famine to lose weight, feast when you can’t stand the hunger and undereating anymore. these doctors can have more compassion then someone who has not had to lose alot of weight or who are weight stable with little effort.

I guess their survival instincts are in full swing just like the rest of us fatties.

RR

I run marathons, bike, etc., and have stayed skinny my whole life (40yrs). I probably could become fat if I tried because there is some heavy beef on both sides of my family, but I have never tested out my “potential”. As an ER doc I have about one minute to establish some type of rapport with a patient. I have found that if I made any type of comment about the health concerns of obesity I can sense seething resentment in a second. So I just don’t talk about it any more because it will become counterproductive to the whole encounter. Often patients will say “How do you stay so fit doc?” Well, then that gives me an opportunity for education. What really makes me sad is to see the fat little kids.

If anything, this should point to how difficult it can be for people, even physicians, to lose weight. And as you are all so fond of pointing out, physicians are human too.