You Can Be Healthy and Overweight - An Inspirational Story

Great blog, Sarah!

Sorry Brian, I’m with nicolo on this one… Being overweight isn’t good for health, and it’s not particularly helpful to try to convince anyone it is…

And while it is absolutely remarkable that this athlete can accomplish such grueling feats while being overweight— just imagine what she could do at a more “healthy” weight.

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@Brian_BSC is a much more engaged consumer of the research literature than I am. I’m surprised that his takeaway is that he personally thinks there’s no causal link between excess weight and diabetes, but given how thoughtfully I’ve seen him engage on other diabetes-research-related topics, that’s a significant datapoint for me. But if I had to make my best guess at this moment, my assessment would be that all other things being equal, someone who set about gaining a lot of weight via major lifestyle changes would also raise their risk of incurring or exacerbating Type 2 diabetes. But I’m intrigued by the suggestion that I might be wrong about that.

More generally, it drives me crazy when anecdotal evidence is cited as supposedly disconfirming more general trends. To cite a totally different example, some children who receive childhood vaccines will manifest as autistic later. But a few such anecdotes tell us nothing about whether vaccines cause autism. And even things that are clearly correlated are often not causal, which is precisely what Brian and others are suggesting characterizes the relationship between obesity and diabetes.

On the shaming topic, my perception is that people are very quick to brand any suggestion of a causal relationship between weight gain and diabetes as “shaming.” That strikes me as a way to stifle healthy discussion, I think it’s much more useful to try to engage on the science of whether there is in fact such a link. But I get that these issues are very personal for some, and I do think fat shaming is a very real thing, even if I would only apply that term to other, more overtly pernicious, commentary.

I am hardly arguing that people should deliberately make themselves overweight. Rather I am arguing that a better strategy for managing outcomes when you get diabetes might be to use low carb diets to normalize blood sugars and become fit through exercise. Instead people that are overweight and have diabetes or pre-diabetes are taught that they can cure their diabetes through weight loss when in fact that has not been shown to have good outcomes. If being overweight really caused diabetes we would expect weight loss interventions to work.

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And I’m not suggesting you’re arguing people should deliberately make themselves overweight! But I am suggesting that you seem to posit that if someone deliberately made themselves overweight, you think that wouldn’t change their Type 2 diabetes risk.

Especially given how hard weight loss is, based on tons of evidence, I think there’s good reason to question how effective the prescription to lose weight is. A prescription to try to avoid gaining that weight in the first place strikes me as much more viable, though, of course recognizing that weight gain is only partly a function of lifestyle choices. And I know that suggesting people have any agency over their weight opens the door to supposed “shaming.”

And moderating carbs seems like a no-brainer to me, both for controlling diabetes directly and for managing weight.

I don’t understand how people are interpreting the article as encouraging people to be overweight. Of course people should maintain their weight if they are not overweight and should try to lose weight if they are overweight. The fact is that most people are already overweight. For those people, who are the majority, why can’t a running magazine feature an article about them?

Is a diabetes magazine that features an article about someone with diabetes complications being active in sports encouraging people to disregard their diabetes control and “get complications”? NO! It’s showing that if life circumstances have already brought one down that path, there is still hope and a way forward and that an active lifestyle is not limited one type of body.

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seriously. I eat 30 grams of carbs per day and I cannot lose weight. I’m glad you have it all figured out though. My weight is NOT based on any lifestyle choices I have made. If that were the case, I would be underweight.

I wouldn’t call it “shaming”, I would call it know-it-all behavior. No matter what it is called…walk a mile in my shoes and then give your opinion.

Sarah :four_leaf_clover:

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I still find the story of Mirna Valerio very inspirational. She gives us the message that even if we carry extra weight no matter what we do, that doesn’t make us a failure and it actually doesn’t condemn us to poor health outcomes. Watching our diet and staying fit are more important.

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well said!

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I’m not sure why folks are confused about the conversation we’ve had here. Brian posted a lovely article about an overweight person who nonetheless manages impressive athletic achievements, which is awesome and worth celebrating. His commentary then starkly called out the “fundamental misconception that being overweight means you are not healthy” or that there is any causal relationship between obesity and diabetes. And we’ve had a conversation prompted by those initial comments.

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If you read his commentary beyond that sentence, though, he is not directing it towards the general population but towards us—the population of people who already have diaebtes and are already overweight (by using “us” and “we”). You are talking about large populations and statistics and outliers, which I don’t think is what his comment was referring to.

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I’ve been reading all Brian’s commentary here, and engaging with it directly, because I’m genuinely interested in what he has to say, all the more so when he stakes out a position so different from my own perceptions. To be honest, I’m starting to wonder whether others lauding the article bothered to read it, because it has quite a bit of pretty stark content about the health risks of obesity.

