I need a word, please.
Sep. 10th, 2006 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
When do we want to lose something?
There are many times we might want to get rid of something. We can talk about getting rid of junk, cleaning out our closets, getting past old ways of thought. "Losing" is not used for these examples. We lose football games, we lose $10 that fell out a hole in our pockets, we can even lose hope. "Losing" is bad.
Why, then, do we speak of losing weight?
I'm looking for a word or phrase that refers to intentionally lessening one's mass, that makes it sound like a good thing to do. "Shedding" a few pounds is close, but I know you can come up with something better.
Donating extra carbon to the global Goodwill?
There are many times we might want to get rid of something. We can talk about getting rid of junk, cleaning out our closets, getting past old ways of thought. "Losing" is not used for these examples. We lose football games, we lose $10 that fell out a hole in our pockets, we can even lose hope. "Losing" is bad.
Why, then, do we speak of losing weight?
I'm looking for a word or phrase that refers to intentionally lessening one's mass, that makes it sound like a good thing to do. "Shedding" a few pounds is close, but I know you can come up with something better.
Donating extra carbon to the global Goodwill?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 10:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 10:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 03:37 pm (UTC)I'd like to also find something of the "(verbing) some weight" or "(blanking) some pounds" form.
Doctor-speak is full of phrases that put the emphasis in the wrong place. For example, if I give someone some medication for a particular condition, and it doesn't help them, the standard phrase is "patient failed a trial of drug X." Me, I think that drug X failed the patient....
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 05:23 pm (UTC)Back when I was in med school, I had to give a 15 minute talk on how to improve "patient adherence." I think the preceptor expected me to talk about the precontemplation-contemplation-etc model for behavior change. Instead, I suggested that patients might be more likely to accept the advice of a doctor who hadn't just kept him waiting until 5:30 for a 4:00 appointment.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 01:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 03:47 pm (UTC)If I just say something like, "I think your knees would begin to feel better if they didn't have so much strain on them," some patients would think that I'm recommending that they stay in the reclining chair watching TV. I need to be more specific: "I think your knees would begin to feel better if they didn't have so much strain on them. If you could lose twenty pounds, that would make a big difference in how you feel." And then I'd talk about steps to take.
But I don't like saying "lose." It's a very negative word -- and unless I give them a different one, it's the one my patients will be saying to themselves in their internal dialog.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:23 pm (UTC)I think your idea of "shed a few pounds" is a good one. Even something like referring to "loosing fat" rather than "loosing weight" would be good. I'm thinking of elderly patients again, now- I've seen some who are *delighted* to loose weight, but don't seem to connect it with the fact that they're getting weaker because of muscle atrophy.
I'd probably want to go with something like: "I think your knees would improve if they didn't have so much strain on them. If you could get in a bit better shape, that would make a big difference." Which, yes, in some sense avoids the core issue of loosing weight. I'm not sure there's a great solution.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 07:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:01 pm (UTC)I don't know that there's a way to say "lose weight" without using a negative word, if you're committed to referring to the extra weight itself -- which, in fact, has to be let go, cast aside, melted away.
Re-gain a healthy weight, perhaps.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 09:21 pm (UTC)If one actively does something that uses calories, one passively loses fat almost as a side effect. Besides surgical removal, (which I don't think you are recommending) one can't actively lose fat.
"Drop" was good, because one could either actively or passively drop something.
To me, excess weight oten feels like a thick sweater that I cannot take off. "Shed" is good.
If it were me, and I had all the time in the world, I would want to be maybe encouraging activity (=empowerment) as opposed to passivity (=letting it creep up)to get at the cause of the problem. What _can_ the client _do_, etc. "What do you currently do for exercise? What do you like to do? What do you wish you could do if you were in better shape?" But, it takes longer to draw the client out into a discussion.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-11 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-10 08:06 pm (UTC)Leave behind the superfluous weight?
or "Throw away the extra wait," perhaps "Discard the extra weight."
I would want something that also implies not picking it up again.
Set yourself free...
Date: 2006-09-19 08:26 pm (UTC)You need to FREE yourself of about 20 pounds?