Any Risk of Getting Diabetes?

I am currently 5’8.5’ and about 205lbs. I am currently trying to gain weight. My goal, size wise, is to see how big I can get with just food and shakes. If I can get to 250+lbs, great. I understand to gain weight with food, you will undoubtedly gain some fat.

There is undeniably no way around this. I am still in my early 20s, and I feel if I choose to bulk up big, now is my time. If I need to shred some body fat later down the line, it will be very simple to do so, and I will actually have a base to fall back upon. Last year at this time I believe I was around 145lbs.

I think I defiantly could have gained more than 60lbs in one year if I would have been more consistent with eating around 4-5 meals, and drinking 2 meals of the right kinds of stuff a day. Along with consistency, the hardest part has been finding something that works for you.

Also, having variety and convince has defiantly played a major key in the long scheme of things. I do not consider myself fat, but I wouldn’t exactly say I am skinny now either. Standing up, I can see my ab impression when I suck in and tighten up my mid section (if this tells you anything).

My dad, being a doctor, tells me I have a huge risk of obtaining diabetes due to the large amounts of food I consume daily. He has me concerned on one hand, but on the other hand, I know he is one of those people who constantly worry about, for the most part, everything (not just me).

Now, I know your first question is going to be, how do you eat? Well, I do not have a given amount of calories I eat each day. It is very simple what I do. As I said above, I try to eat 4-5 meals a day, and try to drink 2 meals. I try to get all my right kinds of fats, carbs, and proteins for my weight, and then I throw in other foods as calorie supplements.

I also try to get as much fiber from fruits and veggies as I can. I find this defiantly helps with digest, and makes me much much less gassy (no joke). According to other people, it also balances out your PH. After every single meal I eat, I make sure I am full. I take a multi vitamin and an antioxidant pill three times daily.

I am not really too big on supplements except for protein powders, carbohydrate powders, BCAA’s, fish/flax oil capsules, CLA powder, greens product, and old fashion creatine monohydrate. My dad will not get off my ass about this diabetes thing, and it is defiantly starting to drive me nuts. Every time I see him, he brings it up.

He said he is going to start banning me from the kitchen (he is serious). He also tells me “nobody is going to want to be around a fat boy,” which I think is hilarious. I moved back home a couple months ago, and realized real fast it wasn’t a good idea. I am moving out in less than 2 weeks. I know my dad is a doctor, and he does know his stuff, but I think he is over reacting a bit.

Let me know your thoughts on this please. Is he over reacting, or is this something I really need to be concerned about?

Diabetes isn’t just something you get from eating more food. It has much more to do with HOW you eat, genetic factors, activity levels and even age. However, your perception seems a bit off. You gained 60lbs in one year? How much of that was muscle?

Many bodybuilders bulk up, but if you are going overboard then that makes you no different than the anorexic guys logging into this forum daily. You are just going to other extreme. Unless you were severely underweight to begin with, there are guys with GREAT genetics who wouldn’t put on 60lbs in only one year. How much body fat are you carrying?

You could get diabetes if you eat insane amounts of carbs during a long amount of time. Bodybuilding diets contain less carbs than “regular” diets since there’s a great part of your intake that comes from protein and higher fat intake are also suggested by many (as long as you split your intake between the 3 types of fat).

Exercise also tends to higher insulin sensitivity while type-2 diabetes is related to insulin insensitivity.

There’s also the fact that when you move more, you need more energy so it’s normal to eat more. Olympic athletes sometimes take up to 10 000 cals a day because of their training and much of this intake will come from carbs since it’s energy.

As long as you spend a great deal of the energy you eat, there shouldn’t be a problem.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Diabetes isn’t just something you get from eating more food. It has much more to do with HOW you eat, genetic factors, activity levels and even age. However, your perception seems a bit off. You gained 60lbs in one year? How much of that was muscle?

Many bodybuilders bulk up, but if you are going overboard then that makes you no different than the anorexic guys logging into this forum daily. You are just going to other extreme. Unless you were severely underweight to begin with, there are guys with GREAT genetics who wouldn’t put on 60lbs in only one year. How much body fat are you carrying?[/quote]

When I first started, I was Simi lean. I could see my abs pretty clearly without sucking in. I did have to flex them though to see them. If I breathe out now, I have a small gut that has for the most part remained the same size since I was 175lbs. I can see my abs if I suck them in and flex them (again, I do not know if this tells you anything).

As I said, I have know problem gaining weight if I am consistent. During one of these phases when I was consistent, I went from 180-205 in a matter of about 4 weeks. I was pretty astonished myself to see I could gain weight like that so soon. As for my training, I am currently using a modified Westside powerlifting program.

[quote]DeanoT wrote:
When I first started, I was Simi lean. I could see my abs pretty clearly without sucking in. I did have to flex them though to see them. If I breathe out now, I have a small gut that has for the most part remained the same size since I was 175lbs. I can see my abs if I suck them in and flex them (again, I do not know if this tells you anything).

As I said, I have know problem gaining weight if I am consistent. During one of these phases when I was consistent, I went from 180-205 in a matter of about 4 weeks. I was pretty astonished myself to see I could gain weight like that so soon. As for my training, I am currently using a modified Westside powerlifting program.

[/quote]

No one can make any difinitive statements from what you have written in this thread. If you are interested in someone critiquing your progress, you will have to post a picture. I am also not siding with your dad because simply being a doctor doesn’t mean he has a clue about bodybuilding or what your goals are.

Both of my parents are educated but gave me the hardest time about anything bodybuilding related. Someone who doesn’t follow bodybuilding at all will not understand gaining weight. Most of the world is trying to lose weight. Very few are consistant weight trainers who eat more with a purpose. If I were to tell anyone my goal is to gain any more muscle, they would think I was insane.

However, I have my doubts as to a 60lbs gain being mostly lean body mass in only ONE year unless you were underweight like one of the posters in the beginner’s forum. This is one instance I might recommend getting your body fat percentage tested.

If you really, really must know make a clucose tolerance test…

Probably the worst thing about bodybuilding would be weight gainer if you took it. I’m not sure if weight lifting makes you immune to diabetes, but that shit is definitly a good way to get diabetes.

[quote]orion wrote:
If you really, really must know make a clucose tolerance test… [/quote]

Although a typo… some type of “clucose” test would be great around here. It would certainly increase our tolerance level greatly anyway!

Anyhow, as others have said, type 2 diabetes is about developing insulin resistance. It is usually associated with a sedentary lifestyle, shitty eating habits and obesity.

If you aren’t sedentary, aren’t eating shitty (bodybuilders generally eat quite nutritious food and worry about getting omega-3’s and so forth) and aren’t obese, then your body probably wouldn’t be likely to become insulin resistant.

Anyway, maybe if you change your language a bit it will calm down the old parental unit. You are not actually trying to gain weight. You are trying to gain muscle mass.

[quote]vroom wrote:
Anyway, maybe if you change your language a bit it will calm down the old parental unit. You are not actually trying to gain weight. You are trying to gain muscle mass.[/quote]

There are many people even in the medical field that are completely clueless as far as that is concerned and base everything they know on the same media crap everyone else does. To some of them, gaining weight may be no different than gaining muscle mass. They might even see the latter as “dangerous” somehow.

Either way, if most of his gain is lean tissue and he isn’t obese, I wouldn’t worry about it. Unless his food intake is largely cookies and pastries, most bodybuilders rely on calorically dense foods but we also rely on more protein and quality. Many obese people would be much better off if they simply moved more which is a major factor in coming down with insulin resistance.