The Real-Life Guide to Diabetes by Joy Pape and Hope S. Warshaw is well written, easy to understand and educational for anyone looking for updated information on diabetes.
Q: I read that you have pre-diabetes. Can you tell us a little about that?
A: Joy shares how borderline diabetes was never a scientific term. “People don’t tend to take it as seriously. Where’s the border?” Joy said. “Actually the term is pre-diabetes. It’s when your blood glucose is high but not high enough to diagnose as diabetes.”
Q: I know you have an extensive medical background. I was wondering how much research was involved in writing The Real Life Guide To Diabetes.
A: There were some things that I just knew from personal experience because of our combined sixty years of experience as a nurse and a dietitian, but there was a lot of research involved.
Q: You lost 60 pounds and managed to keep it off. Was that difficult? Do you share some of the methods that helped you lose weight in your book?
A: It was difficult. At first there was a lot of up and downs with yo-yo diets. People ask me how I lost weight and it was with simple changes discussed in the book, such as keeping a food log, which was one of the biggest things. Knowing your calories and carbs, paying attention to food labels, finding a reason to change. My family history made me care enough to change things and lose weight.
My patients find me inspirational because I’ve been there. I used to overdo it at get togethers, but now I bring my own so that I have something healthy to eat when I get there.
My pedometer is motivating. It works really well. All of these tips are in the book. Q: What does that do? A: It counts your steps. I walk more and do a bit of resistance but nothing over the top.
Q: Joy, you partner with the health education and comedy team Laugh It Off. Can you tell us more about that? Do you believe that a sense of humor contributes to good health?
A: My best friend since birth is a comedian who comes from a family with diabetes. She has gestational diabetes and had been overweight all her life. Studies are starting to show that humor is good for your health. There is one that has shown that it can temporarily bring your blood glucose levels down. I’m the health educator and she’s the comedian so she flames things with her sense of humor. We travel the country together educating people.
Q: Is there anything you would like to add that I haven’t asked?
A: The Real-Life Guide to Diabetes also helps stress the importance of sleep, insurance and blood pressure monitoring. Joy Pape stresses the importance of finding reputable health-care providers along with educating yourself so that you’re not fished into buying anything that you don’t need. “Just because you have diabetes doesn’t mean you need special shoes.”
It is a real guide to diabetes that can change your life. It does involve change but it’s small changes. You can work diabetes into your life rather than working your life around diabetes. You can understand how to do that with this book.
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