Michelle May, MD and self-described “recovered yo-yo dieter” runs educational programs that help people lose weight – not newsworthy on the surface, perhaps. The principles she teaches in her AM I HUNGRY? classes are both so easy and so different from other patented weight-management programs, they’re getting attention, and results.
JoAnn Martin, 68, says “the reason I took (the class) was because of my diabetes.”
Martin had developed insulin resistance problems after having taken insulin to control her blood sugar levels for more than 30 years, and she was increasingly concerned about her declining health.
Martin says the mindful eating principles Dr. May presented were “a new concept for me.”
"It just hit me"
“I took the class listened, did the workbook, and I never really clicked. I lost a little bit of weight then I put it back on.” But when she started losing weight again, and kept it off long enough to cause her friends to ask, ‘what are you doing?,’ Martin wasn’t quite sure.
Then “all of a sudden one day it just hit me. I am doing ‘Am I Hungry?!,’ I thought, my gosh, I’ve been doing this and didn’t even realize it.”
Delayed reaction not necessarily bad, if the changes stick
Dr. May wasn’t surprised to hear from Martin, even several years after taking the course. “For some people…it’s an instant shift in thinking,” she says, but some need time to incorporate the change in thinking and behavior. May tells them “it’s not ‘what do I do now?’ but ‘what do I do from now on?’”
Diabetes, unfortunately, is a disease that often runs in families. Which means it’s also a disease a family can battle (or better yet, avoid) together.
“There are a lot of things that influence your choices…your awareness…and being more aware in the present moment,” Dr. May says.
Paying attention to your body’s cues and working together as a family to eat healthily and mindfully, and then to stop eating so you can move on to an enjoyable activity together, can be a powerful way to begin to control diabetes.
Overcome it, or avoid it, together
National Diabetes Education Program offers tips for getting your friends and family involved:
- Show your kids and grandkids the different types of dances you’ve done in your lifetime. (Turn about is fair play – ask them to teach you Soulja Boy or something newer!)
- Plant (and care for) a garden together.
- Go for a swim together. Swimming can work for almost all ages and stages of physical fitness.
- Go for a hike – even if the “hike” is just a stroll around a museum, park, or zoo.
Cleveland Family Fitness readers can learn about a report on the first national study conclusively linking three habits to health outcomes - good or bad. See OSU researchers prove television, eating, sleeping habits linked to find out more. A full report on the study will appear in this month's issue of the journal Pediatrics.
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