Type 2 Diabetes Prevention | Why Diabetes Is No Longer My Destiny

For Maggie, type 2 diabetes prevention was summed up in 4 letters…. F.E.A.R.

Age 45 and a mom of young children, Maggie was well aware of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, her awareness was born out of experience…

For as long as she could remember, Maggie had been constantly craving… CONSTANTLY. Her crippling pain was now keeping her from doing basic tasks in the kitchen. And brain fog was causing disturbing short-term memory loss.

And the weight was accumulating.

But Those Were Actually The Least Of Her Health Worries.

Maggie’s biggest fear was following the same diabetes path as her mother. Type 2 diabetes had stolen the health, vitality and even body parts from Maggie’s mother.

Now Maggie feared, with good reason, that type 2 diabetes had her in its crosshairs.

This is Maggie’s story, a self-appointed “tough nut to crack”, who quickly discovered how to Forget To Eat™ so she could forget about cravings, chronic pain, brain fog and the fear of type 2 diabetes ever stealing her health away.

Watch Maggie’s Story Of Type 2 Diabetes Prevention & Avoiding Her Family Destiny

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Read The Podcast Interview Of Type 2 Diabetes Prevention & Avoiding Her Family Destiny

Barbara McDermott: Hey there listeners, this is Barbara McDermott with SHIFT Formula and the Forget To Eat™ Podcast. My guest today is the lovely Maggie Lozier.

Welcome Maggie! Tell our audience a little bite about yourself.

Maggie Lozier: Hi everyone. I’m Maggie. I am 45 years old and the mom of five kids. My kids range between 22 and 4 years old. So constant craziness, and busyness sum up my days.

I’m a certified holistic health and wellness coach as well. I specialize in mental health and stress management. My background is all in mental health in every disorder you can imagine. And over the last eight years I’ve been working with clients with severe eating disorders.

I like adventure. I’m a tough nut to crack and I always have a wise comment ready to share.

Barbara McDermott: What an extensive background. My gosh, talk about the spectrum of health issues that you’re so well versed in and obviously assisting others who are struggling.

What Struggles Led You To SHIFT Formula?

Maggie Lozier: I think I’m always looking because I’m just interested. It’s part of what I do. And it’s my passion. Like nutrition is part of being a mom and taking care of your kids. That’s a huge thing for me. So I’m always researching, always reading, always seeking.

I think some of the biggest struggles for me are fear and frustration.

FEAR… my mom had heart disease and diabetes and eventually lost both of her legs to diabetes. And I’ve watched her quality of life decline dramatically.

And then her quality of mental health declined. Which wasn’t surprising. Who can lose both legs and not be depressed?

She was older and she didn’t do the right things to take care of herself. And it was a battle to get her to do the right things. So that was a huge frustration.

And this extra weight from having my babies. But it’s not all my baby’s fault. Living in a state of constant hurry, I’d put whatever I could get in my mouth, eat and move on.

And that just led to eating all day. Eating when stressed. And eating for energy.

So fear and frustration are big ones.

And then the right day, at the right moment, there you were in a video on my computer. And I said, “Hi Barb. Help me.”

Barbara McDermott: Diabetes to me, I’ve always said it’s the gateway to every lousy way to die.

It opens up so many scary portals, right?

Like limb loss.

As you know, I have a daughter with type one diabetes which is the autoimmune version of diabetes, but they suffer the same consequences as those who have type two diabetes.

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Because of Diabetes He Just Got His Foot Amputated… But He’s Doing Great.

I remember a time when one of my participants in the exercise class I taught tried to comfort me by saying, “Oh, don’t worry about your daughter. My dad has had diabetes his entire adult life. He just got his foot cut off, but he’s doing great.”

And I was like, wait a minute, am I offended, frightened, uplifted? What am I supposed to do with that comment?

You used that word fear. That was me. I was terrified for my child.

I wasn’t going to be able to just brush it off and say, “She’s doing great”.

Like you said, who doesn’t get depressed when you have limb loss and enthusiasm loss.

Maggie Lozier: I think diabetes is very underrated. People don’t understand the impact of the consequences. Because everybody knows somebody with diabetes. So it’s not that big of a deal. Right?

You can just manage that.

