lose weight

Debbey Ryan wasn't even Fifty years old when her doctor informed her she would be blind as well as in a wheelchair by 60 if things didn't change.

"I said that's not going to work for me," says the marketing guru in Lafayette. "I can't wear my heels."

Ryan was handed a Type 2 Diabetes Meizitang Botanical Slimming diagnosis and a grim future. That was nearly 5 years ago. She has learned much, gone from the size 3X to some size 8 and is not in hindsight.

Doctors like Anjum Asad of Our Lady of Lourdes (who isn't treating Ryan) hope for more patients with this same motivation.

"It's really up to you if you wish to be diabetic," says Asad.

A doctor who often treats diabetic and pre-diabetic patients pulls no punches about the seriousness of the disease more than 29.1 million Americans have, according to the American Diabetes Association.

"Every adult 45 and above ought to be screened," Asad says. "It's that common."

She says the important thing in screening is to catch pre-diabetic patients who still have an opportunity to stop the beast -- there are approximately 86 million pre-diabetic Americans, based on ADA.

"It's your decision," Asad says.

For Ryan, being diabetic was a zero to 60 experience. There was no genealogy with no pre-diabetic state to her knowledge. She was visiting a doctor for top blood pressure level, and the disease was discovered in a single of her regular screenings.

"I carried lots of weight in my trunk," she says.

It had been but 6 months since her last screening, and while her doctor told her to lose weight he never told her she was borderline for diabetes while he didn't wish to scare her. When she learned this news, Ryan quickly remembered a dear friend who died of kidney disease.

"I knew you're prone to kidney disease if diabetic, and that i did not want to live like this. Sick. In bed. On dialysis. I did not want to live like that. I love to go, go, go."

Ryan went, went, went straight for information about how to best control the disease and lost greater than 70 pounds. She discovered being diabetic meant more than quitting snack cakes. She found comfort food substitutes. She read labels.

"I tested myself for two years four times a day until I believed out what foods I possibly could and may not eat," she says.

It's just the approach Asad pushes for her patients to discover -- changes in lifestyle that are real.

"Most of times we neglect ourselves," Asad says.

In conjunction with dietary changes to limit carbs, Asad says a brisk walk 5 times per week could be a game changer for individuals around the borderline of diabetes (or anyone attempting to stay far from the line whatsoever).

"If you exercise 45 minutes before 3X Slimming Power you dine -- just a quick walk will burn extra sugar in your body. Not really a jog. You accomplish that 5 times a week and you'll drastically lower things," Asad says.

She says it's not only sugar that should be avoided but refined carbohydrates like white rice and white breads.

"You can add protein to carbs, and it's a slower release of sugar within the system," she says pointing to a go-to snack like apples with sugar-free peanut butter.

"If you aren't attempting to manage it you're crazy," Ryan says. "I take a look at these people within the doctor's office that do not research or it is a fast solution and they think it's no big deal plus they end up in wheelchairs and blind."

Ryan is working relentlessly to make sure she's undertake and don't. "I'm not a medical expert or a doctor," she says, "but I'm in charge of my own health."