America Tonight with Kate Delaney features Dr. Dorris S. Woods, the author of How to Prevent Diabetes – I Beat It and You Can, Too! (2012).
Dr. Woods, a clinical nurse and college professor, went to her doctor for her routine physical examination and was shocked when she was told she was pre-diabetic for Type 2 Diabetes.
“I had a lot of background with diabetes,” Dr. Woods told her host Kate Delaney. “My family is diabetic and I worked with a lot of diabetics in nursing and teaching. When the doctor told me that I was pre-diabetic, I was really surprised so, I decided that I can do something about it.”
Although she comes from a family of diabetics, Dr. Woods was caught surprised by the news. Indeed, she only learned about her condition by accident.
“I was still normal in my mind. The doctor was seeing me because of my thyroid gland, not because I was diabetic or on the road to diabetes.”
Exercise: the first stage to beating diabetes
Dr. Woods refused to succumb to diabetes, as she knows she can reverse the disease in its early stages. She said, “Lot of people don’t know. They take the fact that they are diabetic, so I just need to be treated.”
What kind of exercise would work for Dr. Woods? “I needed an exercise that I could do and enjoy doing so I took up walking. After I studied to walk, I decided that I was going to do the marathon, so that took several months of training. I signed up with the LA Road Runners. I took on the hill at the Los Angeles scenic outlet and I just kept walking.
“Then when I finished, I tested. My blood sugar was very low over the last several months. I was no longer pre-diabetic. I lost 41 pounds.”
Beating diabetes starts with dietary changes
Dr. Woods knows very well that making healthy food choices is key to managing and controlling diabetes.
“To get the sugar low,” said the author, “I had to stop some of the carbohydrates and starches and eating so many peanuts. I am a peanut nut so I stopped that. I cut out a lot of fat foods to this day. I eat a lot of baked foods and grilled foods but I don’t eat a lot of fat foods. I could take a heavy meal of vegetables but not many people are willing to do this. Chicken and turkey are good protein substitutes.”
Dr. Woods never feels any discomfort with the changes in her diet and does not deprive herself of the joys that only food could bring. “I feed myself. I feed myself pretty well. I still do. I eat, I eat. I could say I have an affinity for food but I watch what I eat.”
The author also affirms she includes oatmeal in her diet. She tells Kate, “I am an oatmeal fan, whether with apple, cranberries, or blueberries. I add some cinnamon, a bit of sugar, and some walnuts. I change from time to time. I think that’s why I like oatmeal because I can dress it up in so many ways.
The need to test for pre-diabetes
How to Prevent Diabetes – I Beat It and You Can, Too! Underscores the need to test for pre-diabetes to manage and control diabetes in its early stages.
“They don’t know how to get tested (for pre-diabetes and diabetes),” said Dr. Woods about why many people do not get tested for pre-diabetes. “The most important part of my book, I think, is the testing part. There’s no way you’re gonna know where you fall on the continuum unless she gets tested.”
Dr. Woods attests that the pre-diabetic stage is easily preventable and exhorts the readers to test and not wait for the diabetic stage.
Don’t be a statistic. Get tested for pre-diabetes (and diabetes). Get moving. Get fit today. Order Dorris S. Woods’sHow to Prevent Diabetes – I Beat It and You Can, Too!on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.