Rose Lowered Her A1c From 6.6 to 6.1 and Halved Cholesterol

I'm Rose Lagrasso. I am from Springfield, Illinois, and I am pre-diabetic. I, um... Let's see. I think it was... I mean, I never had any family history of diabetes on either side, um, and so I was not expecting anything like that. But, um, I had a blood, a fasting blood sugar that was borderline high, like couple years ago, and then we, we ended up switching primary care doctors, and they, uh, had me checked, um, and it was six point four at that time. And, um, I was doing a vegan diet for the most part. I was trying to avoid, um, animal products, and that helped some, but I was still pre-diabetic. And, uh, we got it down to six point one, which was great. I'm still pre-diabetic, but it went down, like point-- Oh, I think it, if it was six point four, so that would've gone down some. But I'm-- And I also lost quite a bit of weight too. But I've been on a vegan diet for a few years. Um, I, you know, I, I... it wasn't that bad. I-- You probably would like something with more contrast, but I really was pretty active. I mean, I'm a, I'm a nurse, and I run around a lot at work, and, um, I'm not a morning person anyway. I never have been. So I didn't notice it affecting me that way as far as sleep and energy goes. But I would say that I do have more energy since, um, after that first six weeks, you know? Um, and I also recently retired, uh, in April, so I'm trying to figure out where I am on a lot of levels, you know. But this has helped giving me some, uh, given me some stability and, um... But I was not your classic, you know, drained, fatigued, you know, uh, all of that. Oh, yeah. And, you know, it was, uh, I was already familiar with, uh, the Mastering Diabetes, um, uh, oh, gosh, I'm terrible. I forgot his name already. Um, Barbara? No. Yes. Yes. I was already familiar with he and the other, uh, person he worked with in the past and, um, with a lot of the people in the whole food genre. And so when I saw about this program come across my feed, I was like, "Hmm," you know, and in my email and I thought, "Well, this really alarms me, and I need to do something about it." So I decided I would look into it and take control. And I knew I was gonna be, um, retiring this year, and so I wanted to have it kinda set in place so it would be a, a easier transition as far as eating goes, you know, in my retirement. And I've seen great results, you know. Um, I did have a, uh, six point six, I think it was, which actually is, like barely, uh, diabetic. And then that's when we got it down to six point one, and that was within, um... What was it? Six months. So it was within that six months that I had started the Mastering Diabetes program. Um, well, they already knew, and again, this is a new primary care doctor who, uh, she, she is not with a group or a hospitalist or anything. She, um, is private, and so she knew already that I was doing the, uh, pretty much vegan diet and had been doing it for several years, so she encouraged me to continue that. She was not familiar with your program, so I was telling her a little bit about that. And she, she said, "Well, you know, let's, uh, let's see how we do." And she, um, recommended, uh, maybe more exercise, and I told her about really avoiding the, uh, animal products more and the, the order of eating too. And anyway, she was very encouraging, um, and she gave me a chance to try to avoid using any metformin or anything like that. So I appreciated her openness. Um, well, it was through the, the doctor that started it. I had seen him appear in different documentaries, um, or, um, informative, you know, where you can do, um, listen to a panel, uh-huh, and things like that. And I always liked the way that he described things. It made a lot of sense. And his particular story also from being a juvenile diabetic and how he has been able to regulate that so successfully through things he's learned was very inspiring to me. And so I kind of had built this trust already with him. And so when I saw the Mastering Diabetes program show up in my email, I thought, "Well, I'll look into this." So that's how I got started. Well, I'm always very, um, frugal, and so the cost was a concern I had. Um, but because I was having so much success, they did allow me to have a couple more months without charge, which I appreciated very much. And, um, I was, you know, concerned that, uh, that my blood work wouldn't reflect all of the hard work I was doing, but that was a silly fear. [laughs] Once I started with Mastering Diabetes, and they had the first six weeks of dietary plans for you, um, I felt like I was starting an adventure of sorts that was going to hopefully pay off for me. And I found initially that the recipes, which would be sort of more in a detox category, you know, in the first couple, three weeks, you know, um, each week they progress in giving you more things, you know, to challenge your, your, uh, insulin resistance. And, um, so the first couple weeks, I mean, to be honest, I can be honest here, the, the recipes were not too thrilling, but I did it anyway 'cause I understood the, the allowing my body to, you know... I know detox isn't the word that they, that they use, but to just adapt, you know, and give my, my pancreas and insulin a chance to, you know, take it easy for a bit so they could fun- function better when challenged more again. Well, I had already lost weight a few years ago when I first started doing the vegan approach, uh, but then I had gained a little bit of it back, and I was shocked at how quickly the weight was just falling off of me. And I just felt, after a couple of weeks, I just felt cleaner, you know, like a well-oiled engine or something, you know. Uh, pardon the use of the word oil, but [laughs] uh, but anyway, um, yeah, it, uh, I would say that the fact that my clothes were fitting better and all of that, and I just felt better in general. My self-image was improving more, and, um, I'd say those were the biggest things, was just, you know, and I'm just like, "Geez, all I'm doing is, is eating, you know, all of this clean Mother Nature stuff, and it's working," you know? Yes, the weight loss for sure. Well, I looked on the website, and you could-- They have a lot of some quick, um, what are-- I can't remember what they call them, but ridiculously easy meals or something like that is the, the title of it. And, um, once I found