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  • For the next three months,

  • we have one person that's diabetic,

  • two people that are in the prediabetic range.

  • And we're gonna talk to a registered dietician

  • who's gonna show us how to lower our blood sugar levels

  • so we can be in a healthy range

  • by eating healthier and changing our lifestyle.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Hemoglobin A1C essentially gives you

  • a two to three month snapshot view

  • of what blood sugar looks like.

  • 5.7 to 6.4 can be an indicator of pre-diabetes.

  • Over 6.4 is when technically you would have

  • a diagnosis of diabetes.

  • My mom has type 2 diabetes.

  • On my blood test last year,

  • was the first time my A1C came out high.

  • A year later, I got tested again

  • and I was still at 5.7,

  • despite having tried to change my diet.

  • My father got it in his mid to late 50s.

  • I found out two years ago that I had type 2 diabetes.

  • I don't have any family history with diabetes.

  • I just found out that I was prediabetic two weeks ago.

  • And I'm 28.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Diabetes is a chronic lifestyle disease.

  • And there's also a genetic component,

  • and the way that you live your life

  • is actually more indicator than what you have genetically.

  • We have to look at diet.

  • I have changed my diet a lot in the past year,

  • but I'm still eating a lot of sugar.

  • And I've never thought about cutting down sugar at all.

  • When I found out two years ago that my A1C was 11.7,

  • my diet was piss poor.

  • I would drink beer,

  • any chocolate that was ready available, I'd have it.

  • When you're young, you feel invincible.

  • But it gets harder as you get older.

  • - [Sarah] We have to look at fitness levels.

  • - [Michelle] I lift weights four to five times a week,

  • mostly I'm on a powerlifting program.

  • - [Kane] I just started working out three months ago.

  • And now I'm working out almost every day.

  • - [Zach] My workouts are pretty good.

  • I'm working out about an hour and a half,

  • minimum five days a week.

  • Stress is a huge, huge part of the healthy picture

  • that I think a lot of times we overlook.

  • I'm an emotional eater and I get very stressed.

  • So I'll snack on sugar, especially

  • in the middle of the day at work.

  • Everybody works with me knows if I'm having a bad day,

  • they bring me a cookie.

  • That's how much stress effects me wanting sugar.

  • Your diet is a really crucial piece

  • of how, ultimately, your health is.

  • And a lot of times what it comes down to

  • is balancing blood sugar.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Michelle, the three things that I would challenge you

  • to work on are the meal plan that I'll send you.

  • Also a big piece of this is stress management.

  • And really step up and say, Okay I can't eat a certain way.

  • Because stress is a hormonal response.

  • So that's gonna impact your blood sugar control.

  • Kane, I looked over your information.

  • Basically, the one thing that I saw was just an imbalance.

  • And thinking about approaching each one of your meals

  • from a macronutrient standpoint.

  • So complex carbohydrates, protein, fat, and vegetables.

  • Hitting that at each one of your meals

  • is something that I think would be really helpful

  • in creating consistency.

  • Alright, Zach.

  • Very similar to what I talked about with Kane.

  • There is a balance area that we can look at.

  • And that similar concept of hitting your macros.

  • And what you guys said about snacking.

  • I would challenge you,

  • finding a way to interact with food

  • that supports your health.

  • So this meal plan is really going to focus on

  • eliminating gluten, dairy, and sugar.

  • Because those are the three main categories

  • people are typically responding to

  • in an inflammatory way.

  • So the end of the three months, ideally,

  • it would be great if everyone's A1C was at a normal range,

  • so below 5.6.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Today and tomorrow, we have all day off set.

  • And look at the food spread that I cannot eat.

  • But there's these weird apples.

  • And I can't tell if they're decorative or not,

  • so I'm just gonna eat one.

  • I'm already prepping my chicken for the week here.

  • I got my Brussels sprouts, got it lightly olive oiled,

  • minimal salt like the nutritionist said.

  • Let's shed more pounds.

  • Let's lose this diabetes!

  • I'm putting spinach in my smoothie.

  • This is so weird.

  • How am I supposed to eat six cups of veggies a day

  • when I barely eat zero now?

  • Generous handful of spinach,

  • five or six strawberries, ice, protein.

  • Let's see how this bad boy's gonna taste.

  • I don't like the consistency of this.

  • It's a little poopy colored.

  • Whoa, it just tastes like chocolate and peanut butter.

  • Eh, I'm not hating on it.

