Doctors seem to have trouble discussing weight issues with their overweight patients.

Lisa Flowers says weight is something she wishes her doctor would address more directly. At 47, Flowers stands 5 foot 7 and weighs nearly 300 pounds. She wasn’t always obese. But after she had a baby five years ago and moved from Washington, D.C., to Delaware, she says her workout and eating habits got off track.

Flowers says she’s brought up her weight with her doctor, but the topic is “kind of avoided, almost as if he’s uncomfortable.”

Doctors feel discouraged by the lack of commitment they perceive in their patients to losing weight.

And as patients look to their doctors for answers their expectations may be unrealistic in that they are looking for a “magic bullet” to tackle their weight issues.