37 lbs, plus some thoughts on weight loss, process, and what to ignore

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Hey hey! I know you all probably thought I’d completely abandoned this series on refined sugar, real food, and how everything’s been progressing here — but no, things actually do keep on keeping on behind the scenes. When last we checked in almost five months ago, I was down 27 lbs from where I started at the beginning of 2017, and…

… Wellllll. How’s 37 lbs strike you today? Yes, bulky fall sweater & jacket aside, I’m down another 10 lbs since June (and down another jeans size — now into a number I haven’t seen since before High School Guy first made his appearance in this world!). So, it seemed high time to revisit the topic and chat about what’s been going on, and what’s struck me about the process lately.

Let’s ramble for a minute! This one is less about sugar and more about weight, but they do go hand-in-hand. For instance, what do I mean with this whole “ignore automation” business?”

Trust the evidence

Yesterday I went in for an annual exam, where I weighed in at a full 23 pounds lighter than I did during last year’s visit. Later that afternoon I received a notice that there was a “visit summary” message from the doctor’s office in their online system, so I logged in to see what they had to share. What did I get?

Two full pages about healthy food choices, exercise, and weight reduction.

Thank you so much, automated system. These are things I never would have thought about on my own… (insert eyeroll emoji).

Here’s the thing: I get what triggered this message. If you throw my weight and height into a BMI calculator, I have a good 10+ lbs to go and do clearly show up as “overweight.” But without context, these kinds of suggestions are both demoralizing and frustrating.

Has this happened to any of you? How did you react?

A less-automated process would have looked at, say, my year-over-year progress and the rest of my physical health before generating this kind of generic response — and would have made me feel a lot less like throwing up my hands, then digging them straight into Middle School Guy’s giant bag of Halloween candy. Give me some credit and ask me what I’ve been doing before generating generic suggestions, maybe.

Keep on keeping on

Moderate exercise several times a week? Check — still doing and loving the yoga classes I told you about this summer. Did they ask me about that? Nope. Am I a muscular body builder? Nope, but hey — I actually have some now from all the yoga. While BMI is a useful quick screener tool, it doesn’t give the entire picture.

And then I talked to some friends…

I talked to a couple of other people about this experience, and it’s not just me it’s happened to. It’s also not just me that finds these messages demoralizing (or, as they put it: Infuriating! Frustrating! Maddening!). Whether triggered by insurance guidelines or by a true sense of physician responsibility, these types of messages are simply another cultural guilt trip about weight without context and without looking at the whole person — and, that’s not what anyone needs.

So, about that Halloween candy…

This year, I’ve been enjoying one tiny piece of Halloween candy a day when I’ve really been staring at all the junk we have in our house right now and wanting one. The difference here is: Almost two years into this experiment, now I can stop at just one little piece of candy — and last night, I realized I wasn’t even actually enjoying it, so will likely pass on it tonight.

For years I’ve heard people talk about how diets don’t work; you have to change the way you think about eating and your relationship with food. Now, I think that’s finally fully sunk in. (We’ll talk about this more in the next intermittent installment of this series, since I’m still clarifying my own thoughts on the subject!)

But for today, that’s just some random bits of my own journey lately. Let me know: Do you react the same way to these types of messages from your own doctor (or from others?).

Earlier installments in the Refined Sugar and Me series

Read the whole Refined Sugar and Me series in chronological order (or catch up on any posts you might have missed).

