Herman and Christa Kemp before they started exercising regularly. / Photos by Davis Turner for USA WEEKEND
After five years, Herman has lost 239 pounds and Christa has lost 100. / Photos by Davis Turner for USA WEEKEND
Herman and Christa Kemp walk with daughter Alexia, 13.
Kemp works out at a gym in Concord, N.C.
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Diabetes is on the rise worldwide. Nearly 8% of the U.S. population — 23.6 million men, women and children — have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association's most recent estimates show. An additional 57 million have pre-diabetes: higher than normal blood glucose (sugar) that raises their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The good news is the same things that help all of us improve our health — weight loss, diet, exercise — can help people beat diabetes.
Weight loss. Herman Kemp of Concord, N.C., was only 34 but weighed 454 pounds in 2005 when he was diagnosed “borderline diabetic” with high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. He had already tried “every diet that was out there, Atkins to Mayo to Slim Fast. I even tried to be a vegetarian,” he says, but his weight kept rising. The doctor gave him a 1,500-calorie eating plan that included sample meals. “My wife started preparing our meals,” using the guidelines. Each day after work, the two walked for 10 to 15 minutes. After six weeks, both felt better.
When Kemp had shed 70 pounds, his blood pressure stabilized and his cholesterol was normal. He began running: “I run 8 to 10 miles in the morning. I'm in the weight room at least three days a week.” Kemp no longer needs diabetes medicine. He has lost 239 pounds; his wife, Christa, has lost 100. Both still exercise and watch portions but focus on health rather than weight: “It's a lifestyle change.”
Diet change. When Gwen Rodenberger, 51, of Monticello, Ind., was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in June 2005, “it was a real punch in the face.” Like many people with diabetes, Rodenberger also had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She says she “didn't want this to be my death sentence” and began learning all she could. She started by changing her eating habits. “With every diabetic, there is a set of foods that will make your blood sugar go through the ceiling.”
She learned her triggers and found substitutes, such as spaghetti squash instead of pasta. For the first year, she says, “I could eat whatever I wanted and still lose weight” as long as she stuck to low-carb versions of foods. When she hit a plateau, adding a little more exercise tipped the balance. Although she still struggles occasionally with carb cravings, Rodenberger has lost 92 pounds and hasn't needed metformin, the diabetes medicine her doctor had prescribed, for nearly two years. Weight loss and exercise also brought her blood pressure and cholesterol back to normal. Best of all, she's feeling great.
Exercise. Stuart Berlin, 58, of Columbia, Md., was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in April 2008. Both of his wife's parents struggled with diabetes complications; Berlin was determined not to suffer the same fate. But his demanding job didn't make it easy to eat well or exercise. In job-stress studies, high school administrator ranks “up there with nurse and air traffic controller,” he says. “I really don't know how much I weighed, but I'm guessing somewhere between 245 and 250. I made a promise to my wife that I would get healthy.”
Berlin had always been athletic, so he began exercising again, using a recumbent stationary bike and treadmill in the basement and biking outdoors, weather permitting. “I started with 5 miles, and after that, the 5 became 8; the 8 became 12.” His doctor prescribed two “huge horse pills” of metformin daily in April 2008 but lowered the dose to one daily in July. By September, Berlin had improved so much that his doctor said he no longer needed diabetes medicine.
Now, “exercise is a part of my routine,” Berlin says. He has lost more than 60 pounds and achieved his goal of biking a “metric century” (100 kilometers, about 62 miles). His next target: biking 100 miles.
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