26 Sep 8 Tips to Treat Patients with Kindness and Get Results from Florida Weight Loss Doctor

Kindness should be an essential part of any weight loss and nutrition program. As medical weight loss professionals, it’s our job to help patients reach goals and get results.  

So, how does kindness lead to better results.

1. Be honest. So much of what our patients want for their bodies doesn’t even take into consideration their body shape, their bone density, muscle density, stretch marks, sagging parts, and more. Fitness and health are attainable for everyone. Fitting into a Size 2 dress is not. 
2. How can you be honest and not hurtful?
   1. Shift the conversation from numbers to health goals. What does a healthy weight mean for your client? Instead of losing 20 pounds, perhaps they want to feel more energized, be able to go on carnival rides with their kids, feel better in their clothes, go on the yearly family reunion hike etc. These latter goals are sustainable and real.
   2. If a patient focuses on getting that Baywatch Body, be clear that your job isn’t to help someone look great in a bikini, instead help your patient get healthy, reduce risks of obesity-related diseases, build a healthy relationship with food and exercise. Feeling confident about how they look is a lovey by-product.
      
      
3. Build up body self esteem  Give patients tangible ways to build their body self-esteem. Try gratitude journals, social media hiatuses, and becoming self-aware about their inner dialogue and judgments they make. Have them pay attention to how they feel when they haven’t scrolled Instagram. Have them really listen to what their brain is telling them.
4. Help patients reconnect with their bodies Tell your patients to focus on the way they move, how they feel when they stretch, hold someone’s hand, to feel the cold of an ice cube in their mouth. We are often so disconnected, we’re not even aware of what our bodies are doing. Kindness training is about reconnecting with the essentials. This, also, will help clients learn to listen to their bodies and avoid injury.
   
5. Influencer beware As weight loss physicians, we’re competing with a beast of bad, and easily accessible, information. Many patients come in with some pretty far-out ideas about exercise and nutrition. Sit down with your patient with a checklist. Ask them if they’d hire YOU without accredited qualifications. Provide patients with trusted websites and sources. Have them be critical of influencers, recognizing influencers are paid to promote. They’re human shopping networks, and oftentimes not smart.
6. Create thoughtfully structured goals with your patient. For patients to develop positive, sustainable habits, they need to learn how to formulate, and achieve, goals. These goals can be done monthly, and there should be a real progression for each stage of the game. EG. By the end of the month, I want to be able to walk up two flights of stairs to my apartment without losing my breath. It’s specific. It has a realistic timeframe. It’s ACHIEVABLE. And not intimidating.
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8. Do not be mysterious and cryptic. Your patients must know the what, why, and how of everything. Explain the purpose of each diet modification. This will help them better prepare for any bariatric procedure and heal quicker as well. 
9. Get to the WHY. As weight loss physicians, understanding your patients’ underlying motivation is key to achieving goals. There are many layers to starting a weight loss routine. If only every patient came in and said, “I want to feel healthy and energized again.” Sigh. Some might be recovering from disordered eating and feel ashamed of their bodies and illness. Some might want to prove something to someone in their lives. Others might be using exercise and nutrition to make an ex jealous. Once you tap into these motivations, it will be easier to shift the focus to health and nutrition.  

Make your sessions count. Tap into your patients’ needs, help them shift superficial expectations so they can reach attainable goals, and develop a healthy relationship with food and exercise. It starts with being kind and helping people realize how beautiful they are.