An Athlete Winning The Challenge against Diabetes: Khalid Keshta

Khalid Keshta is a well-known bodybuilder, nutritionist, personal trainer and a diabetes specialist who has type-1 diabetes.

Khalid Keshta

The diagnosis

Khalid Keshta was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2011. In an interview with Omnipod, Khalid said, “I started to lose a lot of weight, yet I was athletic. I used to play football, but I’d get really thirsty, running to the loo all the time.”

One day rushing to the hospital, they find out that Khalid’s blood sugar was 47mmol/l (846mg/dl) in which the normal range is 4-8mmol/l (72-144mg/dl). The specialist told Khalid if it wasn’t for the amount of water he used to drink and peeing continuously, he would have been dead or at least in a diabetic ketoacidosis coma.

The transformation

In November 2020, Khalid was featured in The Guardian Newspaper in UK talking about diabetes.

In an interview with Health Awareness after getting asked “How did you feel the first time you knew you have diabetes?”, Khalid said “I was very happy! Shocking right? After taking insulin, I felt revived again, I started seeing HQ colours, I wasn’t as thirsty or as lethargic. I am blessed now.”

Back then, Khalid was planning to become a professional football player. However after 90 days from getting diagnosed with type-1, he broke his knee and ruptured his ligaments. After 2 failed operations, he realised it is time to move on to pursue a different career.

However, he refused to be inactive and started to go to the gym. In an interview with Desang, Khalid said “I began to see changes to my body shape fairly soon, I was aware of the old ideas that people with diabetes couldn’t do sports. I’d not been interested in being a competitive bodybuilder until I realised I could be different, I could represent the world of diabetes! It is a hard sport, but if I could compete on stage and do well, and at the same time raise awareness, I could help show people that you can do anything.” In 2017 Keshta entered his first competition and won.

Journey

Currently a pro card holder in numerous federations in UK and internationally and a fitness ambassador of diabetes related brands and organisations such as JDRF and Omnipod, his passion did not stop there, he created a diabetes academy that mentors and gives tips to people with diabetes to master their condition.

In an interview with Jonny Labey, Khalid said, “Many people are ashamed or embarrassed of their diabetes, I am the exact opposite, I like to show it off, I like the feeling when someone asks me about the gadgets I am wearing on my body so I can inform them and educate them more about diabetes. I also like the shock on people’s faces when they figure out I have diabetes yet I am able to reach the physique I have. This is what I am trying to change”.

In addition to that, whenever Khalid wins a competition, he either shows his diabetes gadget or puts his insulin pen in the trophy to motivate others with diabetes and raise awareness to people who do not know what diabetes is.

Khalid’s message to the world is, you can be anything you desire, diabetes is not going to stop you from reaching your goals, yes it will add challenges, but it will never be an obstacle and an excuse for someone not to reach their goal.

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