Saving A Rescue Dog Triggers Man’s 100+ Pound Weight Loss

“I tried and failed on every diet program ever commercially marketed in the United States,” says Walking With Peety:  The Dog Who Saved My Life author Eric OGrey on Divabetic’s Diabetes Late Nite podcast.

Although it was apparent to everyone else that Eric was morbidly obese, he wasn’t aware of it or his health issues. But by age 51, Eric was 351 pounds with a 52-inch waist, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. He estimates that he was on about fifteen different types of medication. “It was a cruel, gradual, slow process. It’s not like you wake up one day and you’re a hundred pounds heavier than you were the day before. The worse it gets the more you get used to it and it becomes your new normal.”  

Eric admits that one of his biggest problems was that he wasn’t personally involved in his own health. He was taking both metformin and insulin and his A1C was 12. “I didn’t know how my own body worked. I relied upon other people, namely MD’s, to make those decisions for me.” 

Eric turned his diabetes health around after seeking the help of a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Preeti Kulkarni. 

“Dr. Kulkarni put me on a plant-based diet and told me to adopt a dog from my local shelter. I had never had a pet before so I immediately asked her if it was OK if I got a cat instead.” She said, “have you ever walked a cat?”

Eric chose to rescue an obese middle-aged dog. He says, “I thought we’d have something in common.” 

The first time the two went for a walk, they were only able to go about a hundred yards before they had to stop and rest. “I was so out of shape I was out of breath just tying my own shoes.” 

Within three months of a program that consisted of eating a plant-based diet and walking Peety for 30 minutes twice a day, he lost 5 pounds a week, and all of his medical stats improved. His A1c also dropped from 12 to 5. 

Listen to more of Eric OGrey’s transformative story on Diabetes Late Nite with music from P!nk. Other guests include Chilbrook Kennels breeder, author, and diabetes alert dog and scent detection expert, Debby Kay; poet Lorraine Brooks; Yoga for Diabetes author, Rachel Zinman; and Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE. Throughout the podcast we feature songs from the P!nk’s Beautiful Trauma album courtesy of SONY Music.

Know Diabetes By Heart Ambassador Sarah Shares Her Diagnosis To Diva Story

Know Diabetes By Heart  Ambassador Sarah B. shares how her husband’s death motivated her to take her type 2 diabetes diagnosis seriously on the March Diabetes Late Nite podcast.  

I watched how diabetes coupled with a stroke ravished him and how it caused him to basically give up hope,” she said after her husband was wheelchair bound because of a stroke caused by mismanagement of his type 2 diabetes. “Watching how he had been debilitated by the disease, I knew I could not go down that path.” 

Sarah urges other caregivers to take care of themselves and be mindful of their health. “When someone relies on you, you need to take care of yourself. Their well-being is tied to your well-being, so you have to ensure that you stay well.” 

Sarah has made a conscious decision to manage her diabetes with diet and exercise. “Not exercising for me is not an option!” She starts her days with rebounding on a mini trampoline. To stay motivated, she watches a variety of rebounding workout videos on YouTube.  

An adventure group for widows she discovered on Facebook helps her stay active too. Last year the group entered a Spartan Race, a 5K obstacle course, which required them to climb over a wall just to get to the starting line! Sarah said that the group members “prove to ourselves that life goes on and we can be better than we thought we were.” 

She has also adopted a whole-food, plant-based diet after watching several documentaries about the meat industry on Netflix. One of her favorite foods is the Japanese sweet potato. “I top them with beans, broccoli, onions and mushrooms.” 

Japanese sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamins (especially vitamin A), minerals, potassium, iron, copper and fiber. Since they are high in carbohydrates, Healthline recommends that you keep your portions small and boil instead of baking them to help ensure a lower glycemic load. 

Sarah’s late husband’s tragic health story mirrors the story of Divabetic icon Luther Vandross. Luther experienced a stroke related to type 2 diabetes in 2003 and died in 2005 at the age of 54.

We’d like to encourage you to “keep your house a home” and learn how to prevent and/or delay a diabetes health-related complication like kidney disease. March is National Kidney Month. If you have type 2 diabetes, you run an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Thankfully, you can test kidney function to find out about problems early – and make changes to prevent CKD – with a simple screening.

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