Your Weight and How to Deal With It- Episode 42, To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow

**Dr. Jim Morrow, Morrow Family Medicine**

Your Weight and How to Deal With It- Episode 42, To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow

On this episode of “To Your Health,” Dr. Morrow discusses weight and how to deal with it, including the genetic and lifestyle factors that influence it. He also talks about how our weight has been impacted by the life changes made during the pandemic. “To Your Health” is brought to you by Morrow Family Medicine, which brings the CARE back to healthcare.

About Morrow Family Medicine and Dr. Jim Morrow

Morrow Family Medicine is an award-winning, state-of-the-art family practice with offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. The practice combines healthcare information technology with old-fashioned care to provide the type of care that many are in search of today. Two physicians, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners are supported by a knowledgeable and friendly staff to make your visit to Morrow Family Medicine one that will remind you of the way healthcare should be. At Morrow Family Medicine, we like to say we are “bringing the care back to healthcare!” Morrow Family Medicine has been named the “Best of Forsyth” in Family Medicine in all five years of the award, is a three-time consecutive winner of the “Best of North Atlanta” by readers of Appen Media, and the 2019 winner of “Best of Life” in North Fulton County.

Dr. Jim Morrow, Morrow Family Medicine, and Host of “To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow”

Dr. Jim Morrow is the founder and CEO of Morrow Family Medicine. He has been a trailblazer and evangelist in the area of healthcare information technology, was named Physician IT Leader of the Year by HIMSS, a HIMSS Davies Award Winner, the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce Steve Bloom Award Winner as Entrepreneur of the Year and he received a Phoenix Award as Community Leader of the Year from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Peggie Morrow and together they founded the Forsyth BYOT Benefit, a charity in Forsyth County to support students in need of technology and devices. They have two Goldendoodles, a gaggle of grandchildren and enjoy life on and around Lake Lanier.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorrowFamMed/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7788088/admin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/toyourhealthMD

The complete show archive of “To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow” addresses a wide range of health and wellness topics, and can be found at www.toyourhealthradio.com.

Dr. Morrow’s Show Notes

Complications of Covid-19

Acute Respiratory Failure
Pneumonia
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
Acute Liver Injury
Acute Cardiac Injury
Secondary Infection
Acute Kidney Injury
Septic Shock
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
Blood Clots
Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children
Chronic Fatigue
Rhabdomyolysis

Your Weight and How to Deal With It

For years, I have explained to patients about their weight using a term called Ideal Body Weight.
- It’s a terrible number, an almost unreachable number.
- Especially in the state of Georgia.
  - The obesity rate in Georgia is close to the highest in the country, about 11^th highest when last counted.
- However, I am not one to preach to people that they need to get down to a certain level. Because it is so dog gone hard.
- These days the usual way to determine if a person is “obese” is using their Body Mass Index, or BMI.
  - BMI, unlike ideal body weight, takes into consideration the person’s height.
  - To determine your BMI, multiply your height by 703. Divide that number by your height in inches. Divide that number again by your height in inches.

· BMI	· Category	· What it means
· Below 19	· Underweight	· You might need to gain some weight. Talk to your doctor.
· 19 to 24	· Healthy	· You are at a healthy weight. Try to maintain this weight.
· 25 to 29	· Overweight	· Don’t gain any more weight. You may need to lose weight. Check with your doctor.
· 30 or higher	· Obese	· You probably need to lose weight. Talk to your doctor about the best ways to lose weight.

So… according to this, if your BMI is over 25, you are overweight
- and if it is over 30 you are obese.
- If it is above 35, you are considered morbidly obese.
- If that is the case, then the conversation in my exam room will likely be slightly different form if the number is closer to 30-32.
I see people every day who are upset about their weight.
- I mean, I live in Georgia right.
- When I do see one who is thinner than average,
- I will tell them that if they plan to stay in Georgia,
- they’re going to have to lose some weight.
The visit where weight comes up might be with a man or a woman.
- If it is a man, there is usually woman who has forced him to bring it up.

Men are very fortunate.
- When they put their minds to it,
  - they can, at nearly any age, lose weight.
  - Woman have a MUCH harder time losing weight.
  - And here’s the thing that patients really hate to hear me say:

If you are a post-menopausal woman,

you are incredibly unlikely to really lose weight.

It’s just so hard. And there are two primary reasons for this:
- Genetics:
  - When I go to a family reunion, there is a room full of people there who look just like me.
  - I love these people, but we all share the same genes and some of those genes make us bigger than others.
  - It is just the way it is.
  - And you can’t change anything about this.
  - You can work really hard to exercise as much as you can.
  - You can try to be as active as you can.
  - But you are not going to change the impact that genetics has on your weight.
    - Period.
      - You just aren’t.

Lifestyle:
- This is the one that really gets people.
- Sure, you can change your lifestyle.
- You can start doing things differently.
- You can join a gym,
  - you can start running (although another thing that people hate to hear me say is that if you are over 40 you are too old to run).
- Back in the 80’s I wrote a diet booklet to give to patients.
  - It had a substitution diet in it, like a diabetic diet,
    - with various plans for different calorie intakes each day.
    - It said two things that are still important today:
  - The word diet has two definitions:
    - It is the food you eat on a regular basis
    - It is a plan you begin in an effort to lose weight.
  - The problem is that what people are thinking about is the second definition.
    - They think, and heaven knows I have done this more times than I could ever count,
      - “Man, I can’t wait to get to my goal weight so I can get off this damn diet!”

Years ago I did Weight Watchers, for the first time.
- I went to meetings.
- I counted points.
- I was religious about it.
- It was one of those times when I had just had it with my weight.
  - Finally, after several months, I hit my goal weight and at that meeting they made such a big deal out of me doing that and me receiving my Lifetime Membership Award.
  - It felt so much like “graduation” that I basically graduated from WW that night.
  - And I never looked at points again.
    - Having lost 42 pounds, I gained 50 in less than a year.
  - I have probably lost a thousand pounds in my life.
  - So… what does this mean for you?
  - Here is the way I feel about this.

If you are overweight or obese,
- you should be a lot more concerned about not gaining weight year after year, than trying to lose weight.
- If you are a youngster, sure go ahead and try to get down to where you feel you should be.
- But if you are one of those post-menopausal women I see, or a man over 55 – 60, pay more attention to not gaining weight.
If you come for a physical every year, like you should,
- and you gain five pounds, be careful.
  - A month ago, I saw a gentleman for his yearly physical.
  - He asked about this weight and when I said he had gained five pounds, he was so happy.
  - Pumped his fist and said “YES! YES!”.
- I said, slow your roll there big guy, you have said that 7 years in a row.
  - So, quick math, he had gained 35 pounds since we started seeing him 7 years earlier.
- I admire anyone who is interested in making themselves healthier.
  - It is what we should all be doing.
  - But when I see people who are devastated by their inability to lose weight, it concerns me.
  - Often these are people who would otherwise be perfectly happy in their lives.
  - But instead they are depressed or at a minimum upset about their weight.
- Bottom line in this for me is:
  - Be who you are.
  - Try to be happy with who you are, and be the healthiest version of who you are that you can be.