“It’s the most awful, dark feeling in the world,” Divabetic Icon Luther Vandross said when he put back on 100 pounds. “It feels like you’re wearing an 80-pound hat and a coat that weighs 300 pounds … You feel like it’s always dark and gloomy.”
We’re spotlighting Luther’s album, Give Me The Reason on Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast, scheduled for Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 6 -7:30 PM, EST.
Luther Vandross had become one of the most successful soul singers of the first half of the eighties when he recorded his fifth album, Give Me the Reason, in 1986. The album comprised nine tracks, including the hits: So Amazing, There’s Nothing Better Than Love, Stop To Love, and Give Me The Reason.
He also was a weight loss success story! He appeared slim on the album’s cover in 1985, when he dieted below 200 pounds.
Three short years later, Luther’s weight ballooned to more than 300 pounds. A pattern that he repeated several more times in his lifetime.
The next time he lost a significant amount of weight, he credited it to a six-month liquid diet program, used by Oprah Winfrey, in 1989.
While many people with type 2 diabetes struggle with weight fluctuations, Luther’s yo-yo relationship with food was displayed before millions of fans.
Divabetic’s Annual Luther Vandross Tribute podcast hopes to shed light on how doctors put overweight patients, with type 2 diabetes, on a path to failure by focusing on shedding pounds.
“Luther beat himself up about his weight fluctuations,” says Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, host of Diabetes Late Nite
“His weight issues seemed to overshadow his success. He achieved and sustained incredible success in his career as a songwriter, producer, and singer, yet, on the flip side, fought a losing battle with his health.”
Our cultural obsession with appearance may bleed over into the exam room, leading doctors to disproportionately focus on weight and to interact with fat patients differently from thin ones.
“It makes it very hard,” Luther said. “You wear it externally so the minute you walk through the door, everybody knows ‘Luther’s not winning his battle with his demon.'”
He often referred to his relationship with food as an addiction: “An alcoholic can’t have half a martini, and you know, I can’t have bread.”
Obesity is a health risk. Excess weight increases the risk of various health conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
But medical professionals disagree about how they should address weight management with patients or whether they should address weight loss at all.
Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast guests include Lisa Fischer, Jason Miles, Jeff James, Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE, Chuck Flowers, and Kitt Vordeaux.
Throughout the podcast, we will be featuring music from Luther Vandross’s Give Me The Reason album courtesy of SONY Music.
He added, “I can’t have sugar, and I can’t have carbohydrates … but I can sing the mess out of a ballad.”