Before he took my RESTART® class in September, Randy struggled with his weight and overall health. He routinely ate dinner out at restaurants, snacked on processed foods, ate desserts, and drank diet soda daily. As a result, Randy was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2009, and was prescribed Metformin and Victoza by his doctor to manage his diabetes. At the beginning of the class, Randy weighed 287, and his average blood sugar level was 235. Normal blood sugar should be under 140 after eating food. He knew he needed help.
At his friend’s urging, Randy decided to take the RESTART® class because his friend,Tom Lowe, had taken the class a few months earlier, and experienced tremendous success and satisfaction with the how good he felt as a result of eating a whole foods diet. Randy knew that he needed to make some serious changes in his life because the medications he has been taking to manage his diabetes had been making him feel ill, his blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight were too high which made him realize that he simply could not continue eating a standard American diet and become “healthy” at the same time.
Randy’s success with the RESTART program is noteworthy because as a Type 2 diabetic, he was able to demonstrate through his blood sugar monitoring that eating a low carb, low glycemic, whole foods diet can have a measurable impact on managing and even reversing his Type 2 diabetes.
This bar graph shows the blood sugar readings taken four times each day. The key underneath the graph indicates time of day the readings were taken. The lower horizontal line indicate “normal” blood sugar levels and the upper horizontal line indicates “controlled” blood sugar level (as per Randy’s glucose meter). As you can see, after only three weeks, Randy’s blood sugar level fell back into the normal range and averaged 130 mg/dL.
In addition to checking his blood sugar levels four times each day, Randy also weighed himself every Friday during the five week class and lost 14 pounds. While this doesn’t seem like much, it’s a safe and reasonable amount of weight to shed in 21 days from simply eating a healthy, balanced diet. Because he was so carb and sugar-addicted beforehand, he did he best to manage his sugar cravings, yet he felt as though he may have “overindulged” in bananas and nuts to keep away from the "bad" stuff (donuts, chips, ice cream, cookies, etc. which he had eaten every single day for many, many years.) Randy came to terms with his sugar demons, and recognized that they controlled his life and health for so many years and were the reason he had become a type 2 diabetic.
He didn't take measurements before starting the detox, but his size 52 slacks grew “ridiculously baggy” prompting a shopping trip to get some new clothes. Additionally, Randy flew in October, and for the first time in years, he didn’t require the use of the seat belt extender to buckle his seat belt.
Randy said, “for me, the metric I care about is my blood sugar. This detox worked for me because I'm back to "controlled" in terms of blood sugar, and will be continuing with this whole foods diet (complex carbs, healthy fats and proteins) until I can get off some of my medications. I feel better, stronger, and have more energy than I have had in years.”
Randy’s overall improvements in his health and well being are noteworthy for the following three reasons. First, it only took 21 days for Randy to see and feel improvements in his life and the management of his diabetes. He shed pounds and inches, reduced his blood sugar, and had more sustained energy throughout his day. Second, it wasn’t as hard as he thought it was going to be. Randy made a concerted effort to plan and prepare his own home cooked meals from scratch, and realized that although it took some effort, it was actually less expensive than his previous unhealthy eating habits of fast food, junk food, prepared food, etc. Randy’s goal is to get off both of his diabetes medications. Third, “mind over matter” proved to be the success story of his life. As an adult, it’s easy to answer these questions:
“Who buys the food that you eat?”
“You do.”
“ Who puts the food in your mouth?”
“You do.”
When you put your mind to making better and healthier choices for yourself, the rewards are HUGE, noticeable to friends and family, but mostly yourself. You matter! Randy’s story is a perfect example of how the RESTART ® class improves health, lifestyle, and YOU!