December 25, 2012 - I have gained 20 pounds and from this point I am going to get back to taking care of myself! I have lapsed in the last year and have not used this amazing resource (sparkpeople) to take care of myself. It starts fresh now... like todays quote says ..."Being defeated is often temporary, giving up makes it permanent". This is temporary!

I started Sparkpeople in 2007 and I have been slowly working on reaching my goals. In September 07 doctor said I was ...

December 25, 2012 - I have gained 20 pounds and from this point I am going to get back to taking care of myself! I have lapsed in the last year and have not used this amazing resource (sparkpeople) to take care of myself. It starts fresh now... like todays quote says ..."Being defeated is often temporary, giving up makes it permanent". This is temporary!

I started Sparkpeople in 2007 and I have been slowly working on reaching my goals. In September 07 doctor said I was diabetic--my blood sugar was 208 (ONCE!) and my A1C was 6.4. I have a STRONG family history (Grandfather, Mother, and 6 out of 8 siblings). My cholesterol was 231, triglycerides 201 and blood pressure 156/96 and my weight was 220. I have watched my older sister and my mother struggle with diabetes my whole life and I vowed I would not go down that road if it was at all possible.

I started watching my calories and walking as exercise. I lost about 20 pounds in a year and my blood sugar had gone down at one check up (6.2) and up at the next 3 month checkup (6.5). My doctor wasn't happy when it went up and asked me if I was "still using my website (Sparkpeople). I had been slacking. It seemed as though if i was doing well when I used it that I should get more serious. So I did....

Since that appointment I decided to step up my exercise program...I had been seeing my sons running and the amazing amount of food that they consumed without gaining weight and decided that i needed to start running---I was 204 pounds and i had NEVER run in my life. I started the couch to 5K podcasts by Robert Ulrey downloaded to a cheap MP3 player. (My son later bought me an IPOD because he was so proud of the effort i was putting in)

That 9 week program took me 4 months to finish and at the end when I was running 30 minutes (AMAZING!) I was still only actually running about 2.4 miles (very slow but my sons kept saying time didn't matter as long as I was doing it). I have kept up running and really started counting calories--and the weight has started coming off regularly---the more i run - the better i eat---the more i lose---who knew!

My family has been so supportive---they have bought me cold gear for running in Maine winters, membership to the "Y" for the brutal months of January, February, and March, running clothes, sneakers anything they thought would help me---besides constant advice and support. My husband has jumped on board -- has lost 42 pounds and runs faster than me (way faster).

I ran my best 5K in 28:50
My A1C is now ---5.9 (for 18 months!)
cholesterol---171
triglycerides ---78
blood pressure---132/79 (this morning--still struggling)

My doctor is ecstatic! She also treats my sister who has been a type1 diabetic since the age of 14 and is now in stage 4 renal failure--she has been uncontrolled for years. My doctor knows how much i dread this disease and she say she "guarantees" me that i will not be like my sister if I continue to follow this lifestyle. How can I not? My son called me once and said he had listened to a podcast about diabetes and it scared him--he urged me to continue....

I want to weigh 150 pounds----27 more pounds to go.....
I want to run farther....
I never want to take more medicine--(don't think the blood pressure will ever go down-so 1 pill)
I want to enjoy my life as I get older and not worry about sickness....

Read More About SOMERUNNER (Updated December 25)

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