Welcome to Lesson One. Again, this program is designed for those of you who've been diagnosed with pre diabetes, and really don't want to progress into full blown type two diabetes. If you follow the steps in this program, you'll greatly increase your chances of reversing your diagnosis. In fact, research has shown that people who lose at least five to 7% of their body weight and do moderate exercise such as walking at least three times a week can reverse this diagnosis. That's pretty exciting. So if you have pre diabetes, this program can literally be a lifesaver.

So why did I include meditation in this program? It's because it's been shown that stress increases your cortisol levels and triggers overeating. Meditation, on the other hand, decreases your cortisol levels in reverses that trend. So it's a positive tool to have in your life. Weight Loss toolbox. Think about it?

What if you could wake up each day with abundant energy and excellent health? beyond that? What if your golden years turned out to be some of the best years of your life? Is that hard to imagine? Aren't we programmed with the expectation that our bodies are destined to deteriorate with each passing year beyond the age of 30? What if we'd been sold a belief that actually encourages the very deterioration that we fear?

Research has now demonstrated that chronic diseases such as diabetes or cancer, Alzheimers and arthritis have definite links to lifestyle and can be prevented and managed by positive changes in lifestyle. You can take charge of your health, you don't have to anticipate a life of physical decline. Although you can't alter your genetic makeup by utilizing these simple strategies. You can significantly increase your chances of avoiding the severe side effects of chronic disease and lose unwanted pounds. The focus here is diabetes prevention. But these measures can be applied to other chronic diseases as well.

So you'll discover not only where you are as far as your current risk for disease, but also how to move in the direction of more abundant health. Why as the incidence of type two diabetes has been steadily increasing in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control, nearly 26 million Americans suffer from diabetes, and an estimated 79 million adults have pre diabetes. This is a frightening statistic. So what might be contributing to this rising epidemic? family history is a major risk factor. Approximately 75% of children with type two diabetes have a parent Or sibling with a condition.

In fact, a family history of type two diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for getting the disease. However, it only seems to affect people living a Western lifestyle. Another risk is ethnicity. African Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans are at higher risk. Age is another risk factor. If you're over 45. a sedentary lifestyle is also a risk and it is having an apple as opposed to a pear shaped torso.

Of course, these are the factors that you can't control. So let's look at the factors that you can control. Often the propensity for diabetes is triggered by poor nutrition habits which are learned in the home. The old admonition that's not how my mother fixed it dies hard today, an estimated 60 6% of adults are either overweight or obese, a major risk factor for diabetes. Fast Food meals are still a popular meal replacement for people on the go. And meals around the dinner table are still in a state of decline.

How about stress are we more stressed than ever before. My grandparents often knew what was happening in their neck of the woods. But they didn't lie awake at night worrying about how they were going to be affected by the tsunami that occurred somewhere thousands of miles away. Too much stress over stimulates our delicate autonomic nervous systems and wreaks havoc with the body's nutritional balance. And finally, poor nutrition and physical inactivity have actually replaced cigarette use as the leading preventable cause of premature death in the United States. But the good news is that people are beginning to take notice physicians are monitoring blood sugar levels and encouraging their patients to make lifestyle changes.

So let's look at these risk factors again so you can determine if any of these pertain to you. Diabetes runs in my family. I have pre diabetes. I have type two diabetes. I want to prevent diabetes. I am Afro American, Asian, Hispanic or Native American.

I'm overweight. I'm over 45 years old. I carry weight around the middle other than wanting to prevent diabetes. If you have even one risk factor, then you're at risk. And if your risk following the steps outlined in this program can help you. In fact, introducing these new lifestyle and nutritional strategies will help you to reduce inflammation, lose weight and strengthen your immune system.

So again, congratulations on taking a proactive stance toward reducing your diabetes risk. You can progress through the program at your own pace, but keep going. Because not only do you deserve abundant health, but you can do this. Did you know that the first step is the hardest and the one that trips up the most people, if you can get at least started, then you're priming the pump. It shows motivation. It shows willingness, it shows that you've got what it takes to step into unknown territory.