And I saw myself physically evolving into my mom. As I got older, I realized that we have so many of the same traits. And I was like, “Oh no”. Like a giant red neon stop sign. I couldn’t let myself go there.

Especially since I have two young kids. I gotta be here for them.

So it was that huge, huge red flag. All the little symptoms that I started noticing and remembering who they were connected to. And I said to myself, I’m not going to go there.

Can You Tell Us About Some Of Your Symptoms?

Maggie Lozier: I was always tired. And it’s so easy to blame being tired on being busy or raising the kids.

But I was… “just want to go to bed, keep my eyes closed and can’t move tired”. I was exhausted, just utterly exhausted tired.

I Thought The Cravings Would Never End

Cravings were 24/7, all day long.

Sugar was my best friend. I loved it in any form, you know, pasta, bread… my favorite thing ever, and all kinds of candy.

I craved it all day long.

That’s one of the things that I thought would never change. Because I’ve been craving sugar as long as I can remember. I was like, this is just who I am.

If the kids left the crust from their peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their plate, I’d eat it.

And then I’d want more. So I’d make my own, even though I just ate lunch. That was typical for me. And it just didn’t make sense.

I Suffered From Horrible Arthritis

Now, I do have some sports injuries. But all my joints were hurting, as I’m getting older. My shoulders, my feet, you know, things that weren’t injury-related.

And my hands couldn’t even open a jar.

I’m 45, not 95. I should be able to open a jar!

Those things would take me right back to being in the kitchen with my mom or having a conversation with her.

Brain Fog Was Another Issue

Although, I don’t think brain fog is enough to call what I have.
I’d become so forgetful.

And I’m not just talking about forgetting an item on the grocery list, which happened all the time. But, I was forgetting the name of someone I’ve worked with for five years.

I was forgetting what I’m doing all day long as I’m doing it. I just couldn’t seem to get clear. To the point where I was like, this just doesn’t feel right.

It doesn’t feel like myself. This isn’t me being tired or me, multitasking too much. This isn’t right.

And I think that was the scariest thing.

Barbara McDermott: And Maggie, your mic cut out just a tiny little bit. Did you say that you forgot a coworker’s name?

Maggie Lozier: Oh yeah. Sitting right next to me and I’ve worked with her for five years. I’d look at her face and sit there just thinking, “Hmm, I wonder when it’s going to come to me. What’s her name?”

And she wasn’t an acquaintance I’d see once in a while. We sat side-by-side, every day. And that would happen frequently.

That scared me big time.

Barbara McDermott: Yeah. You know that brain fog, that body pain and the cravings, the three things that you just talked about, all three have the same route cause. Your body has been overburdened by glucose and glucose comes from carbohydrate.

It doesn’t matter if the carbohydrate is organic. Or, if it’s real, if it’s ancient, if it’s blessed by the Pope.

If it is a carbohydrate food, it contributes to that glucose load. This is why we’re calling dementia and Alzheimer’s type 3 diabetes. That’s why I say diabetes is the gateway to every lousy way to die because it literally is.

What Was Your Big Surprise?

Barbara McDermott: So you came into SHIFT and like you said, you’re a tough nut to crack. So tell us about any surprises where you were like, wait a minute. I didn’t think that was going to happen.

Maggie Lozier: I can actually walk past any and all sweets, pasta, bread and not feel like my soul is crushed. Now I just go past it and be like, eh, I don’t need it.

Which really, if you spent one day with me and saw how much of it I would eat. I wasn’t hungry. But, it was a, I got to have it kind of a thing.

I Never Thought That Living Cravings-Free Was Possible

I don’t know how many different things I’ve tried to help me with cravings. But it all was just fluff.

With SHIFT, I was amazed. Because it was Thanksgiving time. So there’s tons of stuffing and desserts and neighbors bringing over goodies to my house all the time.

But this year it was getting thrown away or given away. Which is not at all like me. My ‘old’ me.

Now it is me. Thank God. So I got rid of the garbage. That’s not me. I don’t need it anymore.

Those cravings no longer have control over me.

That’s a huge thing. I can control my cravings completely. I can decide, Oh, I want that and I’m going to enjoy it.

But with the foods that I used to crave, I don’t really like how I feel after I eat them now. And they don’t taste as great as I remember.

