Lois Miller Reversed Pre-diabetes and Lost 17 Pounds Without Medication

Okay, my name is Lois Miller. I'm in Naples, Florida, right now. And before I came to Naples in November, I was, uh, diagnosed with pre-diabetes, and my doctor wanted me on a statin, and that started this journey. I have a very long history of being into health and being plant-based. In nineteen ninety-one, I watched Diet for a New America on PBS and was appalled by what meat is doing to us, what dairy is doing to us, the abuse of animals, uh, I'm a real animal lover, and what's happening to our planet. And that was in nineteen ninety-one, and we all know what's happened to our planet. So that star-- I, I really, at that moment of watching that, stopped eating meat completely. And I would do dairy very, very rarely, mostly in the form of hot fudge sundaes, okay? Um, but I continued with this love of pursuing health, and I watched all the documentaries, you know, Forks Over Knives and on and on. And I would watch Fo-Forks Over Knives, and then I'd go to True North, which is w-- a, a place that they talk about, um, people getting off meds. Now, I was never on meds, and I didn't have any health issues, really. I just didn't wanna have them. So it always came from that place. And, um, and I would go to a lot of places, like right n-near where I live in Boston, a couple hours away was the Kushi Institute with macrobiotics. And I must have gone there five times and s-saw what a plant-based diet was doing for people, and I, I pretty much felt great. And I think it, it was, right from the start, hard for me in terms of socially e-- because then you wanna change the world, you know. Um, so I had to really learn to stop telling people what I know because people just do not wanna know. But I, um, it was hard socially because I didn't wanna eat out. I wanted to know what I was eating. I wanted to eat organically. Um, so what brought me to this was I started... Well, in November, I started going to my doctor. I had a lot of weird symptoms, and I wasn't feeling well, and, um, like scary sorta symptoms, like numbness in my arms and exhausted and dry mouth, whatever. And my doctor did a blood test, and it came out with very high cholesterol, and my A1c was high. And I, I, I'm like, "How can that be? I haven't touched an animal. I don't touch dairy. How can this be?" And I, and my doctor, and I've never-- I take no medicine, but she wanted me to go on a statin. And I said, "Okay," but I knew I wasn't going to, but I filled it. And she was really strong on it because my father had died of a heart attack, an instant heart, it's called instant? I don't know. Sudden heart attack. My mother had died of cancer at sixty-two. And, um, I'm not a good patient. I don't, I don't wanna be sick, and I, I quite frankly, I see everyone around me very sick. I'm being honest. It's like across the street, the thirty-year-old, thirty-five-year-old daughter has breast cancer, very aggressive. My neighbor across the street has, I forget, a, a spleen. I mean, everywhere around me. My sister died of breast cancer. And, um, so it's always about the health with me, like what's going on. And I came to Florida, and I have a really good friend here who's just like me, but worse. Like, when I invite her to dinner, she says, "Can I bring the main course?" 'cause she's not sure if I'm gonna follow everything she wants. And I love her. I walk with her. And the first day we walked, I told her what was wrong with me, and she said, "You've gotta, you've gotta get this book, Mastering Diabetes." And I said, "Okay." And then really, Amazon, I think the next day, it was at my door. I started reading it, and I, I did the, the talk. I heard them talk about it online. And I thought, "This is amazing," 'cause my doctor wanted me to go to a nutritionist. I wasn't gonna do that because I already know they tell me to eat chicken, and I know what they tell me. And I, and I, um... Anyway, I, then I did the call with your person who tells you what you, what you offer, and I did the three-month plan. And even then, I'm like, "What are they gonna tell me to do differently?" I, I, I thought I ate perfectly, but I found out I didn't, okay. I was eating lots of avocados, lots of olive oil, really lots of oil, ol-olive oil. So I maybe was eating the organic salad and everything with everything in it, but loads of olive oil. I was doing, I was r- I buy seeds from a special place, and I was roasting pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds and eating all of that, which isNow I've learned high fat. And the other thing I had started doing, which I find fascinating, was maybe for two months before I got all these symptoms, I started eating eggs again. And my husband makes the best egg salad around. I was eating tons of egg salad, tons of eggs, and he would make home fries with-- And I'd say, "Don't put a lot of oil," but he didn't. I didn't care. It tasted good. The minute I, the minute I heard the introductory tape where they were talking about fat and oil, I'd always heard oil wasn't good, but then you hear the Mediterranean diet and you hear other people saying they're great and I love them. And as a matter of fact, I, I instantly said, "I'll do the three-month program immediately." I said, "But gosh, I don't think I can give up oil." And, and then I said, "But I'm going to." I mean, I really was like, "But I'm going to, okay?" And I instantly-- I have not touched oil for four months. I have not