Tom Watson - Type 2 diabetes and me

Ojustaboo

Well-Known Member
Messages
102
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all.

Tom Watson has written a blog about his journey to remission with his type 2 diabetes, it can be found here.


https://www.tom-watson.com/type_2_d...utm_medium=email&utm_source=campaigncountdown

Not meaning to bring politics into this, but I am on Labours email list.

I read the following email from Tom Watson

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I couldn't have had a better week! When I announced Labour's pledge to halt the rise in diabetes within five years of being in Government, I really didn't know what to expect.

I was all too aware that obesity is not a popular issue to talk about. It doesn't get you hundreds of likes and shares on the Facebook and Twitter buttons. It doesn't grab the media headlines.

But on Wednesday when, in a speech at the UK Active conference, I told my personal story - of losing 98lbs and putting my Type 2 diabetes into remission through altering my nutrition and exercise - something crazy happened.

I received thousands of messages of support; TV and newspapers gave up acres of space and time to highlight the issue; a short social media video of my story has been watched by more than half a million people; and strangers are literally stopping me in the street to ask for diet tips.

So apologies if you sent me a message and I have not been able to get back to you personally. But where people, struggling with weight issues are reaching out and I can offer a few words of support, I will do my very best to respond.

Perhaps most importantly of all, I hope that I have helped kickstart an urgently needed national debate about the public health crisis around obesity and related illnesses that our country is facing.

In the next few weeks I will be announcing details of the independent Commission I am setting up with Shadow Health Secretary to Jon Ashworth to deliver answers to the very difficult question of how we can reverse the tide of rising obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

We'll be looking for input from across the spectrum: medics, nutritionists, experts, charities, real food campaigners, dieticians, people struggling to lose weight, fitness instructors and independent thinkers. If you want to have your say, I'd very much appreciate your input.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I emailed him saying the following, (I probably got many bits wrong, suffer from depression and was a bit down when I wrote it)


------------------------------------------------
I have recently been diagnosed with type 2

Going to https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/

Almost everyone on that site recommends low carb high fat.

I've been on it for about 2 months and gone from 19 stone 1lb to 16 stone 13lb, and my sugar levels are right down. At this rate by Christmas I will be a normal weight.

Yet most of the GPs and GP dieticians don’t advise this type of diet. A friend of mine was referred to one last week, he told her about me, she said that officially she is not allowed to recommend low carb high fat, but off the record, if she had type 2, that's what she would do.

One point about what I’ve read about you, one of the headlines said you had cured your diabetes. That's not really true, it's in remission like your Christmas DVD email said. I've read about people who for example have effectively been diabetes free for say 7 years, and had a course of steroids prescribed, and within a week, blood levels back to diabetes levels.

We can remain diabetes free but only if we change our lifestyles, if you or I when I'm the proper weight ate for example what my skinny wife eats every day, we would be back at diabetes levels within days if not hours.

Reformed alcoholics avoid situations where there’s drinks, reformed drug addicts avoid going to places where people are taking drugs.

Reformed overeaters trying to remain slim are bombarded almost 24/7 by TV ads, menus through the door etc etc etc and it's very very hard not to be tempted.

I can’t see the advertising companies being willing not to advertise food. And to put it bluntly, if the obesity crisis was really sorted in the UK about two thirds of takeaways and at least 1/2 the restaurants would have to close, would any government really want that?

Then there's the diet industry. Worth billions (can’t see them wanting everyone to be a healthy weight), I see them like a pyramid home shopping scheme. The sort of scheme where you go hear a talk, and see the few people successful at marketing, having holidays abroad 3 times or more a year etc etc, whereas the average home shopping worker pesters their friends to try to buy products they don't need, and ultimately fail.

And I go shopping, I only want one, but one whatever is 80p, but I can get two for £1, so I buy two thinking I’ll save one, but I end up eating them both. While I’m not single, looking st supermarket prices, if you are you are penalised for only wanting one item etc and encouraged to buy more than you really need..