Oh, that’s a thing too. Yeah. That was a huge, huge surprise for me.

Barbara McDermott: It’s so powerful as a scientist. Technically I’m a citizen scientist I guess, but when we literally change the chemistry in our body, we start craving other things.

And I shouldn’t use the word cravings. We actually are restored to our natural childhood like hunger again. And the cravings and the ravings, they just dry. They leave us.

It’s hard to tell people that before they’ve actually experienced it themselves.

Maggie Lozier: Yes, it really is. I didn’t believe it either. And I truly genuinely wanted it.

I’m a very frank, honest person. Stuff doesn’t come out of my mouth unless it’s true. I never, ever thought that that would happen to me.

I’m super happy about it. I didn’t think it was even possible. I just thought that would always be a struggle forever. And that I’d always feel like I’m missing out or wasn’t going to enjoy it.

Now, cravings don’t even register anymore. Sometimes I feel like I’m almost minimizing it because it’s just not a thing anymore.

Barbara McDermott: It’s so powerful to have that desire dry up. And I think about individuals who really struggle emotionally. They feel like they’re in a straight jacket.

And they’re following these protocols like, “eating the rainbow”. Or eat organic, or just get off processed foods and your life should work out.

It doesn’t quite add up does it?

Maggie Lozier: No. But with SHIFT there’s definitely uniqueness to what you’re going to eat and how each individual does it. Everybody’s body is different. And what I’ve kind of figured out through SHIFTing is you follow the basic foundation with the higher fat, moderate protein, low carb, but know you can tweak that as I need and still kind of be in those parameters.

SHIFTing Was Easier Than I Thought

It’s definitely challenging because it’s a change from what I’ve learned about healthy eating. So it’s just mentally me thinking, okay I did not eat every color today. That is a huge thing with me. Like you have to eat the rainbow.

However, when I was eating the rainbow, I was eating all day long… nonstop.

And I didn’t have any more energy. My joints didn’t feel better. And my brain was just as fuzzy. I didn’t feel like that was the right way to do it.

SHIFTing has been really freeing.

The right way to do it is the way that works for me and SHIFTing is what’s absolutely working for me.

There is no dogma to this. It’s not a strict, this is the right way or else type of program.

And to actually do it and experience the results was a whole other kind of knowing. It just kind of all clicked for me.

I knew this was the right way for me to live. I do not feel restricted.

I sometimes feel like, Oh, I overindulged and then I look at what I ate and I see it was just a little bit.

I was like, “Oh, how did that happen?”. I ate so little and I felt satisfied.

I’m used to giant plates of food with every color under the sun. Now I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I’m fine for hours and hours without being hungry.

Barbara McDermott: You know, I was the same way. I think I literally grazed through the last three decades of my life until this recent decade where I literally forget to eat. That’s actually a thing.

No Longer Preoccupied With Food…

Have You Noticed a Longer Span Between Meals?

Maggie Lozier: Absolutely. And that was a habit that was such a ritual and a routine. Snacking at night, late at night, at 11:30pm when my husband would come home from work. Even after the kids went to bed. Because they were in bed, I could eat what I wanted.

Now, it’s six o’clock dinner and I’m done.

I don’t eat until the next day. I don’t think about food, which is a good thing. It’s not always on my brain like it was in the past.

I have space to do the other things I need to do because I’m not preoccupied with the food. That’s awesome!

Barbara McDermott: To me, for my daughter, for you, and for many in our SHIFT community, it’s, for lack of a better phrase, it’s literally food freedom… FINALLY.

It’s a break from thinking about food. A break from wondering what the next fix is, when is the next meal, my next snack.

And then you have time.

Maggie Lozier: Yes. I can get stuff done. Because you’re not so mentally preoccupied.

In the past, when I finished breakfast, right away I was thinking about lunch. What can I have?

Not too much, not too little. Make sure I include all the colors and nutrients stuff. And I needed to be able to lose weight doing that.

Do this every day, all day.

And no, nobody wants to think about food every day, all day.

Now you can love food all you want. But when it starts preoccupying your mind and getting in the way of life, it’s literally like in a huge addiction.

It was interfering with other things I should have been taking care of in my head. And now that’s no longer the case.

Everything I need is there. It’s simple. It’s so simple. It’s so easy. It’s ridiculous.