touched it. And I don't miss it. My salads are all balsamic vinegar and yeah, was when I heard that. I, I'm now an Audible person. I do Audible books. But I took the-- I, I did buy the book, and I started reading it and I thought, "This is amazing. I'm gonna do the coaching." And, um, when I make up my mind to something, you only have to tell me once, okay? You tell me to give up oil, I'm giving up oil. I knew something. I knew I was heading in a not good place. I really did. I knew. I'll tell you my numbers later and how they changed. But I knew, I knew it was not going well. I was also, I don't think I said, exhausted. I was sleeping all the time. That's not me, okay? But what ma- Uh, wait, did I answer what made me do it? Oh. I, I, I gotta tell you, I like the coaching, but the group coaching didn't work for me because it's very hard where I am with plant-based eating to hear why is dairy bad, okay? Uh, I'm, I'm past it. I soak my own beans and make them. Was I eating enough beans? No way. I was not. I was eating beans, but nowhere near what I do now. I do them two meals a day, okay? I wasn't eating... I had all this in my house, by the way. I had quinoa, I had millet. Was I making it like I do now? No. I didn't know w- the piece that that held. So, and the other thing that really cha-- Oh, so the coaching, the group coaching, I was-- would walk with this friend of mine and I'd say, "I don't know. I don't think this is for me. I, I, I'm not getting off a diabetes drug. I'm not, you know." And so I called some- once someone and said... She said, "How about private coaching? We give you private coaching." I said, "Okay." I started that, and it was amazing. It was really, like went to where I was. And by the way, every person I dealt with at Mastering Diabetes, at every level, from the introductory call to I, "I don't think this is right for me," to my, my coach, to listening to Michelle's talks, I'll never eat an egg again in my life. Now I really know why. Okay. I knew animal protein was causing every illness on the planet, but now... Well, I never was tempted anyway, but now I'm really, uh, uh... If I was in prison and that was all I could eat, I would have to die, you know? [chuckles] One more big change I made, big, big. I'm a big exerciser. I do like yoga maybe five days a week. This is even when I wasn't feeling well. This isn't something new. I wa- I'm a woods walker. I'm a real exerciser. I never knew that if you walk after you eat, it changes the blood sugar in your body or something. I, I never know why. I just know you have to walk after every meal. I religiously either walk or I do, um, I have great, um, apps on YouTube that I love that I do. I do water aerobics, and it's after every meal. So I plan every meal around if water aerobics is at nine, I know I'm gonna eat at eight twenty and go right across the street to the pool. I-- Okay, that was a big change. What was, what was your question again? Oh, how was it in the beginning? I gotta be honest, I gotta be honest, very easy, and by day four, my symptoms were gone. Well, I just got my results, which floored me, okay? But my friend that I walked with knows no oil. She n- And she kept telling me these things, but I was thinking, "Oh, she's extreme." But no, it's, it's really, you know. And oh, and what's interesting is things that my doctor-- And by the way, I mostly go to, um, I have a, um, what's she called? A naturopath that has helped me with all my health issues. And when I left Boston, she said to me, "You need to go on the statin." I was like, "Oh boy, this is bad," because she never goes that route. I said, "This is bad."And she told me, "Never eat bananas." And I make, I don't know what y- they call it, but I call it banana ice cream. I was eating banana ice cream all the time and loving it. Okay, I, I said to my husband, "I can't have banana ice cream anymore." This was, like, before I started Mastering Di-Diabetes. Now, they're telling me I can have it all I want, and I'm like, "Wow." So I'm-- I feel like I'm having great things. I love popcorn, but I now make... I, I don't have a microwave at home, but I do here, so I make microwave popcorn, and I put, um, nutritional yeast on it, and I love it. And they told me I could put a little salt because I eat nothing that's, um, prepackaged. Everything I eat is whole food, every single thing. This is, uh, end of November, December, five point eight. It's now four-- five point six. So that means it's out of pre-diabetic range. My total cholesterol... Do you want me to tell you my numbers? Just got these. Just got these. My total cholesterol was two sixty-four. It's now one eighty-one. My triglycerides were one thirty-eight, went to eighty-three. My HDL went from fifty-three to eighty-one, and my LDL went from one sixty-nine to one oh four. That's good. Good. The numbers don't lie. Mm-hmm. I feel great, but what I learned from this is I, I have to be who I am and do what's best for me. And I don't know where you're from, but life in Florida, I'm here for four months, is eating out. That's what everybody does. I did not eat out because I was-- Oh, I was eating fish, by the way. Not a lot, but when I ate out, I was eating fish. I did not eat out. I have a friend who I-- we would have dinner together every week. I'd go to her house. We'd have salmon and this and that. I go to her house now every week, and she already knows I bring my own dinner. She already-- It's not even discussed. And I-it's great. They're