Ethical Issue - Discussion of Obese Nurses, Physicians and Patients

HI John.....I have struggled with my weight too. I have lost quite a bit in the past 2 years. (70 lbs). I started on weight watchers. Even though I knew good nutrition, I found their program really helped, but that's just me. Now I am off the program, and just follow healthy eating. I drink LOTS of water. I was sedentary through all this, believe it or not, but have finally started to exercise. One piece of advice I have, is not to weight yourself daily. Try to weigh only once a week. It makes a difference mentally. When you do it daily, you can get really hung up on the numbers. You are so anxious wanting to see those numbers go down that you fixate on them. Focus on the healthy eating, keep a food journal, keep track of what you eat.....write it all down for a while (the actual food, not just the calories) you'd be amazed at how sometimes you pop in a little somthing, thinking oh it's just a little bit, but those little bits add up. Anyway, these are just some things that helped me. I'm sure others will have some ideas too. Good luck.

I am a nursing student... older and overweight. I have been wondering how nurses fare with their weight. I have always carried excess poundage but try to keep active. Currently I have been adding some resistance training to my cardio activities to up my stamina in prep for my nursing clinicals. Any thoughts on nursing and weight are interesting to me too!
BTW... what's a 'blog'? I saw you site... good luck John!

Food is my Drug of Choice. since I retired, I've lost ~ 25#s. The past few weeks, I've been on WW, that accounts for 1/2 that 25#s, the rest is sheer lack of stress.

Whenever I would see an MD w/whom I was not familiar, and they'd say something about my wt (no matter WHAT non wt related issue I was there for), I'd say, "LOOK! I work 12hr shifts in a NICU, I'm raising a handicapped child alone, I don't drink, smoke, do drugs, or have an 'S.O.'. Fix what I came here for, and leave me alone."

Thank God my current health care provider is a bit on the pudgy side himself!

I agree, however, that a lot of nurses are built for comfort, not speed. But, then, so is the general population, so I'm not sure a greater proportion of nurses have this issue compared to everyone else???

Get a friend who has similar goals! Staying consistent with exercise has made it easier for me to keep it under control. And it makes it so much harder to slack when someone is expecting you to be at the gym. Our hospital has a wellness center - so when we work together, we both agree to stop down for some quick cardio after work - and then make an "appt" each week to do a full workout together. Even when I don't feel like being there, I still show up so that I don't have to answer to him for skipping.

Don’t try and lose weight! Lose fat! I have been bodybuilding for years and one of the best ways I have found to lose body fat is through low carbohydrate dieting. It is a little difficult at first but after the first couple of weeks you won’t be craving those sweets and carbs as much. Record everything you eat, and drink plenty of water. Start lifting weights and slowly add cardio to your program. Also, set exercise and weight goals and view them regularly to stay motivated. Stay away from the scale! Let the mirror dictate if your dietary and exercise changes are working. Finally, learn all you can about diet and exercise, it is the only way you will keep progressing.

Here is one of the sites I visit www.bodybuilding.com
It has just about everything you need to know about diet and exercise as well as some motivational stories and pictures. Good Luck.
Kevin

I have worked in many different areas of the country, and I tend to see more obese nurses than most. Some of soo obese, that they can hardly move around. I agree the profession does have a problem eating healthy and exercising. Where I currently work 100% of us are overweight, but 90% of us are working on changing our dietary habits.

When I first came to this setting there was a RT that came around, and supplied all the offices with candy of all kinds. Even our providers were in the habit of partaking of the unhealthy treats. There would be candy on every desk, and drawers. Pts. would bring us candy, and sweet treats also.

That practice I'm glad to say has changed now. All except two of us no longer allow these treats to be left in our area. We bring in fruits, vegetables and nutritious snacks instead. We work out at the hospital gym or at home.

Since I have been here, I have went down almost two sizes, and have toned up considerably, with many compliments. But believe me it has been a hard road, but I feel better, and I have more energy now. I was 30lbs over weight, and although I'm tall..and people said I carried it well, it definitely made a different in how I felt.

One of the things that this hospital has done is to reward employees who meet their fitness, and weight reduction goals, is to award them $150.00 every 6 months.

The fitness center is only $10 month, gives each employee a personal trainer, who will not only help design a fitness routine for them in the gym, but also at home. The fitness center used to be free, but no one used it. So they consulted someone who suggested they charge, and then people would use it just to get their monies worth. And it worked!

I now work out at the gym several times a week, started using the "FIRM" tapes 5 times a week. I got a abs cruncher, weights, the exercise ball, and a jump rope.

I cut out the sweets, sodas, fried foods, butter, and other unheathly foods. I also decreased the amount of food I eat, and I still have plenty of energy to work in a fast paced setting. I have also lowered my heart rate, which was on the tachy side routinely, and my knee pain stopped, TG!

I pay $15/month d/t being a traveler here, and have been able to make this assignment a very productive one! Good luck in reaching your goals!

I totally agree! One of things that almost hindered me in the begining, is the SCALE!!! I wasn't seeing the lost in pounds I felt I should. But my daughter kept telling me that I my clothes were falling off me! It took a while for me to see the difference! But then all of sudden...to me at least ...I did see it. And at the same time so did others too. I get comments almost daily about the change people are noticing.

We do the same thing where I am, only it will cost you five bucks for each time you don't show!

I don't want to pick on nurses because from everything I've read recently, AMERICANS, are getting fatter. Americans from all walks of life. And there is a healthcare crisis among our children who have higher rates of diabetes than ever before.

This is a whole societal problem. We just are not as physically active as we used to be. Too much good food available and too little exercise.

I've always hated exercising but ended up loving jogging (albeit slowly Time alone on a rural road with deer, etc. Great for the soul.

Then I had a baby in my forties (the redhead on my lap to the left) . . . . I'm still 10 pounds overweight and have joined "Curves" which is a 30 minute workout franchise. You do a hydraulic weight machine for 30 seconds and then hop, jog, dance and then do another weight machine. It is very doable. I think weight resistence for older women is a great deterrent to osteoporosis.

I stress eat too. And love food. dang it.

steph