Most of all, it shows self trust, the ability to put faith into your ability to reach a goal. So again, congratulations. My job now and helping you get there and guiding you along the way is to assign some action steps. And your job is to actually take these steps. So here's action step number one Review your risk factors. If you need to go back and do a quick review, by all means do so.

It's important and it's motivating to know what your risk factors are. It's like coming out of denial, I encourage you to have a workbook or to download the PDFs to do these action steps. This way you have something that you can go back to and review. And most of all, I want to support you and your weight loss goals. Until the next time. Hi, now I have a few questions I'd like to ask you after watching the video.

And the first question is, what is your weight loss goal? Now this is important if you are taking this program because you have pre diabetes, then your weight loss goal needs to be five to 7% of your current weight. However, if you're taking this program because you just want to lose some weight, then you can come up with your own goal. For those of you who have pre diabetes, or have high blood sugar, and you'd like to lower it, aim for five to 7% of your current weight. Now, the second question is, what will be different for you when you achieve this goal. And for those of you with pre diabetes, you won't have pre diabetes, you will not have that risk of diabeetus hanging over your head.

And trust me, I come from a family with diabetes, and it's an expensive disease and it's a dangerous disease. So sidestepping this will be a great victory. For some of you. You're just going to feel a lot better about your health and a lot better about how you look how your clothes feel. So it's really a win win. Now, the third question that I'd like to ask you, is, is there a downside to achieving this goal because If there is a downside, you need to figure that out so that you can work around it so that it doesn't sabotage your program.

For instance, downside, maybe you don't have the money to buy a different size of clothes. And you may feel like well, it's just not worth it right now to do this, or your husband and family may not be supportive of you, they may be bringing foods into the house that are just too tempting. So you really need to get your family on your side. And if you can't get your family on your side, then at least take mental note and decide that you're going to do this. And then finally, how can you best stay on target for reaching your best outcome and actually doing affirmations is a great way because negative negative thoughts will creep in. But if you can come up with some statements such as I am taking excellent care of my body and reversing any chronic conditions that might be detrimental to my body and say that over and over, it gets into your subconscious and it becomes the belief and it becomes true.

And then finally, I encourage you to finish this program. There are 20 videos and every video that I put together, there's good information in there that I want you to know. And that will help you maintain this weight. You don't want to lose weight and then put it back on. So I encourage you to finish. Know your numbers.

Okay, we all know that diabeetus is mostly caused by obesity, poor diet, family history, and a lack of exercise. That how many of us are a little overweight, eat fast food on occasion, failed to exercise at least three times a week and feel stress I would venture that a majority of Americans fall into this category. So how to know if you're in the danger zone, your body can give you signals that you're on the wrong path. If you find that you're gaining weight around the middle, this leads to inflammation and glycaemic stress. Do you crave sugar? People who are sugar sensitive generally crave sweets, bread, cereal, and pasta, all of which spike blood sugar levels.

People with sugar sensitivities have problems metabolizing carbohydrates and they have a different insulin response than those who are not sensitive to sugar. Are you depressed yet? The Good News however, is that this condition can be completely reversed. The proof is in the numbers. How powerful is knowing your numbers. By knowing your numbers and determining your risk, you're in a position to take charge of your health.

Modify your diet and lifestyle, lower your numbers and avoid a type two diagnosis completely. Instead of paying for a lifetime of medications, you can spend the money you save on something that empowers you and gives you pleasure. You may be thinking that you're feeling healthy and fit and the statistics don't apply to you. Yet many people are blindsided when they go in for a regular checkup with their eye doctor, only to find out that they have irreversible damage to their eyes from undiagnosed diabeetus. Don't be one of these people know your numbers. And here are the numbers that you need to know.

Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, C reactive protein, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, a one C and vitamin D if your blood work is over 12 months old, you'll need to contact your physician today to schedule these tests. Again in a later lesson, we'll go over what each test means in relation to your diabetes risk. And we'll examine what stage you might be in according to your bloodwork results. There are basically three stages that the body goes through prior to receiving a diagnosis of type two diabetes. These are inflammation or glycaemic stress, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. And to know whether you fit into one of these categories, you'll need to know your numbers, which can only be determined by a blood test.

