While doctors often dole it out, they don't always take their own advice.
Monique Tello, a doctor from Harvard, usually provides patients with counselling about how to lose weight and reduce their risk of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol.
![Journal: Tello wrote down what she ate because research shows tracking helps.](/web/20170310192934im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/t/l/u/k/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gutlb7.png/1488951429358.jpg)
But, several years ago, she had to try on her own advice for size, she admits in a new blog.
After having two "back-to-back" pregnancies she had "gained considerable weight".
"My own body mass index was over 30 [obesity range]," Tello says. "I was many months postpartum, and realised that the 'baby weight' wasn't going anywhere. As a matter of fact, I had gained even more weight since my daughter was born.
"At that point, I had a quandary many people can identify with: I was one of two working parents, with two kids under two. How on earth does one tackle weight loss when one is busy and distracted?"
She tackled it by looking to the research and tweaking it to suit her lifestyle and likes. Red wine and dark chocolate kept their place in the cupboard.
"And that's OK," she says.
She also cut herself some slack when she slipped up.
"Studies show that people who 'mess up' their diet plan and then 'give up' end up gaining, while people who forgive themselves and move on continue to lose," she writes. "It's called self-acceptance.
"Look, we're human. Birthdays, office parties, weddings, random movie nights: they happen, and we celebrate by having the amazing chocolate cake, or Betsy's famous buffalo chicken dip, waaaay too much champagne, or buttered popcorn. Expect this, enjoy, and then move on."
Speaking of moving, she aimed to include two or three solid exercise sessions a week, but generally tried to move more.
"If I can't get to the gym, I run. If I can't run, I do something at home, like five minutes of in-place kickboxing moves, or dancing around the living room like a crazy person with my kids," she says, adding that she wrote down what she ate.
"A lot of research shows that when we keep track of intake, we eat less."
And she ate real food, realising that it may take longer to get where she wanted, but it beat a fad and the results were more likely to last.
"I resigned myself to the fact that, hey, it took me 18-plus months to put on the weight, so it would probably take 18-plus months to lose it," Tello says.
"I chose a well-rounded, nutritious diet plan consisting of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats (and also very low in carbohydrates). It was a popular commercial diet, which I modified to suit my preferences (most of the diets out there are fairly similar). I never bought any of their prepared foods, and used their menu only as a guide, substituting what I liked or had in the pantry where necessary."
So what happens when a doctor takes their own advice?
"It took over two years, but I lost 50 pounds. In the three years since, I've maintained that weight loss within five pounds."
Fairfax Media