Alice is living with prediabetes, but she’s taking an important step to reverse her risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Follow her health journey as she completes the Diabetes Prevention Program and travels the road to better health.
Ready to Go
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I walked into the first meeting of my Diabetes Prevention Program class. But as we went around the room and introduced ourselves, I felt my anxiety begin to melt away. I realized each of us in the room wanted one thing: to take control of our health. And we were all going to try to do it together.
After the introductions, our instructor, Melissa, gave us the lowdown on Type 2 diabetes. Because of my family history, I already knew a lot about the disease and the harmful effects high blood sugar can cause over time: heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, even blindness. But hearing it again reminded me why I was there and strengthened my resolve to make the most of the class.
A New View
The course first focused on nutrition, and we were encouraged to keep a record of everything we ate. It wasn’t my first time doing that; but it’s always an eye-opener when I do, and this time was no different. Keeping a line-by-line account of everything I was eating and drinking gave me a new and deeper awareness of my food habits.
For example, I realized that my husband and I could run a restaurant with all the bread we kept in the house! So that was one of the first changes we made: no more bread sitting on the table during dinner, enticing us to eat it mindlessly throughout our meal.
Tracking My “Spending”
Soon after starting our food logs, we also began tracking fat grams and calories. As someone who’s tried practically every diet there is, I was no stranger to counting calories. But for me, monitoring fat grams was something new. When I had to decide how I would “spend” my allotment of fat grams, I began to make different – and better – food choices.
I ate fewer fried foods and started grilling more. I began experimenting with vegetables and finding new ways to add them into our meals. (Grilled broccoli has become one of our favorites!) I became less heavy handed with the salad dressing.
It wasn’t anything drastic, and the changes were relatively simple. But I was definitely thinking differently about food, and my habits were starting to change.
And on top of that, I was starting to lose weight!
