DIABETES

I have had Type 2 diabetes for several years and have recently been put on Insulin which brought my sugar level to a level my Nurse is happy with. Being diabetic in some sense can make you healthier as I have to watch what I eat and drink. Obviously anything with sugar has to go I have not eaten cakes etc. for years but other foods you have to watch like Carbohydrates and I quote

” Carbohydrates have a direct influence on blood sugar levels and so diets followed by people with diabetes tend to focus either on the quantity of carbohydrate intake or the speed at which carbohydrates are absorbed by the body.” So in myself I feel reasonable good accept for the Judo injuries.

What I find annoying is that I eat less now then ever I did in my adult life and I also train 5 days a week in the Gym and still can not lose weight in fact since I have been on insulin I have put on 4 Kilos (8.8 lbs.) . Those who know me will see I am a big man at present I weigh 150 kgs but I still have bigger chest then stomach (Chest 60 inch Waist 48 inch). Now I am considered extremely obese and there was a suggestion that I have a gastric Band, as my weight should be according the NHS Graph 80Kilos, 12st 10lbs. Now I was never a fat youngster and at 13 weighed 80 kilo, at 20 years I was 115 Kilo 18 st with not an ounce of fat but I would still be considered obese. From 20 onwards I trained extremely hard and done a lot weights as well as Judo and Sambo which I was very successful and my fighting weight was 133 Kilo 21 stone. My Judo/Sambo Injuries caught up with me having a knee and hip replacement which before this curtailed my movement and now I am to have another knee replacement which goes someway to explain my 2 ½ stone weight increase over the last 15 years.

So why am I telling you this to gain sympathy? NO but to put the other side of the story about Big people Diabetes and Obesity, because of whom I am very few people call me FATTY. Yet the Medical profession will not recognise the fact there are big people who lead a healthy life style, exercise, do not take alcohol to access and eat the correct food yet still remain big. Because of the attitude of the medical profession I have kept a record of everything I have eaten and drunk for over 2 ½ years plus kept a record of my Heart Rate, Blood Pressure and sugar levels, so when they start trying to berate me because of my weight, I bring out my laptop and say have a look at that, knowing their next observation well it must be the portions are to big, I click on to photographs of my meals, next they send you to a dietician who will give you loads of leaflets and the diagram below. Yes as an ex International Athlete I do not know what to eat to keep me healthy?

Now do not get me wrong I am not sticking up for those fatties who will not excise, drink to extreme and eat rubbish food while slopped out in front of the TV, I look at them in disgust. The latest thought is that they are victims and they are fat because it is a disease NO they are fat lazy pigs. Of course there are the occasional one who psychological problem’s but they are far and few

So would I like to lose weight yes of course I would, it would be great to be 18 stone again, have a body like an Adonis and I also would like to be 35, still competing, have sex 3 times a day eat what ever I liked but it is not going to happen, so I have to make the best of what I have got

I have given the NHS a bit of a slating but the Diabetic Nurses I deal with are fantastic they available for any query and help you out as an Individual, pity the rest of the NHS can not behave like them