Comments

Mandy says
November 3, 2018 at 5:38 pm
I’m so happy for you being able to stick with the change for so long, and it has really paid off for you. You look terrific. My Doctor always talked with me about my weight and never gave me the health pep talk. She knew it was a life long struggle for me, and that I know what a healthy diet is. Of course, she moved her practice, so, I now have to go to a new Doctor, I can only hope she is as kind, and doesn’t have a system that ignores what is quite an accomplishment. Even a dumb system should be able to tell that you have lost weight since your last visit and deserve a compliment.
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Melanie M says
November 3, 2018 at 8:10 pm
Good for you Rachel! Congratulations! I agree with the visit summaries, they are rather negative. It would be nice if you received one that said “Great job on your weight loss! Keep up the good work!” or “You’re blood pressure was so much better today! Keep doing what you’re doing!”
I’m glad you lost the weight on your own terms and I’m glad you mentioned the summary report. Your honesty is one of the reasons why I love your site!
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Kay says
November 4, 2018 at 2:50 am
Luckily my doctors office does not send those!
My doctor did talk about weight training tho. Something I know I don’t like. Thinking about other ways to build/maintain muscle mass.
I’m down 41# from 15 mo ago. Clothes fit better but my demoralizing issue is that I haven’t gone down even one Jean size. How is that possible?!? I know different brands fit differently but really!
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Trish says
November 4, 2018 at 8:17 pm
I had essentially the same thing in the form of a comment from the nurse. I too, am “overweight” by BMI standards but BMI is very limited and a really dumb thing to rely on when the person is or was sitting right there. I was also lighter than my last appointment. But in terms of size, if the nurse looked at me rather than the screen, she’d have seen a quite fit woman of average height who wore a size 8. Furthermore, I have no health concerns, which you’d think should be the more relevant thing. What a waste of resources and attention, not to mention incredibly demoralizing and potentially damaging. Ugh.
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Mary says
November 5, 2018 at 11:59 am
Same thing here. Doc said: “You’re overweight. You need blood pressure med.”. Etc. etc.
Then about 6 yrs ago a new female doc said that I was on my way to type 2 diabetes, ….and that
I’d be able to avert that and cut that blood pressure med in half if I ate better. No one ever told me to “eat better.” It was always “stop eating.” So I said how do I start? She said simply “no more than 22 grams of sugar per day.” So I saiid how do I do that? She said READ LABELS! I did. And lost 85 lbs in about 14 months. Walking-as-exercise kicked in about the 4 month point. Went from size 18 jeans to size 8.
So no diabetes, blood pressure med was halved, and doc says I can probably go off it.
I do like low sugar ice cream despite the chemicals, and I have a big piece of pie weekly. (Followed by a long walk the next day). ? 72 and sassy….
Rachel’s Mom
(And I’m So proud of you!!)
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Debby Lanier says
November 10, 2018 at 7:39 am
Congratulations on your weight loss, you look great! I confess to not using ALL of the meal plans but converting the ones I can to a ketogenic diet. You’re still being very helpful. BTW, I’ve lost 34 lbs!
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jane says
November 10, 2018 at 8:28 pm
Wow, that is really great progress! In only about a year and a half? The doctor should be asking for your advice! On a different note, I got my flu shot early this year. My insurance sent me a $25 reward for getting the shot. Since then, they have sent me multiple paper and email reminders toooooo…(drum roll please)….get my flu shot! Automation! Sheesh.
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Danielle Schultz says
November 11, 2018 at 3:44 am
Wow I’m proud of you and I understand about the demoralizing factor the whole picture is never seen. I have been following you for a year now and I enjoy your recipes and KUDOS to you 37lbs is a wonderful accomplishment.
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Deeka says
December 25, 2018 at 9:41 am
If I go to my Dr’s office and I am told, “You need to lose about 20 pounds,” without regard for any recent weightloss, I would definitely be irked. I’d probably say something in my own defense, like, “You didn’t notice that I lost 10 pounds since my last visit?… Yeah, I’ve been doing pretty good, just need to keep it up.” That may prompt them to see the need to recognize and give appropriate praise for healthy changes they are supposed to be monitoring. Of course, it’s discouraging for them to overlook good progress you’ve been making just because they are focused solely on a target weight.
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Bethany L. Tope says
January 15, 2019 at 12:49 pm
I’ve commented before on how much my families enjoy your meals. My husband actually gets excited when I start a Whole 30 because that means I’ll be religiously using your recipes and meal plans. BMI is an indicator but not gospel. As a mom of what feels like a million kids (6 in reality) it is hard to keep weight off when life gets stressful. You are awesome (being a librarian makes you extra awesome)! You go girl! This mom is super blessed by all of your hard work!
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