I think we’re just engaging with different parts of the post. You’re focused on the one statement about causation, others are reacting to the article itself or the overall tone of the post. For what it’s worth, when reading the post I got the impression that the point was, “What a great role model and example for those of us living with diabetes/obesity!” not, “Let’s have a scientific discussion about public health and the causes of diabetes/obesity.” Not that there’s anything wrong with you responding that way, it just wasn’t clear to me (and perhaps to others) that you were responding to that one comment as opposed to the article and obesity issue as a whole.

I can’t speak for others, but I read the magazine article in its entirety. And you’re right, it doesn’t glorify obesity. That’s partly why I don’t understand the reaction the article is getting from people implying that it’s “promoting” or “encouraging” obesity (on many sites). I don’t think anyone is saying obesity is a good thing, but for many of us (most of us, really, if referring to the population overall), it’s our reality.

For me, I don’t care about why I’m overweight. Maybe it’s because I’ve been taking insulin since I was a kid, maybe it’s because I was told by doctors at the age of 25 that I could “eat whatever I wanted” (and, after 15 years of dietary restriction, you bet I did just that for a while!), maybe it’s because I could have exercised more over the years I was in university, maybe it’s because I eat a bunch of extra calories treating lows, maybe it’s because many of my relatives are overweight and it’s genetic, maybe it’s because of chemicals in our food and environment that weren’t there decades ago.

Whatever it is, I don’t care because it’s already happened to me, and I don’t think ruminating on “why” at an individual level is productive. Because of that, I haven’t done the research and don’t have the background to defend any position scientifically. But, if I was to address the issue, I think the causes of any disease/condition are complex and in the case of things like obesity and cancer and other “epidemics” are tied up with society as a whole as much as they are with an individuals’ actions. Sure, maybe someone who (as you say) “deliberately made themselves overweight” would increase their risk of diabetes (and high blood pressure, and heart disease, and joint problems, and cancer)—but maybe they wouldn’t. Correlation doesn’t equal causation no matter how large the sample size. Saying someone has an “increased risk” of something is just saying that he/she has circumstances that are correlated with that condition, not that those circumstances cause that condition. Why is it that people assume diabetes is “caused” by obesity yet other conditions where obestiy is a risk factor (cancer, arthritis, asthma) aren’t “caused” by obesity? In reality, the causes of all four conditions and why some people get them and others don’t are unknown.

In the end what matters to me, and what I focused on in my responses (as did others), is that I am active and healthy now as an overweight person (and not just with the sole purpose of losing weight, because that only works if you actually see progress after a while). So, when I see an article that actually illustrates someone doing just that (amongst the hundreds and thousands of articles I’ve seen about skinny athletes), I think it’s great, and that’s what I respond to.

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I find it sad when “An Inspirational Story” turns into a thread full of defending being overweight, asking for understanding for being overweight, suggesting that diet is not a cause of overweight, and then asking those who are not overweight to wear the shoes of those who are. SAY WHAT???

The fact is that altering the diet and / or increasing exercise are exactly what is done to lose weight. Having treats and cheats is not going to work! Asking us to walk a mile is a start - see you in 12 minutes! If you don’t want to lose weight and love your healthy self then that is all that matters. Why must every single discussion turn into a history of carb count, D duration, physique, and now BP and cholesterol reports?!? Congrats on the health, but in the next reply it appears that being thinner is something desired. SO confusing ; /

There is no question that Mirna Valerio is a badass! And yes, an inspiration if you want to be overweight and run marathons. And sure, there are plenty of overweight folks who are healthy. Yay for all of ya! Seems like this inspirational story is perfect for giving you permission!

[quote=“Sam19, post:17, topic:47050, full:true”]So ditto Sam who said -

Sorry Brian, I’m with nicolo on this one… Being overweight isn’t good for health, and it’s not particularly helpful to try to convince anyone it is…
And while it is absolutely remarkable that this athlete can accomplish such grueling feats while being overweight— just imagine what she could do at a more “healthy” weight.
[/quote]

BTW, Shame is not healthy! I just found this: Loey Lane in bikini: Plus-size vlogger combats body shaming and cyber bullying

@karen57…Mmm. Interesting interpretation of this thread. I see no one talking about “cheats and sweets” Rather, about eating healthy diets and getting a lot of exercise. And certainly I see no one asking your permission–or Mirna’s or anyone else’s for being who they are. And we are a place for “people touched by diabetes” so you are unlikely to have a discussion about managing our health without talking about our carb-intolerance—or about the fact that this scourge impacts every single cell in our bodies in one way or another.

I would also like to remind everybody of that TED talk about insulin resistance coming first and that it Causes weight gain, often a lot, by the time a T2 is diagnosed—not the other way around.

