When it comes to weight loss, there are plenty of places to find help and advice. Whether it’s your spouse, a friend, someone at the gym, a blog, an infomercial, or your favorite magazine, information about losing weight is all over the place.
While this is convenient for many, it also lessens the likelihood of finding advice that can help you and your specific needs and concerns about losing weight. For those who want individualized information for their weight loss goals and plans, you might want to prepare weight loss questions to ask your doctor.
Asking your doctor questions about anything, including weight loss, can be beneficial for a couple of reasons. For instance, not only can they give you an answer that applies more directly to you and your individual conditions, but they will also give you advice based on their medical expertise.
Here are 5 questions you should ask your doctor about weight loss:
1. What weight should be my goal for weight loss?
Setting weight loss goals can be much harder and a lot more important than you may think at first, and part of the reason is that every person’s individual circumstances matters quite a bit when it comes to setting goals. Whether it’s something like age, or something as significant as a health condition, each person’s ideal weight loss goal can differ greatly. Having a conversation with your doctor can help you find a good goal to set for your weight loss journey that takes your individual circumstances into consideration.
2. How long should I take in reaching my weight loss goal?
One of the weight loss factors that makes it such a difficult thing to accomplish is how long it can take to reach a goal and how much discipline you need to get there. Because of this, a lot of people lose hope, or start their journeys way too intensely and burn out. However, talking to your doctor about how fast you should be losing weight can help you understand the importance of taking it slow and steady. While they will probably tell you to aim for 1-2 pounds per week like most advice, they can help you better understand why you should do that. They can also help you know when it’s okay to lose more than that in a week.
3. What types of health benefits should I expect to see while reaching my goal?
This is an extremely important question that you should ask your doctor. While you can learn about the health benefits of weight loss on a website, you can only really ever know the health benefits that will affect you from your doctor, as they largely depend on individual factors. Figuring out more specific health benefits from your doctor can be the extra motivation you need in reaching your weight loss goals.
4. Could there be any other health problems that are affecting my weight at this moment?
Again, this is one of those things that you need to talk to your doctor about to find an accurate and individual answer. Websites might be able to tell you the health problems that might be contributing to your weight struggles, but your doctor can provide you with a much more accurate and individualized diagnosis of any problem that is contributing to your weight struggles.
5. Besides my diet and exercise habits, are there any additional things that could help me reach my weight loss goals?
If you’re considering any special regimens, procedures, or medications to help you get to the weight you would like to reach, you should certainly take the time to ask your doctor before pursuing such ideas. Your doctor can help you determine if such a thing is necessary, beneficial, and right for you. Also, your doctor might be able to refer you to a certain specialist that you can better help you and your weight loss aspirations, such as a dietician. So, this is an important question to ask your doctor.
At the end of the day, your doctor can be a really good person to ask any questions about losing weight that you may have. While there is a slight chance that they will tell you things you already know, there is a strong chance that they might be able to help you a little extra since they have more information regarding your individual conditions. Remember, never be scared to ask your doctor questions about anything, such as weight loss questions you may have, for instance, as your doctor is there to help care for you.