“I made the choice when I was younger that diabetes would not hold me back. And even through the bad days, I have refused to let it hold me back.”
Steven Leslie from Kirkcaldy runs a successful online fitness coaching business. But one fact that many people might not know about him is that he has been living with diabetes his whole life.
To mark Diabetes Awareness Week (June 12-18), the 30-year-old is sharing his experience of living with the condition.
Fitness fan Steven ‘has never known life’ without diabetes
Dad-of-one Steven was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just four years old and has been having insulin injections ever since.
Diabetes is a condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high, potentially leading to serious health problems such as heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease.
“Since I was so young when I was diagnosed, I don’t know any different other than having diabetes,” he said.
“A lot of people probably struggle getting Type 1 diabetes when they get older because before then, they haven’t had to worry about things like blood sugars and insulin levels.”
Steven continued: “As hard as it is to control it sometimes, and while I might have wished I never had it, I have accepted the fact that I do have it.
“It’s the card I have been dealt so I just have to get on with it the best way I can.”
Diabetes became ‘driving force’ behind fitness business
Steven, who has always had an interest in fitness, had one or two jobs after leaving school. His true vocation, however, came at the age of 21 when he launched his own business, S24 Fitness.
In 2016 he opened his own studio in Mitchelston Industrial Estate, Kirkcaldy offering a range of fitness classes and personal training sessions.
“I just grew a passion for helping people to get fit,” he said.
“A lot of people struggle with their fitness. And for me it was a way of showing them that just because you have a condition, it doesn’t stop you from being physically active.
“I thought I have this condition and I am going to do something with it to help inspire others. That was my driving force.”
Son Archie sparked a new fitness idea
Steven ran his Kirkcaldy studio for three years but decided to close it in 2020. This was due to working split shifts, having a young baby and increasing rent rates.
Instead he decided to launch online fitness coaching for parents, based on his own experience of bringing up his six-year-old son, Archie, with fiancee Dana.
He has been running Peak Performance coaching under his S24 Fitness brand for the past two years.
“Now because I have a six-year-old, I know the stress of being a parent.
“So my Peak Performance coaching is around being a parent and prioritising yourself. It’s aimed at parents who aren’t confident and have no time for themselves. I want to help them to get fit and to eat well.”
Doing the online coaching has also helped his diabetes.
Steven said: “My diabetes is much better now.
“When I was running the fitness studio, I would have a 6am morning class then personal training sessions during the day and would then be working from 6-9pm.
“After that I would go home and on a couple of occasions I had hypos. This is when your blood sugars are low and I could not get up. I was just exhausted because I was doing physical exercise day in and day out.
“Now my diabetes is better controlled because I am not pushing myself to the extreme.”
How Steven has grown up with his condition
Former Fair Isle Primary pupil Steven admits it was difficult at times when he was growing up because he was aware he was different from other children.
“The other kids didn’t really understand what diabetes was and why I had to get these injections every day.
“There was always this question of ‘what is that?’ and ‘why has he got this?’.”
Steven admits he couldn’t understand why he was having to have insulin injections when he was a young boy.
“I was able to grasp it and control it, but it was always in the back of my mind ‘why do I have to do this, why can’t I just take a tablet and be cured?’
“That was the hardest thing having diabetes as a child, knowing it was never going to go away and that I would have to live with it for the rest of my life.”
But Steven believes it has led him to become the person he is today.
“I came to realise there are people out there dealing with much worse things than diabetes.”
How fitness helped Steven from Kirkcaldy manage diabetes
Steven discovered early on being physically fit helped.
He found doing more exercise helped to bring his blood sugar levels down, helping him to manage his condition better.
“If I was one for just sitting about it would have raised my sugar levels which would make me feel more tired and sluggish,” he explained.
“For as long as I remember I have always been pretty active, so physically it hasn’t really affected me at all.”
People should ‘know and understand’ diabetes
Steven feels very passionately about raising awareness of his condition so that more people understand it.
He said: “When I was younger I was so physically fit and energetic, so having diabetes was like an invisible disease.
“A lot of people don’t know I have diabetes because I am so active. But I think it is very important for people to know and understand the condition.
“I also think being physically fit is the number one thing you can do as a type 1 diabetic.
“A lot of people say you can’t do this, you can’t do that. But you can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.”
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