@Niccolo…Your use of the word “outliers” is unfortunate. I get the dependence on statistical analysis. It is an emotional crutch like any other. I’m thinking of starting an Outliers Group–probably draw a lot of members from our site membership…Hehe…

Whatever else, however, Mirna’s Whole Life Story–in its entirety—is a delight to read…Blessings all…Judith

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I thought this thread put a better light on the ‘story’: "Athlete" isn't a body type!

And this was very entertaining :FAT GIRL RUNNING: HOW TO BE A FATRUNNER IN 10 SIMPLE STEPS

especially the bit about duct taping your shoes :smile:

BTW, sometimes my comments relate to information I picked up elsewhere in the forums and find relative to the topic at hand. I realize this is the Type 2 section of the forum so won’t bounce on the idea of folks diet choices being a “scourge”. And I am ever aware of the probable cause(s) of T2.

The article was not anything at all about Diabetes… it was about fat girls running. The fact that they are overweight and running is great, and it seems that is now a definition of healthy, the ability to run! Hehe…

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Interesting, I commented on both of these and didn’t even notice that there are actually two different magazines with stories about different runners.

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It is indeed a good post, @karen57 and it drew me in and I see that your responses there were profoundly different in tone. Which I found re-assuring. But also confusing.

I don’t think diet choices are a “scourge”. I do think that diabetes, T1 or T2, LADA or just-are-related-to, are all scourges. To be clear, I mean “a person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering”. I suppose we could say that our diet choices after dx qualify. But there are waaay too many folks given bad options from people they trust, i.e.–at dx, I was given the ADA guidelines and tried to get control on 45-60 carbs/meal. Obviously that didn’t work. But I had a support system in my family and I found TuD early on. And nobody so far in this thread is making bad choices in terms of managing their health.

I’m glad you understand the complexities of the human body. I have only an inkling, myself, but I have said for many years that "if you want to treat diabetes by the book, you need to write a new book for every diabetic.

And of course, Mirna’s story is not the story of a diabetic, as you said, and if running is the only definition of health, I am definitely out of luck and always have been–having been slated for a dance career from a young age, running, along with many other sports were too risky (though my rebellious streak made me a hell of a sprinter and high jumper in 7th grade–LOL!). I do think your closing sentence had a perhaps misinterpreted bite to it. It happens.

Perhaps what fascinates many of us about Mirna’s story is actually her status as an “Outlier”, as @Niccolo would say. So many of us—T1s, T2s, LADAs, etc are, or have been, in such a position–as diabetics, or simply as human beings (like when I was told I was a “cute little blond” in my younger years and to give up my math/physics track that would help me become an astronaut–my desire at the time—sooo long before Sally Ride, bless her heart)…

Lastly–don’t stay away from discussions designated T2. I never used to pay much attention to such things, though I occasionally pissed off some T1s, unintentionally. Your participation has been Civil—that’s a very good thing, to paraphrase Martha Stewart–a different kind of “outlier” in her day!—hard as that may be to believe…Blessings…Judith

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Okay, this thread has ended up making me angry, and I don’t anger easily.

“Permission to be fat.” Yep, I read the article, and I realized I now had permission to be fat. Not.

I am fat and I was fat as a child. I’ve lost weight down to what is considered socially and medically acceptable three times during my 60 years. The first time was when I was 14. All three times I put the weight back on because I couldn’t keep up the near starvation required to maintain the weight. Plus, I was very active until my late husband became so ill in 2009. I spit out the T2 bit, and have struggled with my illness since, sometimes managing control, sometimes not.

I was diagnosed as a T2 in 2005. I did manage to lose “more than” the magical ten percent, but I was and am still fat.

Yes, I am responsible for what I put in my mouth. Period. Yes, I do believe weight is associated with T2. BUT, I also believe why one person struggles with weight and another doesn’t is complicated, and I believe it isn’t just due to lifestyle choices.

But, of course, I would believe that wouldn’t I? After all, I’m fat.

I just want you to know that I’ve put an incredible amount of energy, money, and anguish into losing weight during my lifetime. I dare anyone to mock my effort, but I failed again and again. The failure is the shame. It is a public shame. That shame is reinforced whenever someone sniffs in disdain and feels they need to remind that all I need to do is lose weight. Birds will sing, Angels will smile on me, and my T2 will be cured.

Yes, I need to be reminded to lose weight because I mustn’t get too comfortable being fat. We mustn’t celebrate the athletic successes of a fat woman because the fatties might think it is okay to be fat.

I’m telling you here and now, us fatties get how not okay it is. You don’t need to remind us, ever, to lose weight. I assure you we get it.

Enough. I applaud this Athlete for dealing with her health in her own way. I admire her.

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+1 thanks for saying what needs to be said. I get it too

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