Client: “My sister won’t even go see the doctor.”

Me: Why not?

Client: She has fat shame.

With a look of horrification of what possible answers may come, I hesitantly ask “What do you mean fat shame?”

Client: She doesn’t like going to the doctors because all they ever tell her is go to the gym and lose weight. So she never goes to the doctor. And I don’t think she will come see you, cause she has fat shame.

Wow.

Thank you my “medical field”. Thank you.

Didn’t you take an oath to “do no harm?”

MD’s don’t you know, how you “see” a patient, can be read on your face? You can’t hide everything behind that white coat.

I am so furious and saddened by this at the same time.

27 years old, chronic ankle pain and now limping with low back pain and all the MD’s said was “go to the gym” . Cause instead of seeing the patient for what she is, you saw her as a big piece of fat blob. And now thanks to your labeling this youthful hopeful human being thinks anyone who could possibly be a candidate in helping her with her health will first see her as “fat”.

Maybe you are wondering at this point, well how much does she weigh? What size is she? What’s her height? I won’t even type it here. Because It Doesn’t Matter. When you talk about healing people, helping them find solutions, you have to put all judgements, labels, and reservations aside. Only then can you truly see what they need.

So if you are wondering why this is such a big deal, well I will save you the statistics but we all know Obesity is a Big issue in this country. So much so that there is a phrase “fat shame”. So I wonder how many other people feel this way when they go in to see their primary care physician. The person who is suppose to have all the answers, the one that is suppose to help them with their health, the person they trust so dearly. Sigh.

Here is another reason this makes me furious because I have lived it. For 10 years.

In my 20’s I got hypothyroidism. I gained weight. I went to sleep most nights with a heart racing like a horse. I had low energy. I went to some of the “best” doctors in the country. Their advice “Karuna. All your blood tests are normal. Go to the gym. Lose some weight.”  Hmmm.

I was only a size 14! They blamed my weight for my bilateral ankle pain, low back pain, low energy… pretty much everything because no one could explain why everything was “normal” but I was still having these symptoms.

So I did. I went from a size 14 to a size 6, and nearly killed myself.

I worked out 2-2.5 hours a day at the gym 7 days a week. An hour with one of the best personal trainers in LA, followed by my own routine. I gave up being a vegetarian, ate chicken and processed “fake” meats. Sometimes I would close my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see what I was eating. It had to be done because you can’t lose weight without eating protein right? Lol.

I was “beautiful”. That’s what the world told me.

I even saw it in the mirror too, I think. Somehow at size 6 I still looked “fat” and was killing my self to be a size 4.

One morning as I was driving, I pulled over the car and vomited because I ate fruit. That was when I decided something is not right. I was still having the heart palpitations. I still woke up with ankle pain. In fact I even ended up having hip pain, and my neck gave out twice. Wasn’t this all suppose to go away by losing weight? Isn’t this suppose to be The answer to all????

Screw that. I stopped all that non-sense over time. That was 10 years ago. Since then I am much wiser. I have no ankle pain. No back pain. No neck pain. No hip pain.  3 out of 4 I had for 15 years. How’s that for a no exercise no lose weight cure?

 

And you know what? No one helped me figure it out. Certainly my awesome doctors didn’t. 10 years of experimenting and learning but I did it. It helps that I am a body scientist.

So, that’s why I am so furious that with all the knowledge out in science, people are still being told “lose weight and go to the gym”. Going to the gym to lose weight is the most ineffective method.

I will even take it one step further, focusing on nutrition to lose weight is also the most ineffective method. Shocked? Well, you know I am not one to follow the herd. I will only tell you the truth about your body. And its all based in science, but you have to be open and ready to rise above the status quo of all definitions that you have been taught.

Losing weight is never about losing weight. So I am not going to write much about it. It’s not my forte.

I am a Healer.

But if you are curious, here are a few people making real differences in people’s health.

Here’s one: http://howtoignitethefire.com/

Here’s another one: http://howtoditchtheweight.com/

Here’s one more: http://toughlovefitness.co.uk/

Here’s another: http://boxtobelieve.com/

Here’s another one: http://eatingacademy.com/

We all know someone who has ailments, and has settled that this is the way it is now. And it’s just not true. The body can always Heal. Share this post with them, maybe it will help them take a step forward. The greatest power to Heal comes from within.

As always thank you for reading. <3

P.s. For anyone who is offended by the cartoon image or my opinion on MD’s and their dishonor to their oath, all I can say is I have lived it. Perhaps if you did too then you wouldn’t be offended. You always know where to click to leave the page.

Hugs!!!