Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/701910
H E A LT H L I N KS 1 0 | PULSE S u m m e r 2 0 1 6 F or 73-year-old Liddi Kendel, even spending an hour gardening had become difficult. Warned by her doctor that her weight was becoming an issue and struggling to get through the day without taking a two-hour nap, the Torrance resident knew she had to make a change. "In 2014 my doctor looked at me and said, 'Liddi, you've never been this heavy,'" Kendel says. "I told my husband 'I can't do this anymore; I need help.'" Aer seeing advertisements for a diabetes pre- vention program at her local YMCA, Kendel de- cided to make some changes. She had tried every weight-loss and diabetes-prevention program in the books, from a low-carb diet to attending yoga classes, and she was at her wits' end. "Over the years, I've counted calories, counted carbs," Ken- del says. "I went to Weight Watchers and even a hypnotist, and nothing worked." However, when Kendel started attending the YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program—which is partnered with the Torrance Memorial Medical Center Lundquist Cardiovascular Institute—her life changed. Kendel lost 58 pounds over the course of a year and is no longer considered pre-diabetic, and she continues to adhere to the invaluable guidelines she learned while attending the classes. Kristen Ng , a registered dietician at Torrance Memorial who regularly speaks at the program's master classes, credits a combination of the exer- cise recommendations and strict yet manageable nutrition guidelines for successes like Kendel's. "We talk to participants mainly about portion sizes, which foods are high in carbohydrates, how to read labels and what their meals should look like to help control their blood sugar," Ng says. "We also teach them to steer away from refined carbs and toward high fiber carbs and the benefit of that—not only for weight loss, but also for the benefits these choices have for your digestive sys- tem and reducing cholesterol." PREVENTING DIABETES THE YMCA PRE-DIABETES PROGRAM HELPS PEOPLE LOSE WEIGHT AND POSSIBLY HEAD OFF THIS CHRONIC DISEASE WRITTEN BY REBECCA GLASER