Can a physician make a competition part of a successful diet plan? The answer to that question depends largely on the approach taken by any one physician. A competition might encourage weight loss if combined with a suggested weight loss diet and emphasis on the importance of exercise. However, history has shown that in the absence of those important factors, a competition can become part of a failed diet plan.
Close to forty years ago, one physician did look to competition as a way to motivate a patient that needed to lose weight. That family doctor did not discuss with his patient the basic elements of fat loss. Instead, that physician made a bet with his patient. He challenged his male patient to try to beat his doctor in a weight loss competition.
Did that move by the physician encourage his patient to develop a diet plan? The answer is both yes and no. The patient shared with his wife the fact that he and his doctor were competing to see who could lose more weight. The patient’s wife then set about searching for a workable weight loss diet. She looked for a guide that would allow her meal planning to evolve from information on suggested methods for losing weight.
Unfortunately, she did not concern herself with the importance of fat loss. Instead she focused on her husband’s stated goal—weight loss. Therefore, she decided that she and her husband would try the Atkins diet. The dieter that follows the restrictions called for in that diet must avoid eating any carbohydrates.
The first morning that this couple was on the Atkins diet, they each ate orange juice and two soft-boiled eggs. The man, used to having a piece of toast with his eggs did not feel entirely satisfied, still he remembered that he was competing with his doctor. Consequently, he simply said, “Is that it?” His wife explained that the Atkins diet ruled out carbohydrates. It did allow meat, eggs, milk, fruits, and vegetables.
The dieting husband did not refer to the fat content of some meat and dairy products. He did not think about mentioning the benefits derived from fat loss. Instead, he simply asked, “Could I have a little more salt?”
Sadly, that humorous comment does not lead to a happy ending for the story about a weight loss diet and a doctor’s diet plan. The patient could not achieve and stay at a healthier weight. The patient died of heart attack. Neither the patient nor the physician won their unofficial competition.
