IN THE FACE OF EXTERMINATION, SAY FUCK YOU

—-

Well, if you read my blog, you know that basically everyone who loses weight gains it back within 3-5 years, and fully 70% regain more weight than they lost. Your own lived experience may affirm the truth of these statistics.  

And it turns out that weight gain is an independent risk factor for the development of Type II diabetes. Oh, and for men your age, weight gain also increases the risk of all-causes mortality. 

So prescribing weight-loss to improve glucose metabolism seems remarkably short-sighted to me, given that the inevitable weight regain could further harm your health.

But research has shown that some moderate behavior changes can help support metabolic health, within the range that is possible for each individual given our unique genes and life experiences. 

Eating adequately and regularly throughout the day (i.e., over 2500 to 3500 calories per day; no more than 3 hours between meals/snacks). It is easier for your body to process glucose when it comes regularly. Periods of restriction followed by larger meals can stress the body’s abilities to process glucose. Note, you do not need to restrict food groups or eat less. Just nourish yourself adequately and often.

Moving your body so your breathing is moderately elevated for about 20 minutes per day. This level of activity maximizes absorption of glucose into the muscles. Note that more exercise than this does not bring added benefits. No need to push yourself to extremes. Daily moderate activity is all it takes and you don’t even have to do it all at once.

Sleeping at least 7 hours per night, and most importantly, treating sleep apnea if it exists. About 50% of people with Type II diabetes have sleep apnea (compared to about 20% of the general population) because poor sleep affects glucose metabolism. Treating sleep apnea with CPAP therapy is 100% effective and has no side effects. It also improves glucose metabolism. A man your age and size is very likely to have sleep apnea, so get tested! 

in aotearoa, june isn’t our pride, it’s theirs. marsha p johnson and sylvia rivera are their historical figures, not ours. the phrase that “you owe your rights to Black trans women” is true there, but here we owe our rights to (mostly) Māori historical figures. i have the freedoms i do because of the legacy of an entirely different set of people operating in an entirely different context at entirely different times.

But because of american cultural imperialism, most queer people in Aotearoa don’t even know our own queer history. Carmen Rupe, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, the Dorian Society, Gillian Laundon, Georgina Beyer, and the Wolfenden Association are some of our queer history. We should know their names! we should know what they did for us! but because of the power of the american imperial machine, we don’t.

our national pride month should be july, the month that the Homosexual Law Reform Act passed in 1986. our two largest cities hold their pride festivals in february and march, respectively. american queer history has very little (or nothing, depending on who you ask) to do with our queer history. anecdotally, from my own queries, queer youth in aotearoa know more about american queer history than our own.