Weight Loss - Part 4: The Team Physician

I hate Doctors. No, really, I do. The only time you really need them is the time you find out how little they actually know. And when you don't actually need them, but have to engage them anyway, they either criticize the state of your health, or make you feel like you know nothing at all. Once in a great while they end up helpful for diagnostic purposes, ordering tests and scans and giving you the results; most of the time, however, they are so deep in liability coverage, concerns, and contracts, that they can't really tell you what those mean or what you ought to be doing anyway.

So, yeah, generally not a fan.

Physicians are a necessary evil, though. One should not embark on a dramatic weight loss program without having a physician in your court, someone you have consulted and briefed on your plan. If you're like me, approaching your middle years, overweight, and on medications for blood pressure, heart concerns, or metabolic issues such as thyroid function, charging ahead with altering your body's primary systems without consulting a physician is just downright irresponsible and stupid - even if you're moving in the right direction (from not so healthy to healthier). As far as physicians go, they vary greatly...there are good ones, and not so good ones, even some bad ones, and really really bad ones. Choose wisely.

Three rules of thumb apply when choosing a physician for the team.

First, a physician should model what they preach. Since you're looking for a doctor to help you get healthy, you're looking for a physician who is physically healthy, preferably someone who is into competitive sports. The upside here is that they'll know a lot about endocrine systems, metabolic change, muscle building, and endurance training, and probably be into healthy eating and exercise; this is important because if they're competitive, they probably have a cadre of on-hand resources (fellow doctors, sports therapists, nutritionists etc) in the medical and sports community you can draw on if you need them. The down side is that they may have somewhat of a chip on their shoulder about how exactly you should proceed or how to get the best results....in other words, they can seem a bit arrogant and snooty, "them being all healthy and you being all unhealthy and shit". It's a trade-off - but the upside seriously outweighs the down side, because in the long run you can switch physicians and move on, but in the short run they have what you need. If you're lucky, and you find a good one, who is nice and kind in addition to being an athlete...keep that unicorn if you find it.

Second, find one who is about your age. There are many times you might want an older physician...for example, if you need serious surgery, a doctor who has just completed their residency probably wouldn't be your first choice. Experience matters. That's why you should choose someone who is in the same stage of life, someone who understands what you're going through, someone who may be experiencing similar hardships at a similar point in life (for example, bodily changes in mid-life). Someone who understands the stressors of your life first hand probably is a bit more in tune to your goals and aims; a physician close to retirement, for example, probably has less incentive to help coach a young man to health than a physician who is looking forward to building a clientele for life. It's just a good idea to find someone your age you can relate to.

Third, I would consider the physician's specialty. If the physician did their residency in cardiology, endocrinology, or sports medicine, for example, that would be a definite plus; not sure if a residency in pediatrics, general surgery, or obstetrics would be quite "dialed in" the same way for a weight loss project such as this. You get where I'm going with this? See if you can find a physician who "fits" into the gist of your efforts. That's definitely going to help.

So once you've made your choice...what can a physician do for you? Well, there's the obvious answer....monitor your progress and make sure you're not doing anything that jeopardizes your efforts or your body. If you already have a medical condition, like I do, they can help make sure you don't aggravate it, or make it worse. Physicians can also help you set milestones, track your accomplishments, help you with the pace of weight loss, run tests to help you get profiles on our body chemistry (you might discover during this process that you actually have low level allergies to certain foods, and physicians can help you test for them); they can also run tests to baseline your performance and endurance. I'm a big fan of baseline performance data. I couldn't have done what I did without it...because I'm a data guy. Data rules...Data is good. We'll talk more about data in an upcoming post.

In short, there is actually quite a lot physicians can do to help...you just have to reach out and get them involved in your efforts. Generally, everyone likes to be part of a success story...will you let your physician be a part of yours?

Because...in life as in food...Flavor Is Free!