Since summer is just right around the corner, many people are trying to lose a bit of weight before all the fun summer activities and getting ready to fit into those summer or vacation outfits.

After you’ve decided to shed a few pounds, you might consider a visit with the doctor for some basic advice.  Obviously this isn’t an easily solvable problem or we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic that we do.  So, what do you want to talk about when you go in for your appointment?  Let’s face it, the more prepared you are going into the visit, the more you’ll get out of that short visit.

  1. Get your weight recorded.  Scales can vary so if you have a scale at home, make sure to measure yourself at home and compare this to the weight at the office, which will be slightly different.  Remember that your clothing and accessories also add weight.  Write it down.
  2. Ask the doctor what is your BMI or body mass index and what it should be.  It helps if you have a goal in mind on how many pounds you’d like to shed over what amount of time.  However, the BMI can help guide your decision.
  3. If you are really motivated, write a food journal for the few days prior to the visit with your doctor.  This means writing down absolutely everything that you eat or drink and how much.  This will at least give the doctor a starting point.  You and your doctor can review the entries and see what you can eliminate right away to help cut calories.
  4. The bottom line:  to lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you take in daily.  How you go about doing this can vary quite a bit.  Ask the doctor how many calories you should be consuming daily and how much activity you need in order to get into the negative balance.
  5. Make sure that you leave the visit with a clear plan, i.e. specific nutrition advice, perhaps even recipes or online resources for healthy eating, and daily exercises that you can start on that same day.  Have a follow up appointment within 2 weeks to measure your progress.  If your doctor has email for patient contact, perhaps doing an email update would be helpful and keep you motivated.
  6. Your doctor will help you with setting up a reasonable goal for your weight loss.  You’ll want your weight loss to be sustainable and maintainable.
  7. If you are taking or planning to take any of the over the counter weight loss drugs, please bring them or tell the doctor about them.

One of the most simple and fastest ways to lose a few pounds is to stop drinking juice or sodas.  Water is the way to go.

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