Richard went to a quack today and was told he needs to lose 70 pounds. He is over 5"7', past middle age, and has a lot of muscle - and this doctor thinks he should weigh 140 pounds. (His brother, who is dealing with cancer and has about the same build as Richard, weighed 130 pounds the last time we saw him, and was absolutely skeletal!) So I guess that means I, at 5"4', should weigh, what, 90 pounds? And the ideal birth weight for everybody would be 0 pounds? Maybe he's planning a book on the Treblinka Diet or something?
The doctor didn't say anything about muscle mass or body fat percentage, things that should always be taken into account when you're trying to "lose weight". (What we actually mean when we say we want to "lose weight" is that we want to lose fat. Richard doesn't have much fat to lose.) The doctor told him he doesn't need a scale or a special diet or anything, just a mirror. I suppose that's true - a scale won't tell you anything about how much fat you're carrying, after all. But then the doctor said, "Most women who come in here obviously don't have mirrors at home." Oh, now I see! We're all just stupid fat cows who haven't gotten past the snack aisle at Wal-Mart long enough to find the full-length mirrors! Of course! Here we are struggling with weight issues and the solution was staring us in the face (literally)!
By the way, this doctor shares an office with a woman doctor who once burst into the room where I was waiting and started griping about another patient. "Shoes!" she shrieked, "Shoes! I have to write a prescription for shoes! Never have I written a prescription for shoes!" She shot me this what-is-the-world-coming-to look, then proceeded to chew me out for being "too young" to be on anti-depressants.
You're probably wondering why anyone would go to these people. Well, it's simple: The wait time is really short.
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A decent doctor is worth the wait. Trust me. I seriously would write a letter of complaint to whatever the governing body for doctors is out there because what you've experienced is completely unacceptable.
I have to agree with you about this scale/body fat percentage thing. Doctors are trained in a very rigid manner and really have no knowledge about these things apart from "overweight is bad". I have encountered the same thing; I am 5'4", big boned and muscular and would look ridiculous at 120lbs. The BMI is a load of tripe, but unfortunately one of the only tools docs are given. You can get your body fat percentage measured at many health food places and gyms, so that's where I'd go if you want to persue this any further.
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