Pat’s Road to Good Health
After Pat Tierney had open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve, he knew keeping his weight down was vital. At the same time, he faced a pre-diabetes diagnosis.
To meet the challenges ahead, he turned to the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) offered through the Sun Health Center for Health & Wellbeing. It was a life-changing decision.
“I had never in my 70 years established eating discipline,” Pat said. “I ate whatever wasn’t moving. When I was younger I was an athlete and I could eat like a horse, not gain weight and not have any problems.”
“The program was a personal education for me,” he said.
Pat’s not alone.
Every year, residents throughout the Sun Cities experience successes – large and small – through DPP. For some that means weight loss. For others, it’s establishing a new fitness routine. For still others, it’s finding camaraderie and social support during classes.
The evidence-based education and support program guides participants to adopt healthy changes that can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes. Participants learn, practice and adopt a healthier lifestyle by implementing nutrition strategies, setting activity goals and problem solving.
The year-long program includes 16 core classes followed by monthly maintenance classes.
Healthy Jumpstart
Pat’s journey with DPP began after reading about the program in Sun Health’s LiveWell magazine. Pat’s wife of 50 years had always watched her diet, but he had never been very disciplined when it came to healthy eating or watching his portions.
He figured the program would be a good jumpstart, though he wasn’t crazy about the idea of a group setting.
“Quite frankly I was anti-support group coming in,” he said. “I felt like it was more an individual thing. I had to have the willpower…That was my naive opinion.”
But the group classes, encouraging environment quickly changed his attitude.
“What I’ve learned since then is Rhonda knows how to get everyone in a positive mode,” he said. “The environment is very positive, very complimentary. There are no putdowns. You get over being self-conscious real quick.”
In fact, Pat came to enjoy the group experience so much that he and some other participants decided to meet on their own in between classes, and the group continues to meet regularly.
Meeting Goals
Through DPP, Pat has made tremendous changes in his life. He has overhauled his eating habits, reading labels, cutting down high cholesterol foods and trading sodas for water. He also focuses on portion control and even shares entrees with his wife, something that never happened before.
Pat lost 20 pounds over 10 months and found that he was less dehydrated with the addition of more water during the day. His A1C level dropped to 6.0 from 6.5, and his cholesterol also went down.
Pat’s advice to others facing similar health challenges: “Do you want to improve yourself? If you do, this kind of program is fantastic; and if it’s to be, it’s up to me.”
Click here for upcoming sessions of our Diabetes Prevention Program.
