Camille's Story

In February 2011, I was diagnosed with full-blown Type 2 Diabetes .When I first heard those three little, yet most frightening words, "you have diabetes," I was angry, scared, and depressed.  I was angry at myself for not doing enough to stop my weight gain over the last twenty years.  I was scared because I had witnessed my mother's untimely death from diabetic complications.  I was depressed because the only other thing the doctor told me to do was eat chicken, fish, and no rice. Even at this moment of horror in my life, I knew there had to be more to it than those few ideas of what to eat. 

In addition to getting advice on what to eat, how much to eat, and when to eat by a health coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, I joined a local wellness program and got a personal trainer.  I also enrolled in this nutrition school myself. It was there that I met Dr. Fuhrman, speaking at one of their live conferences in New York City in November 2011.  Dr. Fuhrman spoke about "nutritional ignorance" which was certainly something I could relate to because I had experienced it most of my life.

Dr. Fuhrman also spoke about the "nutritional quality" of fruits and vegetables, and luckily, by then, I was able to relate to the way they improved health. He also spoke about the importance of learning how to cook your own meals at home to insure the proper protein, carbs, and fat contents was on your plate.  Over the course of a few months, I was proof that eating healthy and exercising regularly was a direct connection to lowering my A1c from 8.9 to 6.3. Introducing more new and tasty fruits and vegetables into my meal plans helped me to maintain my twenty pound weight loss for a year, and my A1c again went down to 6.1. 

My goal is to continue to eliminate the toxicity from my body.  I do this by buying and cooking more vegetables each week. My husband has also benefited from this new food experimentation even though he gave me quite a hard time when I first introduced some new vegetables into our meals.  By incorporating all of these quality foods into our meals, my husband's cholesterol problems have improved and his latest lab test results were within the normal range.

I still have a ways to go as far as losing more weight around my waist and lowering my A1c, but I am truly enjoying the journey.  I was determined to get well and to find out all I could about staying well.  I also believe that a positive attitude is necessary when diagnosed with a chronic disease.  Rather than looking at my life as to what I cannot have, I now look forward to discovering what I can have. I certainly agree with Dr. Fuhrman that we have a great opportunity to choose not to be sick when we have information about good nutrition. And, I really like his expression, "Don't just control your diabetes, get rid of it!" I am a witness that nutrient-dense foods can reverse diabetes.

I am writing my story to motivate and inspire others to do something before they ever hear those three horrifying words, "you have diabetes," and also to encourage those who already have type 2 diabetes. Thank you Dr. Fuhrman from the bottom of my heart for your concern and desire to stop obesity and diabetes.