not questioning me or anything. They're just, okay. I, I say I'm doing a program, and I, I sometimes have people for dinner. And my husband, by the way, eats, can I swear on this? Total- Total shit. As good as I am, okay, oh my God, and I've given up. I've given up because he seems to be healthy. Okay, I've given up. But it d- it does bother me, but I've given up. But, but, oh, oh, oh, yeah. The other day, he screamed at me 'cause he was eating jello beans with food dye, and I said, "Can you stop?" And we were with people. And oh my God, he, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I feel great. I do a lot. I do a lot in terms of exercising, and sometimes, yeah, I'll be tired. But I'll go for a walk, then I'll do water aerobics, and then I might even do a later yoga class, and then I'll say, "Oh, I'm so tired." My husband goes, "Well, I think we know why." Okay? But I feel good, but I feel... Oh, by the way, here's the biggest thing for me. I lost seventeen pounds. Okay, I had a goal in Flor- when I came to Florida. I, I didn't know I was gonna find Master Diabetes, but I was one thirty-four. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but my clothes weren't fitting me. So I said, "I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose weight in Florida," okay? The next thing I knew, and I, I hoped I could get to one twenty-five. That's what I hoped, okay? Then I swear to you, the next thing I knew, I was at one twenty-five. And my daughter got married, uh, sixteen years ago, where I weighed a hundred and eighteen pounds and really kept walking by mirrors and going, "Who is that?" Okay? I'm now one seventeen every day, one seventeen. And I'm still honestly, I know, yeah, I feel great. I feel-- And now I, I like, I went somewhere today and somebody said to me, "God, you look good." I mean, people are really n- but I was never that overweight that people would say to me, "Oh, you need to lose weight." Somehow I hid it in clothes. But, but anyway, the biggest thing for me, I know it sounds silly, but the weight is huge. I just see that I'm really strong. I will say to people, um, like we, we are social. It's just not around food, okay? So I'll s- It's not like we sit home and we're hermits. But um-We happen to play a lot of canasta with couples. I play during the day with groups. But like a friend of mine who is always asking me out to dinner, who by the way, all she talks about is how she doesn't feel good, but okay. I said to her, "I know you and David love to eat out, but I gotta be honest, I'm, I'm not eating out. Do you wanna do a sunset and play Rummikub?" I mean, and we ended up going and doing a sunset, and they barbecued hamburgers, and they ate that. And I, I don't-- I did. I brought something. I always, I just bring something. And we ended up watching a, a really funny movie, and we had a great night. And I, I'm just strong. I'm strong. That's what I like the most is I just feel like I'm putting myself and my health number one. I'm seventy-seven, okay? I'm seventy-seven. You would not know it. And yeah. I gotta tell you, I don't think people wanna know. I don't think people are willing to do what it takes, and it makes me really sad for people. Because I know people who have said to me, "I don't wanna cha..." This is years ago. I've been like this for years, you know, okay? People have said to me with a cancer diagnosis, and I've said, um, "Hey, there's a great site looking into meat and, um, eating meat and what it does," and, and dare... And they all go, "I'm not willing to change my life." But I'm like, "Okay." I can't say to them. They're willing to get horrible chemo, okay? We all know what that's like. They're willing-- I have a friend who wasn't willing to change their life and even listen, um, and they were-- they owned a place in Florida. They stayed in Boston a whole winter getting chemo. I mean, it-- to me, I just... I, I, I... You're gonna have to edit this, but I lose respect for people who aren't open to hearing, um, alternatives. I, I do. I feel, I feel b- I've, I've had it in my family. My son-in-law had lymphoma, and he was-- he is in his thirties, and they came over that night with the diagnosis with pepperoni pizza. It's really hard for me. It's really, really hard for me. And, um, part of why, y-you know, it, it, it's very hard with my two grandsons who I love because they used to come to my house as little guys, and I swear to you, I would say, "Broccoli or bok choy?" And they'd say, "Both." Now I can't, 'cause now their taste buds are gone. They-- all they want is pizza and... Oh, my God, I spent a week with them in Florida. I almost had to call a shrink. Every meal, french fries and, um, chicken fingers, and it's really hard for me. It's really hard for me. I think, I think the reason this program is good is I don't think you can change your lifestyle without the videos, the cooking classes. You know, they have easy-peasy meals, which I don't really do 'cause I, I've learned batch cooking. It's not that I'm a fancy cook, believe me. I'm not. But I, I know how to do it 'cause I... And I have made some of their meals, and, and they're, they're, they're great. I, I think the support of watching somebody cook it, of, uh, you know, their meals, of... I don't know how, honestly, somebody cannot listen to this talk on what eggs do. It's a primary cause of prostate cancer that is everywhere, and chicken also. And I knew that with lymphoma because I, I researched it