Why We Need Weight-Neutral Approach For Diabetes Management

Plus-size Fashion and Travel Blogger, LGBTQ+ Influencer Alysse Dalessandro Santiago shares how seeking out a weight-neutral doctor’s approach helped her improve her diabetes self-care on October’s Divabetic Podcast with music from Carly Simon.

Alysse says, “It’s taken me a long time to be my own healthcare advocate and challenge the pervasive narrative around plus-size or larger-bodied people living with type 2 diabetes.”

Alysse told her doctor, “I am here for diabetes management. I understand that you have been trained to look at my weight as an indicator of my health. But I look at my A1C as an indicator of my health, so can we focus on that?”

She encourages other plus-size and larger-bodied people to advocate for their diabetes health. “Doctors are there to help and care for you. Their job is to care for you as an individual. When a doctor looks at you as a number on a chart or on the scale, they’re not looking at you as an individual. So if you don’t feel like they are listening to you, then you need to leave and find someone else.”

Alysse’s proactive approach to finding a weight-neutral doctor paid off! Finally, she can focus on the tools she needs to have tighter blood sugar management than the scale numbers. One self-care tool that she loves is the FreeStyle Libre Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) System. Alysse says the FreeStyle Libre has helped her to lower her A1C from 11 to a 7. But that’s not all! An added bonus of using the FreeStyle Libre for Alysse has been avoiding triggers related to her binge eating disorder.

“The FreeStyle Libre holds me accountable and tunes me in.” She adds, “The FreeStyle Libre’s alarms make me say, Hey, I emotionally feel like I want to eat, but physically I’m not actually hungry. My blood glucose levels are high, and I should not be eating right now. I’m emotionally hungry. What else can I do to self-soothe?“

The “weight-neutral” movement: a therapeutic approach to improving the health of individuals by focusing less on BMI and more on lifestyle behaviors. Studies suggest weight cycling is more strongly linked with specific adverse health outcomes than having an obese BMI. If your doctor’s appointments start and end with a phrase like: “You need to lose weight,” maybe it’s time to find a new doctor.

*The A1C test—also known as the hemoglobin A1C or HbA1c test—is a simple blood test that measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months.

Plus-Size Fashion and Tavel Blogger, LGBTQ+ Influencer, Alysse Dalessandro Santiago guests on Divabetic’s October podcast with musical inspiration from Carly Simon. Hosted by Mr. Divabetic.

Looking for a fun way to socialize without putting your diabetes wellness at risk? Do you need a little help staying on track with your diabetes self-care?

In honor of National Diabetes Awareness Month, the happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic presents its Once In a Blue Moon program. This free, fun-filled, informative hour of diabetes outreach is intended to rejuvenate and reignite your attitude. The happy healthcare host, Mr. Divabetic, Maryann Nicolay MEd, NDTR, Wendy Satin Rapaport LCSW, PsyD, and Divabetic Image & Style Advisor Catherine Schuller share expert ways to expand food choices, add sparkle, and boost spirits.

So have some fun spending time with us during our Once in A Blue Moon program on Thursday, November 11, 2021, 7 – 8 PM EST on Zoom.

REGISTER NOW – FREE PROGRAM

07/24/2021

Free Baking Party on Zoom With The Diabetic Pastry Chef in September

Special guest, Stacey Harris aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef demonstrates one of her favorite sugar-free recipes, answers your questions, and shares the dos and don’ts of baking with popular sugar substitutes at Divabetic’s upcoming Free Program on Zoom.

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Stacey Harris (‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’) taught herself how to make pound cake, pecan rolls, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and other baked goods with about half the carbs you’d get from a traditional bakery item.

“I started experimenting by using almond milk or whole milk mixed with water to cut down on carbs, then tried different flours, incorporating white whole wheat flour, soy flour, oat flour, black bean flour, and other alternatives into my brownies, cakes, and cookies,” she said in a How 2 Type 2 article.

