DUBAI // After piling on more than 50 kilograms and suffering regular depression, Welsh expatriate Rhian Lindley decided to make a drastic lifestyle change only after she was told she had diabetes.
Six months later, she has amazed doctors by having the diagnosis reversed and no longer needs daily shots of insulin to keep the condition in check.
Mrs Lindley, a mother of three, has been living with a rare auto-immune disease for 23 years, and said that was a major factor in her sudden increase to 110kg.
A daily habit of six cans of Diet Coke, with its sugar substitute, satisfied her constant sugar craving but when combined with the debilitating effects of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, her body slowly slipped into chronic ill health.
“I became trapped in a cycle of binge eating,” said Mrs Lindley, 41. “I tried to counter that with exercise but just got fatter. It got to the point where I was treating my depression by eating.
“I explained my symptoms to an endocrinologist as I was urinating a lot and couldn’t stop eating.”
Eleven months ago while on holiday, Mrs Lindley received a call from her doctor confirming that she had diabetes, joining the one in five residents living with the illness.
When doctors prescribed daily injections of insulin, she made a stand against medical advice.
“To see the insulin needles, I knew I had to change,” she said. “I got a health coach and personal trainer and read books on how to reverse diabetes.
“Doctors just accepted the diagnosis, and never mentioned it was something I could reverse if I changed my diet and did more exercise. There was an acceptance I was going to be on medication for the rest of my life.”
Six months after cutting out sugar and most carbohydrates, and exercising six days a week, doctors have confirmed that Mrs Lindley is now free of diabetes.
She has lost 27kg and hopes to shed a further 15kg by November, when she hopes to enter the Dubai Muscle Show – the Middle East’s leading international fitness show.
Mrs Lindley, a trained opera singer, said losing the weight gave her the confidence to record her first showreel.
“My doctors were amazed, as most of their patients just accept they are overweight and have diabetes,” she said. “People need to recognise they must take responsibility for their health.
“I’m a different person. My husband says he’s got back the person he married.”
Posting photos of her transformation on social media has attracted an overwhelming response and requests for advice.
She now blogs her progress on a website called sugarcoatedme.com, to inspire others with all kinds of health issues that medication is not always the answer.
Personal trainer Jodie Chalmers said Mrs Lindley was six months ahead of schedule in losing her diabetes and should be an inspiration to others.
“What Rhian has achieved is amazing,” Ms Chalmers said. “Health care is a huge business in the UAE, as we all have private medical care. The more medication a doctor can administer, the more money they are making.
“Lifestyle changes and natural remedies to treat medical conditions are rarely discussed as the first option. There are many conditions, like pre-diabetes, that can be cured through nutrition and not enough people are aware of that. People don’t have to live on medication for the rest of their lives.”
With Type 2 diabetes heavily linked to obesity, bariatric surgery is seen as a quick fix to cure related health problems, but patients must try to lose weight first.
“We deal with patients in different ways but obese patients are always put on a diet programme and a lifestyle change first,” said Dr Ayman Soliman, a surgeon at NMC Royal Hospital Abu Dhabi.
“Patients with chronic health problems who have diabetes or hypertension for 10 years with no improvements may be more suited to a permanent solution, like surgery.”
nwebster@thenational.ae