  • I could do this for breakfast.

  • Michelle just pointed out that this bun has gluten in it.

  • I made a mistake.

  • And also that beer has gluten,

  • which I didn't realize as well.

  • So after talking to Michelle,

  • I stopped by Trader Joe's and bought myself

  • a bag of spinach, blueberries, bananas,

  • chocolate whey protein, mushrooms,

  • ground turkey, eggs for stir fry.

  • One of the more frustrating things about having diabetes.

  • Cuts and broken bones or torn ligaments, stuff like that,

  • it takes awhile to heal.

  • I got a pretty big cut on my leg.

  • It doesn't hurt.

  • It just doesn't scar properly.

  • - [Kane] So a trick that I found

  • is putting lemon in everything.

  • Squeezed a whole lemon in my leftovers.

  • Doing this video that last three months,

  • really is a lifestyle change.

  • I'm still in the mode of like,

  • let me get through this and then I'll eat bad food,

  • but I need to reevaluate that.

  • I've been good all week.

  • I ate really clean.

  • I ate really healthy.

  • This morning, my friends are in town visiting.

  • So I'm taking them to a place that has

  • bottomless mimosas and bottomless waffles.

  • (upbeat music)

  • 80/20 is a really good rule to follow.

  • So 80% of the time, you're following

  • this healthy eating pattern.

  • And then there's 20% where you're like going to a wedding

  • or going out after work,

  • and you might have a drink.

  • I indulged this weekend.

  • There was a wedding, but you gotta get back on track.

  • Tonight I took the time and I did a lot of meal prep.

  • I'm gonna see what my blood sugars are right now.

  • Prick my finger, squeeze some blood out.

  • Put it on this little tab.

  • 77, this is actually pretty good.

  • When I first got diagnosed with diabetes,

  • I would get 275, so this is a vast improvement.

  • - [Michelle] They served pie and ice cream

  • for dessert last night, but they gave me two plums.

  • But I'm gonna tell you, I'm about it eat a lobster roll.

  • After a day of tuna fishing,

  • but I think I've earned a lobster roll.

  • I got my first gluten-free sandwich,

  • which I usually avoid at all costs.

  • So Sarah's here with us, looking at our snacks.

  • The KIND bars that have five grams of sugar or less.

  • So a little bit of sugar's okay.

  • Yeah, you wanna try and keep it low.

  • I bought a carrot juice at Trader Joe's.

  • It's not bad to drink occasionally,

  • but I would say go for the whole fruit.

  • Okay, I'll eat a carrot.

  • I'll eat a carrot.

  • Took the gluten-free option and it still has cheese.

  • I think I actually prefer eating on the diet

  • than eating whatever this is.

  • It's the end of the day today.

  • All I have is leftovers from three different meals

  • put into a pot and it does not look good.

  • I even had a dream last night that I found

  • really delicious chocolate chip cookies.

  • And then I woke up and it wasn't real.

  • (sighs)

  • It's 7 P.M. on Friday and I'm finally leaving the office.

  • A meeting happened today where I got so frustrated,

  • I almost started to cry.

  • I really have to figure out,

  • A, relaxation techniques and B, are my hormones just crazy?

  • I just got off the phone with Michelle

  • and we reviewed her adrenal tests.

  • So I wanted to see what her cortisol levels

  • were doing throughout the day.

  • They were actually pretty elevated

  • consistently throughout the day.

  • This could be a reason why

  • her blood sugar is not coming down.

  • - [Zach] So all last week I was really good.

  • I ate super healthy, so yesterday I decided

  • to have a bit of a cheat day,

  • which turned into a huge cheat day.

  • I went to the LA County Fair.

  • I had an ICEE, blooming onion,

  • jumbo corn dog, barbecue brisket with french fries.

  • To top it off I had chocolate covered ice cream.

  • I'm gonna, like I normally do, take my blood sugar.

  • 132, that's definitely high.

  • The few two weeks has been a struggle.

  • Especially last week.

  • I was super stressed.

  • I'm sure that raised my blood sugar levels.

  • At night, I ate my feelings

  • and had a large pizza with cheese.

  • It came to a point where my thought process was like,

  • are these things that I'm eating

  • actually gonna effect my number at the end of this?

  • Like, I don't know.

  • I went hard.

  • Ate a lot of food that I shouldn't have.

  • And I'm just pissed.

  • I shouldn't have done it.

  • At the same time, I was like,

  • I wish I could've just done it.

