I’m “Skinny Fat.” Here’s How I Got Here and Why It’s So Deadly.
I might be thin, but I still have health problems linked to obesity.
My doctor believed my case was a cause for alarm. My A1c had ticked up from 5.7 to 6.0 since my last blood draw, five months earlier. While 5.7 is already in the prediabetic zone, 6.0 moved me even closer to a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. In short, I had too much sugar in my blood.
A1c measures the average sugar in your blood over the past two to three months. Although I’d been aware I was prediabetic for five months by then, my blood sugar levels had likely been elevated for much longer. Before my diagnosis, I hadn’t had my blood checked in over a year. At that time, my A1c was 5.6 — right on the cusp of prediabetes.
When I initially found out I’d moved into the prediabetic zone, I promised my doctor I’d change my diet and start exercising more. And I did. At least, the exercising part. I began walking daily, but I couldn’t bring myself to change my diet.
I continued eating foods high in simple, refined carbohydrates and added sugars, many of which were heavily processed. I arrogantly believed that exercise alone was enough to bring down my blood sugar. I didn’t have a weight problem! And besides, my diet wasn’t that bad — or so I thought.