those too, uh, they, they make it easy to prepare. They really do. And that's one thing that was helpful. Um, and, uh, they said, you know, you could add spices. I mean, that helped put some life into some of the things. Um, but I was really impressed by how, how detailed they were because you don't know for sure what you're walking into, you know, when you first start it. Oh, yeah. There's a, a Waldorf salad that I love, and I'm still using it even though I'm, I'm done, you know, with the program per se, but, but the idea for me was to establish these habits so that I could continue them without someone holding my hand. And there were, um, there were a couple of them that were, uh, the beans, that included a lot of beans. I like those. Um, but the Waldorf salad is, is a biggie for me. It has sustained me. Yeah. Yes. And, um, what I also liked about it was the quantities, because they tell you to eat until you feel full. And, um, I found that the recipes-- I mean, I would be really hungry, you know, and I would eat large quantities, and those recipes, I could repeat them, like, two or three times in a week. And so it helped because this involves a lot of chopping. There's a lot of sous cheffing going on, you know, when you're doing this because everyth- a lot of things need to be chopped or whatever. And so that takes... the prep time takes a while, but if it's a dish that lasts through the week, then it really balances out as far as effort goes. Um, I was down to a six point one. My cholesterol, which I was, uh, hyperlipidem-demia and, um, my cholesterol was split in half. Now, I will say she did start me on, uh, Crestor, um, and I'm sure that that's having an effect. But, um, for my, uh, cholesterol could-- to be, you know, halved was pretty impressive for my doctor too. She was pretty impressed, and I don't think she was contributing it completely to the Crestor either. Since working with Mastering Diabetes, I have made it a habit for as soon as I get done eating, I will take at least a ten-minute walk. And I have found that to be invigorating as well as feeling comfort in knowing that this is helping prevent a, uh, glucose spike, which will keep my A1C more, you know, preferable. And, um, so by way of doing that, it, again, it invigorates me. It makes me enjoy being outside and... 'cause I'm more-- I, I like working outside and stuff, and I don't mind going for a walk or doing stairs or something like that. You know, I, I kn- I understand now how important it is to get up and get moving as soon as you get done eating. It was definitely worth investing because as a nurse, I had some understanding of the physiology of everything and the biology, but this has made it deeper, and it also allows me to be more of a model for those I love and if people are curious, which I have found that people have been curious when I say that I, I'm vegan. You know, there's all kinds of vegan, and when I describe what I do, and they have witnessed the before and after, it gives me an opportunity to talk a little bit more about it and, and which I find, uh, people are like, "Hmm." You know? [chuckles] I think maybe they're a little skeptical, but on the other hand, if they know me and they see how much different I look, then I think it puts some validity behind it. Um... Well, of course, I want to avoid ever having to go on any medication, and these habits that have been established through the structure of this program now, I feel like I could probably even get into, um, like the five something. You know, if I could get down to five point five, which would be normal. Now, my fasting blood sugar, when they took it with my metabolic panel, was normal this last time, so that was good. Um, but my A1C still needs work, and, and I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to get it in the non-diabetic range without medication because of the habits and how you learn to eat things in a certain order so that it helps slow things down and, and let your absorption be slower and not have such a glucose spike. So if you're thinking about working with Mastering Diabetes, I would say give it a chance, um, because of the success that I've had, and I would love to see other people have, because I have been a nurse for forty-seven years, and I love to see good outcomes with patients, and that doesn't change just because I'm retired. [chuckles] I care about people, and I would recommend people looking into this. And you can discuss if you have any concerns. I have found people to be very amicable and accommodating. Um, so I would say just give it a chance. Oh, that's a loaded question, Brian. It's loaded because it's not just about me. It's not just about our country. It's about the world. And if everyone is healthier, they can live longer, they can feel more happy, they can have a sense of peace. And maybe people can get along better that way if they're all feeling better. And, you know, I know it's not a panacea, but it's still, it's just such a basic thing. And I believe that Mother Nature has given us all of these things that we need to tune into, not just with eating, but other ways. And I feel it's important for mankind to embrace being a little bit closer to nature these days. And so this is just one tiny little aspect of that whole spectrum. After starting the Mastering Diabetes program, my A1C went from 6.6 to 6.1. Well, I'd like to know if there's a way to give kudos to the coach. Okay. Well, I had Karen, K-A-R-I-N, and she was very approachable. She was candid about her own situation. She was very inspirational. If you were honest about, you know, going off track a little bit, there was no shaming going on. It was all, you know, go for it. I mean, she really did feel like a coach to me and just very friendly, approachable, honest, a lot of good qualities. And those are things that were very helpful for me because you go in and you're like, oh, I'm afraid to tell Karen that I did this and that. But, you know, you're supposed to when you do your logging of everything and turn it in. But I was like, well, you know, I had a birthday. I wanted to celebrate that. We had a Mother's Day. I wanted to celebrate that, you know. And so, but she didn't say, oh, no, no. She was not a, pardon the term, but a Nazi about it. You know, she made you feel like it's okay to be human. And I just think she's wonderful. I think she'll benefit whoever she talks to.