There’s minimal effort, literally minimal effort needed. So busy nights are not a challenge like they used to be.

I don’t have to plan that far in advance.

I just know what I can have and I have it. And I look at it differently.

Now I look at food as how it’s going to impact me. And then making the best choice for me is clear and easy. But pretty much all the bad choices don’t live in my house anymore.

It’s easy because they don’t even call my name anymore when I’m pushing the cart through the supermarket. Not at all.

I don’t even care about that sale. The little rack with all the blueberry muffins on it doesn’t interest me anymore. I’m like, see you later.

Barbara McDermott: It’s a little bit like a Jedi mind trick. I remember seeing people and thinking, why can’t my daughter be like others who didn’t think about food, who aren’t controlled, who aren’t constantly being chased by it.

But the cool thing is you are no longer controlled by food.

Also for you, it’s avoiding your mother’s fate. Your genetics or inclination towards diabetes.

Why I Don’t Fear Diabetes or Alzheimer’s Anymore…

What Are You Sure Of?

What Are You Certain About Going Forward Now?

Maggie Lozier: I’m sure that my biggest fears and my biggest frustrations aren’t true. They’re not certain.

And that is like a weight that I can’t even begin to tell you the relief I feel with it being lifted. I can’t articulate it.

When I first heard Alzheimer’s being referred to as type three diabetes that’s where I thought I would go. I was just going to lose some toes from diabetes on the way there. Because you weren’t going to get me to stop eating what I wanted.

And so now I know it’s not frustrating. I don’t have to have that frustration. I am not going to have diabetes. I am not going to have diabetes type two or three, neither of them.

So just to be sure of that is such a huge weight just gone.

And I know that I’m not worried about falling off the wagon, because I’m not on a wagon. This is a lifestyle.

If I have something I normally wouldn’t have, it’s not a big deal cause I’m so balanced now. With all the right things going on inside. One little thing isn’t going to interfere with that.

And even with my kids, I look at it a little bit differently now.

I can let them have a little more freedom, knowing that they’re going to be okay because now I have the knowledge.

I’m 45 and I’m not going to eat like I’m 19 anymore. And that’s okay.

That’s, you know, the way to be because I am not going to have Alzheimer’s or diabetes. And that’s a fact. I don’t waiver on that anymore.

So I can sleep at night now.

Barbara McDermott: That’s the sense of certainty for me, my daughter and for everyone in our SHIFT community. The calm. The peace of mind that’s generated from knowing.

We just know how it works.

And yeah, we don’t eat like we’re 19 anymore. And we don’t even desire to eat like we are 19 because we, we know. When you SHIFT that focus and internally you’re, not only relying on dietary fat again, but we know how to dine in. We know how to dine in on the fat that we are carrying.

That is the superpower!

Like next week we’re doing another one of our extended fasting weeks.

And the big secret is… we don’t not eat. We actually eat while we fast. Just enough to keep us rolling along. You know, everyone outside of the SHIFT community thinks it’s torture.

Maggie Lozier: It’s not, it’s not hard. I really thought I was going to suffer. I’m really looking forward to the next one.

And there are randomly days in between where I’m like, I don’t need to eat today. And I’m good. I can do the fast today. Pick up eating again tomorrow.

I’m going to start wearing a cape when I dine in. Yeah, I’m just going to do it. I’m going to come to the table with my cape on with the kids.

Barbara McDermott: You are the stuff of superheroes, Maggie. Because of what you do all day for a living, you know all this science. And you share with people who are struggling. You’ve rolled up the sleeves for yourself because you knew the trajectory of your genetic DNA through your mom’s health challenges.

You’ve closed those gates on diabetes and Alsheimer’s. That’s not the way you’re going to go. No way. And it’s so powerful just knowing it’s just so powerful.

Maggie Lozier: Yeah, very much so. It’s finally time I took advice. My own advice. Coaches need coaches. And I love it. I absolutely love it.

The certainty, the freedom… it’s just very awesome. So thank you.

You have to put on your cape too.

Barbara McDermott: Well, Maggie, thank you so much for sharing your story with our listeners. Your story is going to touch someone’s life who needs to hear it exactly the way you’ve said it. And with each story, we end up SHIFTing the planet.

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