How I started my weight loss journey after my pre-diabetes diagnosis

Kamila Franklin

It was around August 2019. About a few months after my mother passed away, and I was devastated because my mom was an angel on earth. I spent the next few months just crying and eating, trying to eat away the pain. Now of course, I knew this was a bad habit to develop as my mother died from Type 2 diabetes among other things.

So around August, I decided that after having my second child and noticing some changes in my body that resembled my mother’s diabetic symptoms, I finally got an appointment with the first primary care physician I’ve ever had since becoming an adult.

Ok, so I know what you’re thinking, “Why didn’t you take care of yourself?” Well, show of hands of how many moms actually have time to take care of themselves fully, or have complete control over their lives? Congratulations to those moms, but in my case, that’s just not me.

I visited my doctor, who is just wonderful by the way. But she checked my feet and my ankles and noticed some swelling just as I had feared. But the real test came from my labs. At my next appointment, my doctor read me the results of my labs. This moment I felt tested my faith. But the thing is, I knew I was eating wrong by just eating everything, especially sweets to make me feel better regarding my mother’s death.

Emotional eating is having an emotional trauma or tragedy occur and you use comfort food to cope with the pain of the trauma. My doctor told me that I had developed binge-eating disorder, when you are continuously eating whether you are hungry or not. It really had nothing to do with my faith for me, because my faith was still there. I still believe in God and I believe my mom is in heaven and she’s happy. But the fact is, is that I had lost the self-control and discipline I so learned to achieve in my personal development as a person.

Unfortunetely, due to my poor eating habits and the fact that I didn’t make time to exercise anymore, I had in fact developed Type 2 diabetes just like my mother. I couldn’t believe it! It was like my whole world shattered right in front of me, like an out-of-body experience that I didn’t want to happen. On that day, I made a commitment to make a change. My doctor prescribed diabetic medications for me and I knew I had to take it or my situation could get worse. After my appointment, I just sat in my car and cried. I knew what I had to do, I just had to do it, and so I did.

I spoke with a nutritionist from my doctor’s office, who gave me a lot of great tips, like portion control and making sure I eat everything in moderation. I started going to see my doctor and nutritionist once a month to check in on my progress. I had several appointments, but with all the tests and labs, the more information I got back about what my body needed helped me to research and find healthy ways to lose weight and maintain my health.

I personally used the MyFitnessPal app to track my meals, I ate low carb meals, or ate carb alternatives, such as sweet potatoes and quinoa, which is delicious by the way. I don’t eat a lot of meat, so I consumed protein shakes to help with the weight loss and made sure to increase my intake of vegetables as well. I also now eat fruits for sweets and have included legumes, nuts and yogurt into my diet.

Nutrition was the best place to start but I knew I had to physically make some changes too, so I hit the gym. I did the treadmill, the elliptical, and lifted weights 3-4 times a week. Other days, I do cardio or yoga at home and try to promote healthy eating in our household. I have so far managed to lose a total of 16 lbs.

I am currently maintaining this weight but I have a lot of more work to put in, and I’m not giving up. Frankly speaking, I refuse to end up like my mother, and she wouldn’t want that life for me as well. So I continue to press forward, so not only do I survive, but I can thrive.