I'm not sure where to start. I'm planning to track what I eat on My Fitness Pal, but I don't love cooking and I can't really figure out what to buy at the grocery store. I eat out for most meals (lots of fast food, pizza, sushi, etc.), and anytime I buy food to cook I never feel motivated to actually cook it (I'm also dealing with some depression issues which I know are a big part of the problem). I recently decided to start buying frozen dinners for my lunches, but they're not very satisfying and that got boring really quickly.

I'm mentally preparing myself to begin my weight loss journey on October 1st, so I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow. What are some quick, easy meals and snacks that have helped you stay on track and lose weight? And for those of you who initially had a lot of weight to lose, how did you start to change your lifestyle knowing that it would take a long time to start seeing results? I'm feeling a little overwhelmed because I know this is going to be a long journey, but I'm so tired of feeling out of shape and having to buy new (bigger) clothes. I know I need to start making changes, but I just can't seem to figure out that first step.

(Full disclosure: I'm an adult and this feels like such a dumb question because I should know how to feed myself, but any advice would be appreciated!!)

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A simple but important reminder!

Today I passed my halfway point in my weight loss journey. I am immensely proud of myself because I haven't been in the 160's in at least four years. Upon seeing how much I had lost, I felt my stomach drop. I felt burdened by how much I saw I still needed to lose. But I stopped myself in my tracks. I told myself to stfu and not worry about how much further I have to go. I reminded myself to simply be proud of how far I have come. So, my reminder to you all, take a look back at your progress and celebrate it.. and celebrate it some more. Keep going and don't worry about how much more you have to go, you'll get there soon enough.

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It can be done “not as hard as it sounds”

Hi all,

Wanted to say that I love this sub, its really helped me along my journey the past few months. So many inspiring individuals here, even just being a member of this sub is an excellent first step.

My(24m) weight has always fluctuated since I was about 15. I’m 5’9 but have a tendency to pust on (and maintain)muscle/fat quite quicky. Helped also by the fact that I love food and am eating a minced pie as I write this. I tended to be either borderline overweight or 5-6kg overweight (doctor opinion not mine).

At the beginning of lockdown I was pushing 86kg (quite a bit for me where 75kg is where the doctor would stop telling me off) which is my heaviest since an all time high of 87-88kg at christmas. I had tried vegan + watching what I eat very roughly, whilst lifting weights 3 times a week for 30min, which is why I was slightly lighter.

What worked for me was a gentle approach with myself on how to get down to a heathly weight. Usually id go hardcore and start fasting then eating only salads with tuna twice a day. Needless to say, this didn’t ever work too well and only lasted a few days (or hours). This time, I decided to lower carb intake significantlly (borderline keto but without that goal in mind) and started doing 30min of cardio 3 times a week. I chose running which I’ve never been able to do and also saw as a mental challenge which I needed as I was on furlough. I also skipped breakfast and had black coffee, although this is something Ive always done. This time I made a point of sticking to it everyday. Which isnt too hard to do.

Low and behold, after doing this since the 28th of May, this morning I weighed in at 72.6kg. The point I’d like to emphasize here is that I truly stuck to this each day. I still ate cheetos sometimes, but not often. My gf and I would have chinese takeout now and then. I didn’t feel deprived of food because I’d stuck to learning to enjoy those great things in a healthy moderation.

The discipline I learnt in doing that helped me get into running and I went from getting out of puff and cramps from running 300m. To running 10k two weeks ago in 1h04min which I’m very happy with.

In general I’m much more disciplined and feel much healthier than I ever have. Have learnt, and hope to transmit in this post, is that once you achieve genuine weightloss and maintaint it. A goal which is great to pursue from the start. You learn along the way that people who are always trim, or are telling you about a 10k they ran at the weekend, is because they just feel so great all the time it would seem silly not to live any other way.