She adds,” To cut back on sugar, I started using all-natural substitutes, like agave nectar, and trying erythritol. I also bake with a store-bought blend of sugars that tastes delicious.”

All of The Diabetic Pastry Chef‘s recipes are adapted to her preferences and dietary needs; we encourage you to adapt them to yours!

Diabetic Pastry Chef

Stacey Harris aka The Diabetic Pastry Chef shares her recipes in a fabulous book so that people with type 2 diabetes and others looking for sugar-free treats can make their own lower-carb versions of baked goods at home. She also started her own online bakery that ships homemade treats all across the country. The most common thing she hears from customers is, “I don’t even miss the extra sugar!”

Don’t miss Divabetic’s upcoming Free Baking Party Program with The Diabetic Pastry on Zoom on Thursday, September 23, 2021, 7-8 PM, EST.

Register Now

There’s a good indication that murder might be part of the recipe when Nantucket’s ten-time reigning Baking Champion’s last name is ‘Coffin’. But resentment, greed, and Britannia’s own bad dealings turn everyone into a suspect when she’s found dead in the parking lot just before the Annual Decadents on Deck! Bake Off competition is about to kick off.

Delusional baker and amateur sleuth Mr. Divabetic is even shocked to find himself being treated as a suspect in the case by the local police, after meeting her just once!

As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before, escaping a murderous mishap in New York and attempting a fresh start in Nantucket has turned into a complete and utter baking disaster, now Max, along with his friends and nosy mother, have to add tracking down a murderer to his To-Do list, as well.

Can our team hunt down the real murderer before they strike again? Will he become the next victim? Can Max ever manage to bake a cake that’s actually edible?

Divabetic’s Mystery podcast cast includes USA Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, MaryAnn Horst-Nicolay MEd, NDRT, Lorraine Brooks, Catherine Schuller, Wendy Radford, Coach The Cure‘s Trisha Artman, Mama Rose Marie, Seveda Williams, and Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek. Produced by Leisa Chester-Weir.

Throughout the podcast we will be featuring music from the Broadway Cast Album of ‘Call Me Madam’ courtesy of SONY Music.

04/07/202004/07/2020

Sugar-Free Carrot Cake Recipe by the Diabetic Pastry Chef

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Stacey Harris (‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’) taught herself how to make pound cake, pecan rolls, pies, muffins, cupcakes, and other baked goods with about half the carbs you’d get from a traditional bakery item.

She adds,”To cut back on sugar, I started using all-natural substitutes, like agave nectar, and trying erythritol. I also bake with a store-bought blend of sugars that tastes delicious.”

All of the Diabetic Pastry Chef‘s recipes are adapted to her preferences and dietary needs; we encourage you to adapt them to yours!

The Diabetic Pastry Chef‘s Sugar-Free Carrot Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 c. flour, whole wheat or all-purpose
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 c. granulated brown sugar substitute such as Whey Low®, Swerve® or Truvia®
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. plus 1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chopped nuts (preferably walnuts or pecans)
1 1/2 c. grated carrots
1/4 c. raisins, optional

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and lightly flour a 6-cup Bundt pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; set aside.

In a mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together the eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla for 2 minutes. Lower the speed and slowly add in the canola oil until combined. Turn off mixer, and by hand, stir in the grated carrots, nuts and optional raisins, being sure not to overmix.

Add batter to greased and floured Bundt pan and bake until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes. Invert pan onto cooling rack after about 10 minutes and let cool.

Dust with sugar-free confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!

**Diabetes Late Nite Inspired by Gladys Knight**

Stacey Harris, The Diabetic Pastry Chef, guests on Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast with music from Gladys Knight & The Pips. Our musical inspiration, Gladys Knight doesn’t have diabetes, but the disease is as close to her heart as the memories of her mother, Elizabeth Knight, who died of complications from the disease in 1997. The five time Grammy Award winner never misses an opportunity to use her voice to encourage early detection and treatment of diabetes.

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Mr. Divabetic at the Easter Parade in NYC