“I felt like I had done this to myself”
How did your type 2 diagnosis come about?
I was diagnosed in May last year, but I have been pre-diabetic for more than 20 years. I was a bit complacent – I didn’t think I was ever going to tip over into type 2 – but when I was diagnosed I felt a huge amount of shame. I cried because I felt like I had done this to myself by not really taking my health seriously, which is a bit crazy because I’d tried incredibly hard to lose weight. I was 44 years old and I weighed 90kg.
My mum is type 2 and she was diagnosed when she was about my age, so genetics seem to be a big part of it. I also have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which increases your chance of developing diabetes. I suspect Mum had that, too, but it was never diagnosed.
It was through my PCOS diagnosis when I was about 20 that doctors discovered my pre-diabetes. I did a fasting blood glucose test, which showed I was insulin resistant. PCOS really sucks; I felt like a freak when
I was first diagnosed because
I’d never heard of it, but now, whenever I talk about it publicly I get a huge response from other women glad to know they’re not alone. You get hairs on your chin, acne, weight around the middle and, on top of that, I had cystic ovaries. At one stage I had 23 cysts on one ovary and 17 on the other. One was the size of a rockmelon and required emergency surgery.
What have you done in the past to try to lose weight?
The most drastic thing was gastric banding. I tried that about five years ago, when I was 92kg, and I thought it was going to be a quick fix. I was so ashamed to be opting for surgery that I kept it a big secret – I only told four people, including my Mum and Dad, who were supportive
Having found a new approach to dieting, lifestyle presenter Shelly Horton has overcome her type 2 diabetes. She shares what she’s learned across decades of desperately trying to lose weight
because they knew how much I’d always struggled with my weight.
I really thought it was going to be the answer, so when it didn’t work I spiralled mentally, because I felt like a complete failure; not even lap banding would work on me! It had a terrible impact on my mental health. The 12 months I had the band were probably the most miserable time of my life. I could eat steak, but for some reason the band hated soft things like sashimi and boiled eggs. It made no sense to me. I was hungry all the time and I vomited nearly every day.
Getting on the scales was a form of torture; I lost a total of just 4½kg, even though I was going to the gym for an hour, twice a day. So I went to the obesity surgeon in tears and said take it out. Having it fail made me feel like a failure. Having it removed was the best thing I’ve ever done. Before the gastric banding, I tried lots of other diets. I did Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Light N’ Easy and cutting out carbs. I’d be really focused, but over seven days I’d lose about 200g. If my husband stuck to the same diet he’d lose 1kg. I found that so frustrating. I had a bit of ‘why me?’ syndrome and I was angry with my body.
What has made a difference?
My psychologist told me about the SuperFastDiet, but I thought there was no way I could do it. I love food – I’m a bit obsessed with it – so I didn’t like the sound of only having 500 calories on two days, even though on the other five days you can eat more. I said I’d trial it for a month.
It has been incredible. The fasting days are really hard, but I got results really quickly. In the first week I lost 1kg, which really motivated me and made the fasting days easier. I lost 13kg in the first 17 weeks.
I’d had type 2 for about six months at that stage. I was taking Metformin, but my GP had said the time would come when I’d become insulin dependent. I went back to her for blood tests and she did a happy dance. She couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have type 2 anymore. In fact, even my pre-diabetes insulin resistance had gone.
What impact has that had on how you feel about yourself?
I’m really proud of myself having reversed my type 2 diagnosis. I have a lot of very negative self-talk: ‘You are a fat failure’, ‘You always fail at diets’. I don’t feel like a failure anymore. My Mum and Dad are really proud of me, too. I tend to wear wraparound dresses and they’re looking a lot better than they did. But I’m still a little bit scared about clothes shopping.
I still have 7kg to go to achieve my goal of losing 20kg, but the incredible thing is I’ve lost 8cm off my boobs, 9cm off my hips and 18cm off my waist. I’ve never, ever, worn a belt, because like most girls with PCOS, I carry most of my weight around my middle. But I wore a belt the other day. I was so proud of myself.
Has exercise played a big role?
I used to be a gym junkie and I would kill myself at spin class and weights and running and I never lost weight and it would make me cry. Since I’ve been on this diet, I’ve quit the gym.
Instead, I walk my dog, Mr Barkley, a rescue puppy – he’s so cute, but when we first got him he wasn’t so handsome. We live in an apartment so he needs to be walked three times a day. That has been amazing because I work from home and it makes me get up from the computer. I’m not walking at a pace where I’m puffing or sweating; it’s probably the first time in my life I haven’t punished myself with exercise.
I feel very proud of myself having reversed my type 2
diagnosis
What major changes did the diet make to your eating habits?
The biggest thing for me is I no longer eat breakfast. You hear all the time about needing to, but it turns out breakfast is important for growing children and not so much for adults. I used to be a big breakfast person, always having toast or cereal, so lots of carbs. Now I just have a black coffee at breakfast and try not to eat lunch until about 1pm.
Another interesting thing has been realising that when I felt hungry I would instantly feed myself. I’d almost get panicked and need to fix it straight away. But I’ve learned that sometimes my hunger is triggered by being bored or just being thirsty. I’ve noticed that on days when I’m really busy with work I don’t think about food as much.
I’ve also learned that hunger comes in waves, so it does come and go. I now play a bit of a mind game with myself, so if I’m hungry on a fasting day, I might take Mr Barkley for a walk so
I can get to 1pm before I have lunch, rather than eating at noon.
The fasting days are getting easier but I’d never call them easy. I never do them on a weekend.
It’s just as well you don’t need to do fasting days two in a row.
What do you typically eat on a fasting day?
I’ll have a macchiato for breakfast and then at 1pm maybe a boiled egg with tomato and cracked pepper on corn thins, or some pumpkin soup to which I add baby spinach, mushrooms or bean curd noodles, so it fills me up. For dinner I might have 10 prawns, stir fried with fresh herbs, garlic and chilli, bok choy, broccoli, snow peas and onion.
You’re only allowed 500 calories, so I use my kitchen scales and weigh everything and use a calorie tracker on my phone.
What do you enjoy most on the days you’re not fasting?
On feast days you can have up to 2000 calories, which is quite a lot, but not enough to have half a chocolate cake and a bottle of wine. It means I can have a grainy-bread sandwich with ham, cheese and tomato for lunch, some fruit, and mash, steak and peas for dinner and a chocolate. I enjoy my wine, so if I was having wine at dinner, I’d put those kilojoules into my tracker first and then make my food choices. I’d then be happy to eat steamed fish and steamed vegies and not feel so deprived.
I have a sweet tooth, so I also have a big Caramello Koala every night. I keep them in the freezer, so it takes me longer to eat. That stops me feeling miserable because I’m stuck on a diet.
Eating just one koala is a big change in behaviour. In the past
I’d eat a family block of popping rock Cadbury while watching telly, and not really even notice.
I wasn’t keen to count kilojoules, but it left me a bit embarrassed when I realised what bad food choices I’d been making. Now I’m much better at getting the best bang for my buck and choosing options that have fewer kilojoules but are still satisfying.