3 ways Virta helped high school band director Jeff lose weight and start reversing type 2 diabetes

By Jeff, on Virta for 4 months

For years, I took insulin shots every morning. 52 units bright and early, and even that didn’t bring my blood sugars down to healthy levels. My A1c consistently sat around 8%, and I knew I didn’t have good control over my type 2 diabetes. When I joined Virta, all of that changed.

After starting, my Virta health coach Jazmin supported me through making some necessary changes to my diet, which helped lower my A1c to 5.4%! I say “necessary” because this was something I needed to do. I hated the injections I had to give myself every morning. Virta gave me the tools I needed to be able to stop. 

I’ve also lost 48 pounds, and my energy levels have gone way up. This definitely has helped me in my job as a high school band director. I no longer keep a chair by my stand in order to rest during class. And my energy lasts throughout each and every practice session with my students. 

‍To friends who notice the changes, I tell them about Virta and the three reasons why it has been so successful for me: feedback, resources, and accountability. ‍

First, Virta gives me all the testing supplies I need in order to always know how I am doing. From blood sugar to ketones to weight, I get constant feedback about my body, all of which are tracked inside the Virta app. 

Virta also provides the ongoing support and resources I need to know what to do. Before I even started making changes to the food I eat, coach Jazmin taught me why these changes were important. She also showed me how to do it in a way that I enjoy and that would work for my lifestyle. 

And finally, Virta provides accountability. I regularly chat with Jazmin and my Virta provider, and I can do it as often or as little as I like. It’s important for me to know that if I ever have a question or just want to vent about something, I can chat it into my Virta app and get a response quickly.

If someone had told me years ago that I could reverse type 2 diabetes through nutrition, I never would have believed it. But now, I can’t deny the results. For years, I’ve had a school vest that didn’t fit. I tried it on the other day for the first time after I had lost 40 pounds, and it fit perfectly. That was a happy day indeed.

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