A yearly checkup can be a chore, but it can also be a way to focus on making good lifestyle changes. The person with more than a bit of excess weight might see it as another lecture, or they could instead spend the time between visits making small changes. All of them could add up, and their health care professional could be congratulating them on making positive progress. Rather than receiving a lecture on how much more they need to lose, the doctor could explain how much healthier they are now and will continue to be into the future.
Small changes add up in a lot of ways, and doctors are not the ones putting stress on people with excess weight. Many of them would love a miracle cure that would allow their patients to lose weight dramatically without any adverse health effects, but they know it will not happen. They seek to get people on the road to healthy eating and exercise now to start the process of losing weight.
It can take years to add enough extra mass to a human body to make weight an issue during a yearly physical, so it should be noted that it can take years to shed it. While doctors have long pushed hard for people to start losing, many seem to believe they should be able to lose it all in just a few months. Nothing could be further from the truth. Losing weight slowly is the key to doing it in a way that will not damage the body further, so slow and steady progress is what physicians seek.
Going to visit the doctor once a year to get a health checkup can be a chore or a measure of success. It is up to the patient to make that decision by their lifestyle choices, and doctors the world over hope they make the right ones.
