Ginny's Story

I am a fifty year old attorney, mother of two teens, and newly minted healthy woman.  I was fat my entire adult life, until something truly magical happened.  I learned the most important equation of my life:  health= calories/nutrient density.   Here is how it happened.   One day in September 2011 I was in my bedroom trying to retrieve a shoe that had fallen under my bed.  I knelt down, and was grasping for the shoe, out of breath and in pain, when I heard Dr. Fuhrman’s voice on PBS talking about the Eat To Live program.  I sat on the bed listening and what he said made sense.  His message seemed practical and his explanation for what was going wrong with my body was logical.  I scribbled the book title down and drove to the store and bought it.  I read and then re-read the book from cover to cover.  That is the lawyer/scholar in me.  I told my family I was about to try something new.

September 24, 2011 I started the program.  I decided I no longer wanted to eat to die and started the rest of my life, eating to Live.   At the beginning, I was taking 300 units of insulin a day (two types, 6-8 shots), three oral medications, my average blood sugar was 275+, I had high cholesterol, high blood sugar and I weighed 288 pounds, and my hemoglobin A1c was 10+. I was sedentary and an overall unhappy person.

I started to feel better in about five days.  I slept better.  I was not hungry.   My blood sugars plummeted, so much so that I had to call the RN to get a sliding scale for dosing and start faxing in my blood sugars every three days to manage the transition. Five weeks into the program I saw my endocrinologist.  She confirmed what I already knew.  I had found the solution to my diabetes.  My blood sugars were down, my dependency on insulin was lessening, and I was “curing” my diabetes.  My five week blood work was fantastic. I had a really happy doctor visit, after thirteen plus years of visits that were full of disappointment and failure.  Now I was in charge of my health and happiness, and the weight was falling off.  Residents (it is a teaching hospital so residents are part of the visit) were coming by to say hi and look at the Eat To Live book, and I was getting high fives and hugs instead of prescriptions and videos about losing my toes and blindness.

I currently weigh 195 pounds.  I do not own a piece of clothing I owned a year ago and have had to change my wardrobe every few months.  Exercise before this program was painful.  After I lost the first fifty pounds I felt so much better I started to move more.  I rode my bike, took walks, went sledding, dancing and just began to really enjoy my life. I am almost off all of my insulin (I went from 2100 units a week to currently 180 units per week). I am told that soon I will be able to come off the insulin completely. My cholesterol is now normal and I am off all cholesterol medication.

Those that haven’t started the diet should know this. They will not be hungry, cranky, crabby or in any way sloth like.  They will feel energized, happy, upbeat and full.  I love to cook and still do.  I love to eat and still do, but food is no longer a burden; it is a joy pure and simple.  I am very thankful that I read the book and even more thankful Dr. Fuhrman studied his entire life and wrote the book.  Everyone should read it cover to cover.  

 My children are proud of me and relieved that my diabetes is nearly gone and my health much improved.  I have no fear either of them will be unhealthy. They love eating what I eat.   My success has inspired others.  My work colleagues are on the plan and having success.    My daughter is always asking for salad, and my son loves almonds and now eats large quantities of healthy fruits and vegetables.