If you have a copy of your bloodwork, you can fill in your results on the lesson to action steps worksheet. If you don't have your results, please request a copy from your physician's office. I realize that you probably already have your tests in hand and that's why you're taking this program. But if you don't, it's really important to get these tests. Overall, remember that diabetes is reversible and preventable. Let's talk about the stages of pre diabetes.

By knowing the result of your bloodwork, you can easily assess which stage you're in. This is important because you'll have a better idea of your risk level for developing type two diabetes. inflammation is one of the first stages leading to diabetes. And guess what leads to inflammation. All right, I'll tell you eating high glycemic foods. Some of the first signs of inflammation, also known as glycemic stress are cravings.

Eating at night, gaining weight around the middle, unsuccessful dieting and afternoon fatigue. So how to know for sure if you have inflammation, C reactive protein measures inflammation in Your c reactive protein result is greater than 3.1. You're in stage one. But don't panic, you can easily reverse inflammation by limiting your intake of high glycemic foods. This is why it's so important to know the glycemic index level of the foods you eat every day. Since stress can also contribute to inflammation.

Learning to meditate, can calm and soothe your system. You may be wondering how you developed inflammation in the first place. When your body perceives a threat to its balance, it sends out white blood cells, your killer cells to wipe out the threat. You see your body always has your back. The more white blood cells you have running around though the more inflammation is there. The trouble with inflammation is that it causes oxidation, then the oxidation causes more inflammation.

One way to Think about this is picture the oxidation process that occurs when you leave half of an apple on your kitchen counter. The Apple turns arrestee Brown. Imagine this process going on inside your body. not pretty, right? Okay, so you can reverse stage one, just switch to low glycemic foods. Now let's talk about stage two.

Untreated inflammation usually advances in to a condition called insulin resistance. This occurs when your insulin gets burned out from having to work so hard. Remember the job of insulin is to carry glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. If there's consistently too much glucose to carry, it breaks down. Just like a truck with too heavy a load might get a flat tire. Here's where it's really important to have the results of your blood work because if your triglycerides are above 150 and your HDL which is the good cholesterol is below 40.

Then Hello, you're in stage two. When you're in stage two, you also begin to experience cravings for carbohydrates. And this happens because your blood sugar levels are fluctuating. Your job if you're in stage two is to lower your triglyceride level and increase your HDL. triglycerides are a form of fat manufactured in the body. Here's how to lower your triglycerides.

First of all lose weight. If you're overweight, losing five to 10% of your body weight will reduce your triglycerides by approximately 20% and then cut the sugar you eat to less than 10% of your daily calories. And it doesn't mean you can't have any sugar it just means to cut it down. Then stock up on your fiber that means To eat vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. Don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup. do include the fats in your diet, as we talked about in a previous lesson, but make sure that they're the good fats with the omega threes instead of the saturated or trans fats and exercise 150 minutes a week.

Also limit your alcohol. The Cleveland Clinic recommends limiting your intake of alcohol to just five ounces per day or to cut it out completely. So the good news is that you can take charge of your triglyceride level with just a little tweaking. So now how to raise your HDL level. Think of your HDL as a dump truck that takes the bad cholesterol out of your body. All you have to do to get the key in the ignition is to lose weight and increase your exercise.

According to the Mayo Clinic within two months of starting, doing frequent aerobic exercise can increase your HDL cholesterol by about 5%. The final stage stage three is called metabolic syndrome. At this stage, you not only suffer the effects of the earlier stages, but now you have high blood pressure, which can also damage your arteries. Your fasting blood sugar now has reached 110 or above, and you're in serious danger of developing type two diabetes. If you found that you're in stage three, though, don't panic. I'm going to remind you that even stage three is reversible if you follow the guidelines in this program, but please do follow them.

After all, what's more important than your health, you can do this. You don't have to feel deprived either you can enjoy healthy meals as well as the healthy lifestyle. Okay, here are your action steps using your bloodwork results, identify which stage you're in and make a written plan for incorporating the steps you want to take to reverse the condition to that stage. Simple. remind yourself of all the people in your life who need you and want you to be healthy. Then, as Nike says, Just do it.