Slimming world etc are the same, A handful of people up and down the country can say how they've lost and kept off a huge amount of weight at these clubs, meanwhile every week, the same poor people are there week in and week out and most probably weigh similar to what they weighed 10+ years ago. I read about one slimming world success story and she got stuck on a ride in a theme park and it took 3 people to prise her out of the ride due to her weight. She vowed to lose weight at that point, and joined slimming world and they parade her as a success story. I disagree, I think the embarrassment of being prized out of the ride was her reality check moment when she realised she has to do something now. I think she would have lost the weight whatever diet she decided to follow. You (and I) had our moments being diagnosed with type 2.

The problem is, how do we get others to reach their moment because until we do, they will never ever ever lose the weight.

Another problem is how fat everyone else is. Not meaning to be rude, but when I was at my fattest, I could walk around my local town (Great Yarmouth)_ and see so many many people that were fatter than me, I didn’t really feel that fat. Whereas I recently went to Copenhagen, and I was the fattest person there.
Look at the attached picture from a Lido in the 70s. Compared to the average person around here they almost look under nourished, that is how bad things has got.

I don’t have the answers but something urgently needs to be done

When I was a teenager in the late 70s, sure I bought penny sweets on the way to school, sure on the way home most days I bought a twix, but we walked/cycled to school, we played on the streets/common, if we had school dinner, we just had a snack when we got home, if we didn't have school dinner, we would have a small (compared to today’s sizes) meal and that was it until bed. No crisps, biscuits, sweets in the cupboard except Easter and Christmas.

As for takeaways, sure occasionally as a teenager we would go to the chip shop at lunch time, but family takeaways were a once a year treat. Now I hear parents who get pizzas delivered 3+ times a week as they are too busy to cook.

Need to bring back proper home economics for both sexes where they are taught how to cook from basic ingredients, and how much better these are than processed food.

But the amount of big money in the food industry etc, and I dare say a fair few MPs also have investments in various companies (or dreams of becoming directors when they leave politics) I don't see any of this happening.

Best
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Ojustaboo

Well-Known Member
Messages
102
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
He responded with


---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi xxxx

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with me and share your story and congratulations on getting this far, well done.

I appreciate all the varied points you make. All of which will be considered in the round.

I can only say what worked for me as this tough journey is different for everyone. It has taken me one year for others it may take 5 years or more. I wanted to share my story with others to get people talking about the issue and raise awareness. I felt that setting realistic goals and giving myself rewards kept me motivated. I rewarded myself with small things for my old bicycle which had the mothballs blown off when I was ready to exercise. I have enjoyed every bit of getting fit again.

I now want to use my personal experience to help develop policies that can really make a difference to people’s lives. I don’t have all the answers. That’s why I’ve set up an independent commission to look at all the hard evidence and experience from people like you.

I’ve been so touched to receive so many messages of support. It is amazing to hear how much me coming out and talking about my experience has inspired people.

I'm going to be working much more on this issue in the months to come . It would help me if I could keep in touch with my progress.

Thank you again for getting in touch.

Best

Tom
 

Brunneria

Guru
Retired Moderator
Messages
21,889
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Thanks @Ojustaboo

I saw you had posted this on another thread, and suggested you create a new thread on it - not only because of your magnificient personal story, but also because whatever our personal politics, I expect that we can all appreciate having a polician in the arena who gets the plight of t2s and their struggles with conventional institutionalised advice.
 
Last edited:

dawnmc

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,431
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
Great read, and good on him.
I wish I could say I hadn't looked after myself and enjoyed all the takeaway food he's managed to eat, but I haven't ever eaten 'junk'.
 

Ojustaboo

Well-Known Member
Messages
102
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Great read, and good on him.
I wish I could say I hadn't looked after myself and enjoyed all the takeaway food he's managed to eat, but I haven't ever eaten 'junk'.

When I went to my Desmond course, the two people there with the highest HBAC1 blood count (and they were very very high) were both normal weight/slim.

I suppose that for most of us T2 can be a result of being too overweight, but for some, it's caused by other things?