Today Is the Day to 'Wake Up' to the Seriousness of Diabetes

While the whole "National Day Calendar" thing can get a bit out of hand with a day of observation for everything, many of those days also serve as a stark reminder about taking our health seriously.

One of those days is today, March 25: American Diabetes Association Alert Day.

According to the National Day Calendar website, it is "observed annually on the fourth Tuesday in March."

What Is American Diabetes Association Alert Day?

The site says it is a "one-day 'wake-up call' (that) informs the American public about the seriousness of diabetes and encourages all to take the diabetes risk test and learn about your family's history of diabetes."

As someone who didn't find out I was a Type 2 diabetic until my 40s (although I likely had been much earlier than that), I agree that the earlier you can learn if you have the disease, the easier it is to overcome it.

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My Own Struggle With Diabetes

Admittedly, when I was first diagnosed in February 2020, I didn't do enough. I changed my diet for a while, tried to exercise more with daily walks, and dropped about 25 pounds. However, the COVID-19 pandemic came along and was a convenient excuse to undo whatever good I had done.

Fast forward to the late spring of 2023. I was at my heaviest – nearly 300 pounds, and I'm only about five and a half feet tall – and just felt like garbage on a daily basis. An interview about medical weight loss on my radio show was my opening to learning about drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro and the benefits they have for diabetics, including weight loss.

A Miracle Drug in Mounjaro

I joined the Southcoast Health Medical Weight Loss program and was prescribed Mounjaro; now, nearly two years later, I have lost over 100 pounds and I'm in the best shape I have been in since high school. Not only that, my A1C has been around 5.0 for the past year or so and I've virtually beaten diabetes.

Now, that plan may not work for everyone, but it was the boost I needed to get serious about my health and serious about controlling diabetes.

By the time I learned I had it, it was so much harder to overcome. Don't be like me and avoid the doctor because you fear the bad news you'll get. Take the diabetes risk test and get ahead of it while you can.