I believe that having diabetes should never stop you achieving what you want in life. I want to inspire other people with diabetes to see how managing their lifestyle can benefit their own goals. Choosing a sport and lifestyle that so few people can dedicate themselves to was my goal and I’ve now achieved it!

When first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12, I would use it as an excuse for not being able to accomplish various tasks. Two years ago, however, when I met my coach Mike Lee I came to believe I had the tools and mindset to be onstage one day and competing at the top level.

Planning meals and training

The first year was all about increasing muscle mass, and being on an insulin pump helped because I had to consume lots of calories to gain weight. I would eat more than 6000 calories from six or seven meals a day, and weight-train six days a week with cardio in the morning. Then I began to phase in the dieting preparation for competition. For me, dieting is easy because I structure my meals and know exactly how much I had to bolus my meals for. However, this phase involves cutting out all carbohydrates from my meals and focusing on consuming only good fats and proteins, with which most doctors would disagree. But this did wonders for me and I actually didn’t use the insulin pump at all. When speaking about it to US competitor Colette Nelson, she advised me to change my insulin and I must say this was crucial. Colette got me on to Lantus and Humalog for each
meal. I was injecting less than 10 units of insulin per day and I was feeling amazing. As the body produces enough glucose from other various foods, I felt a diet of barramundi and green beans with avocado and salmon was the way to go.

Beating the competition and a condition

It was showtime and with the hours of cardio and carbohydrate-free meals it was time to show what had become of me. I placed second in FITX Melbourne, which I could have been grateful enough for, however the exciting part was the week after at the Australian Titles. I came first and showed myself and others that diabetes is not just a lifestyle disease — it can be a positive in anything we do, although the right control is needed.

I am now preparing for my next competition, the Arnold Classic. The diet I am consuming is still low carbs and I barely even have a hypo at any point during the day.

My goal is to educate and inspire people with diabetes to pursue their goals and have that feeling of achievement from having control over your condition.

Adam John Waite can be contacted for advice on his ‘Diabetic Bodybuilding’ Facebook page

This article was originally published in Conquest Magazine published by Health Publishing Australia