all when my son-in-law was diagnosed. And people don't wanna hear it. I, I sent him... There was a video I sent to everybody, Dr. Greger, How to Not Die. And it was the, I think, fifteen things people die of, and it wasn't a negative one. It was about, this is what blueberries do. This is what greens do, you know? And people thought it was amazing, but I don't... I think without then the progr- the, the, the, the, um, support that Mastering Diabetes gives you with showing you how to get loads of this good stuff into your body. That's the key. I'm even following up. Like, when this is done, I'm really there, okay? I'm really there. But I can keep subscribing to the talks, and I will do that because someti- It's the education of hearing, you know? There was one talk on... People say to me, "You have so much willpower." Eh, no, this i- this... I don't think this is willpower. It's... They did a talk on what makes you stick with it, and it was something like this idea. What's your why, okay? And my why is so strong that I'm not going off of this, okay? And I, I think that it's not... And, and, and people also say to me, um, "Oh, now can you, can you eat oil?" N-no, I'm not doing oil now. I'm, I'm going to a friend's for dinner tonight, and she's a really good new friend, and she knows all about what I'm doing and not-- doesn't do it at all, but supports me amazingly. She's making this whole dinner, and she said, "This is what I'm putting into it, and I do put eggs, but I'm gonna keep eggs on the side so everybody else can put them on, but you won't. I'm not gonna put oil on till after you take your-"And that's who I'm spending my time with. I don't care if they do it or not do it, but that they respect me, you know? You know, uh, to me, it's how do you, how do you wanna spend your life, really? How do you... When y- have you ever walked into a nursing home? Have you ever walked into a friend's house who's having their chemo or have you ever seen it? Okay. I don't wanna be there. That's my... I, I just... I don't wanna be there. Before starting Mastering Diabetes, my A1C went from five point eight to five point six, which is out of the pre-diabetic range. The investment that I made in Mastering Diabetes, and what I'm so proud was being open to hearing about it, okay? Um, without it, none of this would have happened because I never would have given up and, or known about the things that, um, the oil, the, you know, et cetera. I never would have known about that. I never would have known about the importance of exercising even a little bit after meals. I never would have known about eating. This is another thing, eating a big breakfast. You should see my breakfast. Oh my God. Eating a big breakfast, eating a big lunch, and a, a small dinner. I do that now, and I love it. I, you know... And I eat early. I eat early, and I really take care of myself. I really do. Yeah. Th-there was so much research on this, okay? And I, I got that. I, I got that from the parts of the, um, book that I read and from the talk that they did. Big time research on all of this. So I knew it. I, I knew that there was science behind it. I was really searching for something, and I just felt like it landed on my doorstep. And I think in life, what's, what keeps me-- All my friends are so much younger than me, always have been, because I'm open to everything new, and I really am. No matter what it is, I'm open to it, and I think I was open immediately hearing this. Like, I didn't say after the first call, "Okay, let me think about it." I was like, "Okay, this is what I wanna do." And, um, and my husband, who doesn't eat this way, I mentioned, is so unbelievable. He will shop for me. He'll run and pick up stuff. He-- I don't have to worry what he eats for dinner, I gotta be honest. He is his own person. Lots of times he d- gets takeout from restaurants, and I, I'm, like, fine with it. Everybody should do what they want. And, um, that's been great too, is... I remember once hearing, I don't know, Dr. Jo-Joyce Brothers or somebody, I mean, thirty years ago say, "You're number one, your spouse is number two, and your kids are number three, 'cause your kids are gonna leave you, and I forget what your spouse is gonna do. But you need to take care of number one." And that's-- I have spent four months, you know... My friend went to Canyon Ranch for three days for th- over three thousand dollars. I was so jealous. I re- I was so jealous. And I called her up, I said, "I've been at Canyon Ranch for four months." What I learned with the meal cooking really was batch cooking. Like, to make a bigger portion, 'cause if you, if you try to make everything in a day, like I'll make quinoa for four days, or I'll make a big thing of beans. I'll have a lot of food ready. But I just do things that make it taste really good. Like, like I've been into pomegranates here, and I put tons of pomegr-pomegranates on everything, and it makes it taste so good. And the farmers markets are so good. I get like a variety. They have arugula, like, oh my God, I eat so much arugula, and it's... So I'm, I'm, I, I can't-- I've done a few of their meals, and they're good, but it's mostly that I'm... I feel like I'm doing a lot of what I sorta knew and looking at the green light foods and just throwing them into something. I, I know that without this program, none of this would have happened because I really always thought I was eating right. So none of this would have happened ever. I know it.