  • I wish I could've just done it guilt-free,

  • not having to worry about what my blood sugars are,

  • not having to worry about feeling like shit.

  • Exhausted, tired, lethargic,

  • to the point of passing out.

  • I'm just disappointed in myself, I think,

  • for just giving in to temptation,

  • eating all this food that I shouldn't have eaten.

  • I'm in such a bad mood.

  • Haven't wanted to do anything.

  • The diet's mostly fine, but I'm so hungry all the time.

  • I don't know if it's 'cause of the diet

  • or just 'cause I'm a grumpy, bad person.

  • I also feel really scared that after all this,

  • I'm gonna test my blood sugar it's gonna be the same.

  • (upbeat music)

  • I know what you're all thinking.

  • How could I eat the same thing day in and day out?

  • You've seen it, I've cheated.

  • But I just can't help it, guys.

  • I love me some Brussels sprouts.

  • So I've always struggled with portion control.

  • What's been really helping me for this

  • is Sarah gave us a chart.

  • Any plate of food that I get,

  • I'm supposed to save half of that for vegetables.

  • And a quarter as protein.

  • And the other quarter as fat and carbs.

  • And that's been really simple for me

  • to remember and keep track of.

  • Sarah suggested I find activities that reduce stress.

  • I have a knitting project that's been sitting in a drawer.

  • So I have picked it back up.

  • By the time we finish the diet,

  • I'll be done, this shawl.

  • Just came back from a week

  • of vacation in Puerto Vallarta.

  • It was super fun,

  • but I eat so badly.

  • I had a lot of drinks

  • and the drinks had a lot of sugar.

  • I basically didn't do any of my diet.

  • Because the A1C is an average of the last three months,

  • I hope one week doesn't just destroy the whole thing.

  • Today's Monday and my 40th birthday is on Saturday.

  • There's gonna be a lot of cheating this week

  • because I'm only turning 40 once

  • while I'm on a diet.

  • - [Zach] I just tried going to the gym

  • 'cause yesterday I hurt my ankle.

  • It's a little swollen, but I figured

  • I could maybe just bike on it.

  • I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow.

  • We'll see what she says.

  • I hope it's nothing serious.

  • - [Michelle] My friend ended up taking me

  • to dinner for my birthday.

  • They ordered a bunch of cheese and olives and bread.

  • So I tasted one tiny piece of cheese.

  • They ordered molten chocolate cake for dessert

  • that we all shared.

  • It was the most amazing thing I've tasted in a long time.

  • But I ate four bites of it.

  • So I feel like I'm practicing what my life

  • will be like post- this video.

  • (calm, down tempo music)

  • - [Kane] So it's morning to get my bloodwork

  • done for the A1C.

  • I've tried to eat healthier and been working out.

  • So I'm hoping that that makes up

  • for the few weeks of patchiness.

  • So I just got my results back and mine is 5.4.

  • Super excited.

  • And I can't wait to talk to the dietician about it.

  • I got a call from my doctor's office today.

  • They have my test results and my heart sank immediately.

  • Like, oh it's gonna be bad.

  • And they were like, yeah your B12's a little low.

  • And I was like, but what about my A1C?

  • And they were like, Oh that's 5.2, that's fine.

  • 5.2, I dropped from 5.7.

  • I owe Kane and Buzzfeed such a debt of gratitude

  • because I was freaking out that I was gonna be diabetic.

  • Just got my blood test results back.

  • And I'm no longer diabetic.

  • It went from a 7.6 to a 5.3.

  • I'm shaking a bit.

  • I'm trying not to cry because this is just something

  • that I just really wanted to fucking take.

  • Obviously I'm still not out of the clear.

  • I mean it could definitely come back if my diet changed.

  • But knowing that I no longer have to take my meds,

  • I'm just relieved.

  • Change doesn't have to be all or nothing.

  • None of the people that went through this program

  • did this 100%.

  • There were times where they struggled.

  • There were times where they were traveling.

  • And it was about how do you get back up after you fall down?

  • Go for small changes.

  • Celebrate your wins.

  • Know that little things you do

  • add up to have a bigger impact.

  • The way you eat, your lifestyle,

  • it's all so important.

  • Nutrition rules, nutrition wins,

  • and yeah, hell yeah.

  • So the diet's over and somebody gave me some candy

  • to celebrate my birthday.

  • And I can eat it now, but it's going right in the trash.

  • Sorry, friend.

  • (upbeat music)

For the next three months,

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