Fat "acceptance" - from the PoV of a fat person

[Ms. Toad]

153. It is actually less true than we are led to believe.

I have Type 2 diabetes. It is true that I was obese when diagnosed. It is also true that I was still obese when my blood glucose levels were consistently within normal ranges (within 3 days after diagnosis) and my A1C in the normal range (5 months after diagnosis - the first test post diagnosis).

It is also true that 8 months later, at "normal" weight (62 lbs lighter), my insulin resistance is virtually identical to what it was the day of diagnosis. if I eat more than 20 net carbs in a 3 hour period, my blood glucose creeps out of the normal range. In theory, losing 10-15% of your body weight, especially when newly diagnosed, decreases insulin resistance. I've lost 31.4%, with virtually no change. That said, my diabetes is completely controlled, and short of an oral glucose tolerance test no medical professional would suspect that I have diabetes except that I disclose it. (I had to keep reminding the array of new doctors I've seen recently who were pleased as punch to tell me that since I was normal weight and not diabetic, I had lots more options for my cancer treatment. Err . . . doc . . . look at the chart where I clearly disclosed that I have diabetes.)

My diabetes comes from my skinny-as-a-rail grandfather, my normal weight uncle, and my overweight but very physically active mother (who also lost significant weight post-diagnosis - but whose A1C is not within normal range because she chooses to follow the ADA recommendations, rather than avoiding the carbs her body cannot handle). In fact, everyone my age or older in my family has diabetes. Period. No weight-based exceptions. No non-couch-potato-exceptions.

Aside from the people in my family who have T2 diabetes and who are not overweight, I know many more similarly situated. I also know many obese people who do not have T2 diabetes. My strong suspicion is that it is a broken glucose metabolism that makes it more likely that people with diabetes are obese than the other way around.

But - the results of diabetes, including obesity, are not inevitable and for many people diabetes does not have to be a chronic progressive disease, if you eat a diet that is based on watching BG response to foods, and altering food intake to control BG.

I'm happy to be "normal" weight again, but my current weight does not contribute to my ability to avoid the consequences of diabetes.