The Lies They're Feeding You About Your Weight and Health

 And, what you can do about it

Blatant misinformation comes from perhaps the least likely sources, including well-intentioned doctors and the media. Unaware, you continue to be misinformed about your weight, your eating and their impact on your health. Let's take my patient Dave. A pleasant, driven man in his late 60s, Dave takes medical advice to heart. He has a history of high blood pressure, for which he takes medication, religiously. Yet his pressure remains too high. So his doctor told him "You gotta lose weight, Dave, and your pressure will get under control." Reasonable enough, right?

I think not.  Now only 8 or 10 pounds above his college weight (pretty good, I'd say, given his age), here's a little secret about Dave’s blood pressure--it was elevated even when his weight was at its lowest, back in his early 20's, when his weight was just fine. Oh, and did I mention Joe's fitness level? Despite being in his seventh decade of life, Dave runs 6-8 miles, 5-6 days per week, and he's been doing so for years.

Great art. Terribly high sodium content.

From Dave’s perspective, his referral to me was a blessing in disguise. He's learned that his sodium intake was way too high—3-4 times the recommended level for those with hypertension. Reducing his sodium intake may have much more of an impact than simply losing weight. To focus on his weight was simply foolish, as his weight, historically has had no bearing on his blood pressure. If he put his energy into losing weight and then his blood pressure remained high (as I'd expect given his history) he would feel like a failure. Changing his food choices, however, reducing his very high sodium intake would increase his odds of normalizing his pressure.

Thinking it's all about sodium? Not so fast. Here's a bit more personal story. My father, when he was in his 20s developed high blood pressure, as well as pre-diabetes. He was a normal (actual rather slim) weight, and was active, as he walked everywhere. His father and grandfather before him had Type 2 Diabetes, although I am unsure about their blood pressure. When I was in my 20s I had my first bout of hypertension, which I blamed on the crazy level of stress at my first job. But in fairness, even years later, I still have high blood pressure.

My Dad, 26 who survived his diabetes
and high blood pressure and died of lung
cancer (no, he didn't smoke)

Managed with diet? Exercise? Isn't that what you'd expect from a dietitian? Not so! For the record, I am in a normal weight range, and I watch my sodium. My eating (besides the cake you so often hear about) tends towards freshly prepared food, with lots of fruit, vegetables, grains, and nuts, and my fair share of my favorite oils (olive, walnut and truffle). And yes, I am active. So basically, my healthy diet, normal weight and exercise have done nothing for managing my blood pressure. Thank goodness for meds! But perhaps my healthy lifestyle, in spite of my genetics, may be helping to prevent diabetes.

Me & Mom in NYC

And then there's my mother. I won't mention the dreaded O word, but let's just say that her current BMI qualifies her for gastric bypass. Oh, and that's even after the procedure was done some years ago. And even at her highest weight, prior to her surgery, her blood pressure and cholesterol were always perfect. She actually eats rather well, but does no regular exercise. She does have knee problems, perhaps due to years of carrying the extra weight, perhaps not. Did I mention I also have knee problems?

Now don't get me wrong. I am not suggesting that obesity has no impact on your health, physical and emotional. That is simply false. It increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiac risk. It also contributes to knee and joint problems and has been associated with breast cancer. It presents challenges when people are trying to travel--renting small European cars, for instance, sitting on airplane seats—and in dealing with social stigma and job discrimination. I certainly support making practical, realistic changes to feel better on all levels—eating healthier, being more fit, lowering your stress, getting more sleep. But the focus should be on the impact of those lifestyle changes on your quality of life now, today. If you're motivated simply to lower your blood pressure, you may be disappointed if the outcome isn't as expected.

Not fitting for everyone.

It's like the many clients I see who report a history of starting to exercise. After a short time, they fail to see the weight loss they were expecting for any number of reasons. And so they stop exercising. They forget that there were clear benefits they experienced from exercise—lower stress, better sleep, better mood, greater energy, to name a few. But with a singular focus on exercise to drop pounds fast, they had failed. And so they stopped exercising, giving up all the benefits they were getting from it. How quickly they forget.

Try to change what's in your hands to change, to feel better and to potentially lower your risk of and from chronic disease. And it helps to focus on the imminent changes—those immediate benefits you can see, and feel and experience—not just the benefits far in the future. Those, too, are important, but it’s much harder to motivate for those off-in-the-distance benefits that you can’t even feel.

But if in the end you need to add a medication to keep you healthy, accept (without guilt) that you have done your part, and continue your healthy lifestyle changes because of all the benefits it brings you. This applies to those who are overweight, as well as those with restrictive eating disorders. You need to do your part, in addition to using all available resources as well.

Biking and fundraising for MS with a little help from my friends.

While perhaps unrelated to the weight struggle, I will share one more personal piece. Nine years ago this month I experienced my first symptom that led to my diagnosis of MS (multiple sclerosis). This unpredictable disease is not caused by lifestyle changes, and does not run in my family. Yet while diet and exercise neither cause nor cure MS, they can certainly allow me to stay healthy on all fronts. I don't live with the illusion that my actions will cure my disease, but I can appreciate that I feel well doing what I am doing, and taking control, in a healthy way, of those aspects of my health I can control.

Thanks to Quincy Carole for a past comment, prompting this post!

Thanks for reading.