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What happens at your first weight consultation

The questions your doctor asks, the tests they may want, and what to have ready on the table before the video call.

KiloCare Team · · How we write and review

A man in a light-blue shirt listens on a video consultation at a round oak table by a window, a notebook, water and tea beside him.

The evening before the call, the notebook comes out. Medicines go down one side of the first page, doses down the other. Last spring's blood report is folded inside the cover.

Your doctor will ask about much more than your weight and what you eat. They need to know about your health and what an ordinary day looks like for you. Knowing what they will ask makes it easier to give them the full picture.

Your first consultation, in order
  1. Your health, and your family's
  2. An ordinary day: food, sleep, work and sitting
  3. Height, weight, waist and blood pressure
  4. Blood tests, if you need them
  5. What happens next, and when

What to write in the notebook

Tick these off as you write them down, or copy the list to your phone.

Your notebook for the call

If you have none of this, book anyway. Your doctor can start without it.

Questions about your health and your day

Your doctor asks about past illnesses and operations, and about health problems in your family. Then come questions about an ordinary day: what you eat, how you sleep, your working hours and how long you sit.

A night shift or a 2-hour commute changes what fits into your day. Tell your doctor about your day as it really is now, so their advice fits it.

Height, weight and your waist

Your doctor asks for your height and weight, and your blood pressure if you have a recent reading. If you can, measure your waist too.

India's dietary guidelines, from ICMR-NIN, say Asians tend to carry more body fat than Europeans at the same BMI, which puts them at higher risk of lifestyle diseases.[1] The same guidelines call the waist useful for checking fat around the middle.[1] The UK's guideline on obesity care, from NICE, also advises measuring the waist as well as the weight.[2]

To measure it, find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips. Wrap a tape measure around your waist halfway between them, just above the belly button. Breathe out normally, then read it.[2]

Blood tests

Your doctor may ask for blood tests, or read the reports you already have. These usually cover blood sugar (HbA1c), cholesterol, liver, kidney and thyroid. If you need a test you do not have yet, your doctor tells you which one and reads the result before deciding anything.

Some results change what your doctor suggests. Your doctor explains what yours mean for you.

Why the first call is on video

Under India's Telemedicine Practice Guidelines 2020, beyond common over-the-counter medicines, a doctor can prescribe only certain medicines at a first consultation, and only on a video call.[3] At KiloCare, every first consultation is by video, with a registered doctor. Every clinical decision is your doctor's, including whether you need any medicine at all.

Before the call ends

By the end, you should know what your doctor suggests, what to watch for, and when you will speak next. If any part is unclear, ask before you hang up. If you are prescribed something, you receive a signed copy of the prescription.[3]

On the first page of the notebook, under the medicines, there is a new line: the date of your next review.

No. Bring recent reports if you have them. If your doctor needs a test you do not have, they tell you which one and read the result before deciding anything.

Only if your doctor decides it is right for you, after the assessment. Your doctor also explains the options without medicine, and you decide together.

Under India's Telemedicine Practice Guidelines 2020, beyond common over-the-counter medicines, a doctor can prescribe only certain medicines at a first consultation, and only over video. So at KiloCare, every first consultation is by video.

Sources

  1. ICMR-NIN Expert Committee. Dietary Guidelines for Indians - 2024. Hyderabad: ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition; 2024. Available from: nin.res.inCited atp. 62p. 64
  2. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Overweight and obesity management. London: NICE; 2025 Jan 14. NICE guideline NG246. Last updated 2026 Jan 8. Available from: nice.org.ukCited atp. 33, rec. 1.9.3p. 35, box 1
  3. Board of Governors in supersession of the Medical Council of India. Telemedicine Practice Guidelines: Enabling Registered Medical Practitioners to Provide Healthcare Using Telemedicine. 2020 Mar 25. Appendix 5 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002. Available from: esanjeevani.mohfw.gov.inCited atp. 27p. 21