Phyllis H.
Prediabetes and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) - heart disease
When she started, her first concern was CHF. Her heart efficiency numbers were trending downwards, and in the teens when we started working together. Over the course of a year, with continued attention to lifestyle shifts and supplements, her CHF greatly improved. She now enjoys heart efficiency 4 times better than where she started, as measured by the LVEF (Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction), at over 60%. This is a welcome change from where she started at 15% LVEF. Next, she put focus on her blood sugar issues, and made rapid progress, going from 6.6 to 5.5 in 6 months. Her biggest ah-hah was about portion control. Once she committed to plan her food, in advance, and stick to it, everything else felt easier to her.
What a journey! Along the way she had shoulder surgery, lost loved ones, and other things that happened that left her feeling unsure about life and whether she would be healthy again. At first, she was shocked to find out she had type 2 diabetes. It seemed like it had snuck up on her. But when she looked back, she could see that the warning signs were there over the years and no one had really helped her understand what she could do to heal from chronically high blood sugar.
For her healing journey, a combination of prescription medications to get her out of the danger zone of really high blood sugar levels was where she started. Next, she made simple, specific changes to what she was eating, then how much she was eating. As her energy returned, she started exercising, keeping it simple with walking and dancing almost every day. During this time she kept checking her fasting blood sugars and was able to safely decrease her Rx meds with guidance from the prescribing doctor. She uses her lifestyle shifts to stay out of the danger zone with blood sugar and continue her progress to safer blood sugar levels. Currently in the healthy, normal blood sugar range with an A1C of 4.8, she has reversed her type 2 diabetes. She is happy to be healthy again!
Darla K.
Type 2 diabetes - From A1C over 9.0 to 4.8
Sallie M.
Type 2 diabetes - A1C 8.0 to 6.2
Initially she had no idea that drinking soda as her primary beverage was a problem for health, especially blood sugar control. There are so many people who are unaware of the damage soda does. Her sweet tooth was out of control. She packed on the pounds, feeling doomed to continue on this path as she couldn’t resist the cravings for sweets and added sugar. With specific guidance, she was able to kick the cravings for sweets to the curb. With that in the rearview mirror, she then worked on her habits that made her feel out of control with her lifestyle choices. Step by step she put the pieces together for her health puzzle in an order that made sense to her, and was overjoyed to see her blood sugar go from 8.0 to 6.2 in 3 months. She continues to work on her lifestyle habits, and now understands she can do what it takes to have healthy blood sugar levels.
Joseph used to have so much natural energy and lately was feeling zapped.
He spent his afternoons in a food coma, unable to get through the workday and finish the most important things at work. When he got home, he felt so badly he had no energy to greet his wife and play with his children. This situation was bad and quickly getting worse.
When he found out he had type 2 diabetes, at first he was surprised. But after doing some research, he discovered that he was making fundamental mistakes most of the time that were putting him on the blood sugar roller coaster. Because he was always so tired, he’d drink energy drinks full of caffeine and sugar, then feel exhausted, then drink another energy drink, etc. This cycle of crash and burn was getting worse.
At first Joseph was skeptical that lifestyle changes could help him climb out of the blood sugar danger zone. But once he realized that lifestyle was the way to get out of trouble and become healthy again, he got his homework done. His co-workers were impressed with his dedication, and together, they started a lunchtime walking and workout club. Now that they are working remotely, they meet via a social media app and still do their walks and workouts together. He now enjoys fasting blood sugars in the range of 80 – 90, and his A1C is under 5.6. Now, he has energy for himself, his family and his work.
Joseph A.
Type 2 diabetes and fatigue - morning blood sugars in the 200s, 300s
Nancy S.
Mitral valve prolapse and prediabetes
Nancy was used to being healthy and able to do what she wanted when she wanted. She had overcome a number of childhood illnesses and now as an adult in her 50’s, found herself struggling with first heart disease, then prediabetes. She knew the combo of diabetes and heart disease was not a good one and she needed to take action. Her mitral valve prolapse was repaired in her young adulthood, and Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) had snuck up on her. In the stress of worrying about her heart, her blood sugar started creeping up too. She had tried a number of RX prescription medications for her heart function but it seemed she just got the unwanted side effects instead of the intended benefits. She was overjoyed to experience her sustained improvement of her LVEF, going from 18% to 55% and then continuing to improve. She no longer has Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and is so pleased by this.
The blood sugar situation started with a A1C of 6.1, and is now at 5.8, as she continues to slowly and steadily make the needed changes for further improvement.
Her family history of obesity and diabetes was troublesome. She’d spent most of her life being overweight, then obese. Feeling discouraged and wary of “quick fixes”, she sought out a plan that she could sustain and keep doing, fine-tuning it as needed to reach her health goals of weight loss, keep the weight off, and lowering her blood sugar.
Stress was a big piece of her health problems, and she discovered it was causing her to have a rough time before, during and after menopause. Her hot flashes, blood sugar spikes, and mood swings were affecting her performance on her job and she wanted to get off of the blood sugar roller coaster for good. She did not want to get fired so she decided to take action. Step by step she followed the plan laid out for her, discovered what to do to get a good night’s sleep, night after night, and finally came to tame the beast called “stress” in her life, especially at work. Next, she tackled nutrition and exercise, discovering the importance of being consistent and accountable.
In fact, she had no faith in her own ability to lose weight and keep it off for good, so much so that as she lost lots of weight and her extra skin was sagging, she wouldn’t even let herself consider surgery to remove the excess skin that got in the way of her exercising on a consistent basis. Once she learned to trust herself again and have faith that she would continue to stay on track, she had the excess skin removal surgery. To this day she continues to keep the extra weight off, her blood sugar down at a healthy level, her exercise is consistent and life is good!
Jane G.
Prediabetes, Overweight, Obesity, Excess Skin
Louisa T.
Sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes - A1C of 7.4 to 5.7
Louisa is a grandmother and is helping to raise her grandchildren, one of whom is a special needs child and keeps her really busy. Her diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was a real wake up call. She had been putting everyone else’s needs in front of her own for many years. Finally, when she understood that the chronically high blood sugar of diabetes may have been caused by having sleep apnea, she realized that she couldn’t let this situation get out of hand.
What no one had explained was that her cravings and desire to overeat were likely due to chronically poor sleep. And, the stresses of caring for the grandkids likely put her over the top for high blood sugar levels. So, with guidance, she chose one aspect of lifestyle to focus on, made it better, then moved on to the next, making changes over the course of a few months and her blood sugar levels responded beautifully, moving from an A1C of 7.4 to 5.7. She now has the energy to get through her days, get a good night’s sleep and eat the amount of food that is right for her. What a difference it makes to know what to do and why it matters!
I have learned that I want to live. The disease cannot have me. I have made a commitment to a lifestyle change. Everyday I eat to live. I do not live to eat. The body does not need a lot to survive. It all starts in your mind and the body follows. This lifestyle change has me feeling better than I have ever felt. I can sleep. It’s hard to put it all in words.