Hello exercise and eating right, goodbye Type 2 diabetes

As President Joe Biden pointed out on the steps of the White House when he proclaimed National Diabetes Month in November, the disease, particularly type 2 diabetes, is an American problem that is not going away.

According to statistics from the American Diabetes Association, nearly 5,000 people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes every day, which adds up to 34 million Americans, about 1 in 10, who are currently battling the disease.

“I call on all Americans to join in activities that raise awareness about diabetes and help prevent, treat, and control this disease,” the president urged.

Or, in Jody’s case, reverse it.

* * *

Jody Reid is a 36-year-old mother of three with many diabetic relatives, a sweet tooth, a desk job at the IRS, and a membership at Roy CrossFit training gym.

All of these factors contribute to your story. One that begins with despair and ends with her joining a rare club of people who were once diabetic and now aren’t.

Unbeknownst to her, Jody’s battle with diabetes began when she was born. A long line of aunts, uncles and grandparents, on both sides, had contracted type 2 diabetes before her, suggesting a strong genetic disposition to the disease.

Then there’s his fondness for sweets. As she says, if she is given a choice between kale and KitKat, “I’ll take the KitKat every time.”

Add in the job she’s had at the IRS since 2006 that requires sitting at a desk for eight hours a day.

If that sounds like a prescription for a diabetes diagnosis…well, it did in Jody’s case.

She was just 31 when doctors warned her she was prediabetic, a danger zone where sugar levels trend in the wrong direction (an estimated 94 million Americans are prediabetic).

In response, Jody joined a gym. She chose a CrossFit gym near her home (CrossFit workouts include high-intensity interval training, usually in groups) because her sister, Jenny, had joined a CrossFit gym and “lost a lot of weight.”

“I thought I’d be able to work my way out of this,” Jody says. Plus, she’d lose a few pounds in the process.

Instead, just the opposite happened.

According to someone who mistakenly advised him, “If you do CrossFit, you can eat whatever you want,” before and after workouts, he kept inhaling the sweets and chocolates he kept on the console of his car.

She gained weight.

Worse yet, in early 2019, her blood work revealed that she had crossed the line from pre-diabetic to full-blown type 2 diabetes. The doctor sent her home on metformin, the starter medication often given to new diabetics.

She came to the gym that day crying. She found a lot of sympathy, but she also found a stern warning from her trainer, Van Aston, who is also a medical assistant.

“I get emotional talking about it,” says Jody, “but he just looked at me and said, ‘You have to take this seriously. This disease kills people every day.

“That scared me. No one had said it so harshly, and I needed it to rock my world. I had been in denial, avoiding the truth, because it was hard to swallow the pill that I was doing it to myself.”

Shortly after that, the gym sponsored a nutrition challenge. Jody checked in. She got engaged with a capital C. She cut out junk food, educated herself on proper nutrition, and added healthy foods to her diet. She drank 100 ounces of water a day. She put in the 10,000 steps of it. She attended CrossFit classes six days a week.

His weight plummeted to 160 pounds (he was 220 when he joined the gym two years earlier). His energy returned. He could tie his shoes without having to take a break. When he got into the car, there was a big gap between his stomach and the steering wheel.

And those were just the hors d’oeuvres.

In July he returned to the doctor for his six-month check-up.

“They take a blood test and tell you that they will call you the next day if there is anything to report,” he explains.

The next day his phone rang.

“This cute little nurse said, ‘Your numbers are staggering. You’ve reversed type 2 diabetes. They’re so good, you’re not even prediabetic anymore.’”

After celebrating with her husband and kids, Jody was back in the gym, sobbing again. But this time, instead of sympathy, she received “high five, hugs, tears.” The same people who pitied her in January celebrated with her in July.

“We did the happy dance,” recalls gym owner Kevin Lundell. “It was a big problem.”

* * *

Three years have passed since Jody reversed her diabetes. She keeps eating better. She admits that she has the slip of hers. “I’m still addicted to candy,” she says, confessing to what she calls “a spree” she went on over the holidays last year.

She was relieved when her blood test numbers were still good after that. “I thought I was doing very poorly, but I think overall my habits are significantly better than the behavior that led to type 2 diabetes. The changes and decisions I made then influence the decisions I make today.

“I’m not perfect, but now I know about nutrition and what I need to do to stay healthy. It is hard work. It’s not always uphill, it’s not always downhill, but it’s never a straight line.”

His CrossFit classes remain a daily staple.

“How amazing this CrossFit community is,” he says, “to be surrounded by people who want to be healthier, who want you to be healthier, who encourage you to do hard things. I am much healthier at 30 than at 20, and happier. It’s easier to live life when you feel better.”