A woman who managed to transform her body through weight loss claims that doing so has helped 'reverse' her diabetes.
Katy McMillan, a 28-year-old woman from Scotland, was 18 when doctors diagnosed her with diabetes, after discovering that her blood sugar levels were sky-high while they prepped her for an operation.
She weighed 12 stone and 12 pounds and was extremely self-conscious about her size, as well as her condition, which is often caused by inactivity and a poor diet.
However, after seeing some impressive before-and-after pictures on Facebook, Katy was inspired to try out dieting herself, and managed to plummet to a weight of eight stone and 12 pounds!
Using a special Weight Watchers program, she was even able to reduce her blood sugar levels to match those of someone without diabetes – meaning that she no longer requires insulin.
Commenting on her weight loss in a recent interview, Katy stated: "When I look back, it feels like the big me with type 2 diabetes is a different person. I was so self-conscious and embarrassed to have type 2 diabetes so young and to have to inject in front of people. I’ve gone from that to walking out of hospital in total disbelief that my blood sugar levels were healthy and normal. I feel so much better in myself and no longer feel like everyone is staring at me."
"The [diabetes] diagnosis itself was devastating. I remember being shown how to inject myself, trying to do it and just sobbing, saying I couldn’t. I then had to deal with going back to school and adjusting to this new life. I didn’t want anyone to see me injecting, and felt so embarrassed. At that age, you just want to be like everyone else. It was hell."
She added: "I saw these amazing before and after pictures and thought, ‘That’s what I want.’ I knew if I didn’t do it then, I never would, so I contacted my WW leader Morag and went down to a meeting.
"They explained how to use their SmartPoints system, which tracks food and drink to nudge users towards a more nutritious diet. It made complete sense to me and I especially loved the app, enabling you to scan food in the supermarket and find out how many points it’s worth."
"I’d tried other regimes in the past and hadn’t stuck to them, as they were so impractical. You can’t exactly go out to a restaurant and eat weight loss shakes or supplements. But I liked WW as it didn’t bring attention to the fact I was trying to slim down. I could still eat the foods I liked, but it taught me about moderation and to stop pushing myself to eat when I was full."
If you'd like to try out the same weight loss programme as Katy, visit the official Weight Watchers website for more information about their Healthier You diabetes prevention programme.
