Client Success Story: Deac
Deac S.
Gainesville, FL
1-Month “Couples” Meal Plan
“So I have some personal praise news.... I’ve had few people ask me about some of my weight loss. So I wanted to share a little with y’all!
About a year ago my sugars were pretty high. I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. I didn’t take it very seriously even though I should have. We all know the record between large black males vs diabetes, it ain’t great. My father has diabetes and has lost a leg and a few toes from the other foot so you can imagine what could be in store for me if I don’t make some change.
Karla Pagan Shelnutt, an Associate Professor and Extension Nutrition Specialist at UF hooked me up with Madison Keesling Wright, an RDN and Certified Personal Trainer. If you’re looking for help this New Years to get you on the right track and get you in shape, these two are amazing. Not gonna lie, I didn’t always like what either of them had to tell me but I had to hear it from someone other than Shannon S. Lol!
Through Muscles by Madz, Shannon and I both got individual meals plans and some personal accountability to help us make some better eating choices and get healthier. I was able to get down from 330 to 268. I haven’t been this size since my sophomore year in high school. My biggest vice was sugary drinks. I never really cut them out cold turkey but I made some substitutes that had less sugar in them. Muscles by Madz helped me figure out what would be the best choices for me, get some personal control on meal potions and get me to the appropriate protein/carb/fat ratio. Thank you so much Madison for all your help.
I just went to the doctor Wednesday and am no longer classified as a diabetic. My triglycerides went from 243 to 105, glucose from 139 to 88 and A1c’s from 6.0 to 5.2. It doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s enough to help me get in better shape. All this and I was only working out once or twice a week at best. Bottom line.... You can’t out exercise your eating.”- Deac
When I tell you that reading this post almost brought me to tears, I could not be more serious! I worked with Deac and his wife, Shannon, in the spring of 2018 after they signed up for the variation of my Individual Meal Plan service offered for couples. All this means is that we conduct our weekly calls all together, which is great because then each person knows what the other needs to be working on in and can help hold them accountable!
Though we only worked together for one month, we made every week count. Deac was not shy to immediately come out and say that sugary drinks were his biggest vice. We’re not just talkin’ soda here- we’re talking everything from soda, to sports drinks, to drinking juice straight out of the container. Deac’s open honesty about this struggle made it much easier for us to address. Not only that, he was also open to my suggestions and always willing to give them a shot!
Of course I wanted Deac to cut the sugary drinks cold turkey, but that wasn’t going to be feasible given his reliance on them at the time. We addressed his love for fruit juice by emphasizing the importance of 100% fruit juice (as opposed to fruit-flavored juice), pairing this juice with protein- and fat-containing foods to help slow the digestion of the beverage and limiting portion size to no more than 8 fl oz per serving (once a day). If he was going to enjoy a soda, it needed to be diet; the goal was to limit to just one serving. Refills (if dining out) were to be strictly water. To kick the sports drinks to the curb, we got to the root reasoning for this habit- taste. To enhance the taste of water, we found some Stevia-based drink-flavoring options that satisfied his need for some additional flava flave. We worked on all of these changes gradually, so as to not pile on too much at once. Deac was very patient and trusting with this process, while Shannon was equally supportive and encouraging (she was also super great at holding him accountable- this is huge!).
Another point of focus was portion size with regard to both sugary beverages and food. A former offensive linemen at the University of Florida (Deac requested I add this for dramatic effect, as it’s a huge deal for a former offense linemen to drop from 330 lbs to 270 lbs!), you might guess that Deac has an impressive appetite and ability to consume food of any kind. Helping him realize the benefit of filling up on the good stuff (protein, veggies, complex carbs full of fiber, etc.) in order to help “crowd out” the bad stuff was the way to go. This prevented Deac from being hungry and from feeling like he was barely eating anything. He was open to trying new foods and defining his new “normal”. Redefining our norms is huge because it greatly reduces the need to rely on self-control or decision-making, since we most of us are creatures of habit. **Huge shoutout to Deac’s wife, Shannon, for helping him with this by always keeping the kitchen stocked with healthy options.**
After our month of working together, I checked in with Deac and Shannon every month or two to ensure that things were still on track. They were always straight up with how things were going, good or bad. This presented opportunities to either sing their praises or offer encouragement to get back on the healthy eating-train, both of which we all need from time-to-time. I received updates about Deac’s progress along the way, which I’m sure was more encouraging to me than it was to him! Ultimately, learning that he had I could not be more proud of Deac for all the healthy changes he has cemented as habits, or of Shannon for being his rock and support system along the way. I know first hand that it takes two to make a thing go Wright ( 😉 ), and these two are a perfect example of this!