Sweet Bodies: Practical Body Image Tools for People With Diabetes

Change your body image from anger, disapproval, and disgust to increasing feelings of tolerance, acceptance, appreciation, compassion, and kindness toward yourself, no weight loss required.

Patty writes. “How I look makes me feel like my body is wrong.”

Marc sighs and explains, “I don’t want to look at myself in the mirror.”

Grace says, “I don’t know how to accept my body without trying to lose weight.”

Patty, Marc, and Grace have shared different ways they are struggling with body image and how having diabetes has only increased their discomfort. This experience isn’t unique to them because, for many people, their first introduction to dieting is typically focused on appearance.  

Appearance-based plans differ significantly from diets focusing on health and keeping blood glucose in balanced. It is hard to challenge the myth that “you look healthy.”  Yet, the belief that health has a “look” is how body image concerns develop. No one can see your blood glucose or A1C level by looking at you.  

Additionally, appearance-based diets have warped society’s sense of health and well-being. Our conditioning assumes that managing blood glucose by eating a balanced diet and exercising is enough to make you “thin.” Yet, your weight is so much more than eating and exercise.  It is impacted by income, access to healthcare, education, childhood, stress, food security, and housing. 

When it comes to weight loss diets, many people can change their size for a few weeks, months, or even a year, but then it comes back on. This cycle of dieting and then regaining the weight is called yo-yo dieting, and it is linked to diabetes.  

There is a lack of evidence showing that sustainable weight loss is possible for most people. Study after study keeps finding the same thing: after a diet, weight is regained. Among higher-weight participants who lost 5% of their body weight, more than half regained it within two years and 78% within five years. 

A 2022 study by Kasuen Mauldin, PhD, RD, Michelle May, MD, and Dawn Clifford, PhD, RD, called The Consequences of a Weight-centric Approach to Healthcare, explained that a weight-focused approach isn’t effective. Their findings are summarized below.

• Long-term weight loss is difficult to achieve for most individuals. 

• Weight loss doesn’t reduce morbidity (illness) or mortality (death). 

• Health improvements seen with a short-term weight loss intervention may be attributed to the behavioral modifications and the intervention rather than weight loss.

• Weight is not a behavior and, therefore, is not subject to behavioral modification. 

Pursuing weight loss isn’t effective because following an appearance-based diet is connected to the following outcomes: disordered eating, eating disorders, weight cycling, and metabolic changes that make it harder to maintain your current weight. Dieting risks also impact your physical health because many people try to lose weight by cutting nutrient-rich calories. An unbalanced eating plan can cause muscle and bone loss, mood, digestion, fatigue, poor mental health, and changes in cardiovascular markers (cholesterol, triglycerides) and blood pressure. 

So what am I supposed to do?

• Instead of trying to lose weight, focus on accepting your body.

• Instead of believing that weight loss makes you like your body, start to see what is okay or good about your body. 

• Instead of believing that weight loss is what reduces illness, remember that consistent self-care has a greater impact than short-term or inconsistent efforts.  

• Instead of focusing on outcomes (weight loss) focus on the tiny behavior you can change to improve your health.

Read more: Why am I told to lose weight when repeated dieting can cause diabetes?

Improving your body image isn’t about looking attractive. 

It may sound strange, but improving your body image isn’t about how you look or if you appear ‘attractive.” It is about creating a supportive relationship with your body.  If you struggled with body image before you were diagnosed, having diabetes only magnifies your strong feelings about your body. Diabetes is a remarkable weight-centric condition. Because you're human, it is natural to be triggered. It takes support to explore thoughts and feelings you have about prediabetes/diabetes.

Consider for a moment how hard it is to care about something you hate, dislike, or feel has failed you. These objects, projects, or people aren’t “important.” It’s almost by design that you stop valuing things you dislike. The same goes for your body. If you dislike your physical form, it’s more likely you won’t want to care for your body. You won’t think about your body’s needs or ways to accommodate your body so it can function optimally. This truth doesn’t make you a “Bad” person. It just means you’re human. Acknowledging and accepting the many ways you’re human is part of this journey.

Where to begin?

At first, you assumed the goal was to be ‘thin,’ but now you can see that your dream is to like the image in the mirror. The more you like your body, the better you will be able to recognize and act on your body's needs.  

The second step is permitting yourself to struggle.  Most of us don’t want to say, “I don’t like how my body looks,” without making a vow to change it. It is almost unimaginable to say something about the body without countering with a “Should.” 

• “I don’t like my stomach. I should exercise more.” 

• “I don’t like my weight. I should go on a diet.” 

• “I don’t like how my clothes fit. I should lose weight.” 

This familiar knee-jerk reaction has become part of diet culture. I wrote this weight-inclusive non-diet ebook to help you stop hating your body and believing that dieting will ‘fix’ you. It is time to ask how feelings of hate make you well, happy, or healthy. How do they foster a better relationship with yourself? This ebook is about creating a healthy relationship with your body, which is also part of diabetes management.

Sweet Bodies: Practical Body Image Tools for People With Diabetes has five sections:

• In Section 1: The Dream. You will clarify what you want and discover how to achieve it.

• In Section 2: The Force of Familiar. You will recognize familiar patterns of thinking and acting, allowing you to change your thoughts and feelings about your body.

• In Section 3: The Problem. You will clarify what makes it hard to like your body.

• In Section 4: The Benefit. You get to explore how liking your body is an investment in the future you!

• In Section 5: The Task Mindset. Learn how to build a practice of self-acceptance.

This program is for paid subscribers and comes with a 27-page ebook! The videos will be released in July and August.

Paid subscribers have access to the following programs!

• Sweet Bodies: Practical Body Image Tools for People With Diabetes.  This five-part guided program includes a recorded video and ebook to help you change your body image from anger, disapproval, and disgust to increasing feelings of tolerance, acceptance, appreciation, compassion, and kindness toward yourself; no weight loss required.

• Paid subscribers gain access to our Nutrition 101 program, which includes a five-part guide and a free 24-page ebook that will help you learn about nutrition without dieting.

• The Sunday Coffee program is a relaxed 10-15 video series released 1-2 times a month. It explores common thoughts and concerns of people who are moving away from dieting.

• The 31-day Wellness Journal is a great way to explore how to manage your blood sugars from a weight-inclusive approach.