Thats where I’m now at, I cant ever imagine living like I used to. I genuinely get cranky if I dont go for a run in a few days. I don’t feel too great after smashing a Papa Johns one friday. Whereas before I’d have had my kebab,half of my gfs chips, then a full english and roast the next day. Now id not eat till 12 then have an omelette for lunch, short run in the afternoon, and feel better for it. My few health woes (high resting bpm which is now at 55 down from 69-73). Are gone.

So guys, hang in there, take it as a journey and everythings going to be ok. Dont hate on yourselves, you’ve made mistakes with food in the past, and you’ll make plenty more in the future. Just do try your best to do well from hereon out. Love yourself at all times, enjoy life no matter what, because its very short and you never know what life might throw at you. Plod along with your weight loss efforts, dont let it consume you and it will happen. The jeans get loser, the sleep gets better, the sex gets better, anxiety, mood, depression, the list goes on,

Aim to achieve the point where you feel it in your bones that, yep, this is the right way to live.

Hope this helps someones!!

Tl:dr Always kinda pudy guy, realises why people are thin and stay thin/healthy. Goes from couch to 10k (running) 86kg to 72.6kg in 4ish months. Writes this eating minced pie.

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Am I doing something wrong that is contributing to no weight loss after 2 consistent weeks?

25F, SW 165lbs —> GW 145lbs, 5’9. I live a pretty active lifestyle, go on hikes, paddle board, I walk around for my job as it pertains to healthcare. On top of working out regularly.

It’s been 2 weeks now and I weighed in at 166.8 this morning and felt extremely defeated. I’m currently on a calorie deficit so I’m consuming 1490 cal based off the myfitnesspal app. Eating the correct amount of nutrients needed and what’s within range based off the app. I’ve up my workout regime and got into kickboxing/HIIT 1-1.5hr workouts burning around 700-900 calories 4x a week. I figured by now I would’ve at least lost a couple pounds but I’m now heavier than I initially started. Any help or advice on what to do next, or anything I need to correct/change?

Edit: I do not eat back burned calories from my workout. Prior to my new workout regime I was using the Sweat app and following workouts from that 4x a week.

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Realized my diet is very carb heavy. Do I need to change that?

So, for awhile I've just been keeping track of calories and making sure I stick to 1200 calories a day. Though, lately I started using the 'Myfitnesspal' app as it shows not just calories but carbs, fat and protein. I noticed that usually about 60 percent of my diet is carbs, 20 percent fats and about 10 percent protein.

Im vegan so getting my protein in can be a little tricky sometimes. I'm a 20 year old female, 5 foot, 46 kg, don't exercise and live a pretty sedentary lifestyle. I was wondering if I can keep losing weight on such a high carb diet as I heard carbs dont help much with weight loss? If I should change my diet, what kinda things should I be eating instead? (Also, I know I'm already at a healthy weight but I still look really chubby so I'm trying to get rid of as much of that as possible, hahaha)

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F18 320 pounds 5’2” need help.

Hi! I just joined today and I really need to get on losing weight. the majority of my weight is in my arms, back/booty, and legs. i’ve always been supper lucky to not have much stomach fat and i’ve been obese all my life. In the past year and a half i gained 75 pounds after getting put on nexplanon birth control and becoming completely sedentary because of covid i gained almost all that weight in my stomach and arms and i hate the way i feel emotionally about myself and even more pressing, physically.

i understand i’ll look like a walking conglomeration skin flab after losing the weight i’m just tired of always being in pain in my feet and back from the extra weight i’m carrying around. i can’t even go on walks anymore because my back pain is debilitating. even walking around a grocery store causes me immense pain. i don’t want to do the weight loss surgery mostly because i don’t have insurance and i have had adverse reactions to anesthesia in the past.

I really appreciate any help or suggestions for how to start losing weight. The gimmicky diets haven’t worked and i need to change. i’m starting adulthood and don’t want to end up on my 600 pound life in my 30s i deserve better than that.

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