The top athletes I've been around are told what to eat and when to eat it. It's very very disciplined.
So sorry I disagree that they do have a lot of my hard work done for them.
Many partners take that hassle away from some of our posters even. I don't get that luxury.
So I will say again.
I cannot fully praise a diabetic athlete or nutritionally carried person who has most of the hard work done for them!
Just like bariatric surgery.
More praise goes to those who do it without surgery but those who face death or surgery and get bullied or ridicule for chosing surgery are in my book brave.
They know they will be critised but ignore fools anyway.
Their life is more precious than ignorance.
I'm not here to argue with you, but having someone tell an individual what and when to eat is only as good as that. If the person themselves don't carry out the action on a day to day basis, all they've had is a nice chat, and the results are unlikely to come. An advantaged person, whether elite athlete, very wealthy person, or however else we care to categorise it, would be foolhardy to just take the advice they are given without attempting to understand, and sense check the rationale behind it, but that's my personal view.
To be honest, I'm unfussed whether a diabetic achieves their best achievable well-being by taking meds, other interventions or without. We are all entitled to our conscious, informed choices, ideally backed up by on their own research and learning.
To an extent the person who achieves fantastic results without meds or other support isn't necessarily a hero or a super person. To a degree they got lucky, because at the time they made whatever changes they did, their bodies were able to recover to their good state. Those whose bodies may be more damaged, or they have other co-morbidities in play, may simply have that luxury, whatever efforts they themselves make.
That we believe differently is fine. It doesn't necessarily make either of us right. Most people do the best they can, with the tools available to them.