By Galena Flores, Tillamook YMCA Lifestyle Coach & Diabetes Prevention Program Coordinator
“You are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”
Those words can be scary. For many people, they are followed by an even bigger question: Now what? You may know you need to eat healthier, move more, or lose some weight—but knowing you need to make changes and knowing how to make them fit into your real life are two very different things. After leading the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) several times as a Lifestyle Coach, I have seen people walk into the program feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin. I have also had the privilege of watching those same people discover something incredibly powerful: they have more control over their health than they may have realized.
The Numbers Tell Us Prevention Matters
Prediabetes is incredibly common. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated **115.2 million U.S. adults—more than 2 in 5—have prediabetes, and about 8 in 10 don’t know they have it.**¹ Prediabetes means blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. It also increases a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.¹
Those numbers can be frightening. But there is another number I think deserves even more attention: 58%.
The original Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) research found that participants in an intensive lifestyle intervention reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by **58% compared with participants receiving a placebo. For adults age 60 and older, the reduction was 71%.**²
As a Lifestyle Coach, those percentages represent more to me than numbers on a page. They represent real people discovering that small changes can make a meaningful difference in their health.
Small Changes, Not Perfection
The National DPP focuses on achievable lifestyle changes, including working toward **5% to 7% weight loss and at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.**³
But participants aren’t expected to accomplish all of that overnight.
One of the most important things I have seen people learn is that a healthier lifestyle doesn’t mean giving up everything they enjoy.
You can still have the cake.
Maybe instead of thinking, “I can never eat cake again,” you learn to enjoy one slice instead of several. Maybe it’s a smaller slice, or maybe you share it with someone.
That might sound like a tiny change—and that’s exactly the point.
Throughout the year, participants learn how small, realistic choices can add up. These micro changes, repeated over time, can have a much bigger and more lasting impact than trying to completely change your life overnight.
A Lifestyle Coach Walks With You
The National DPP is a year-long lifestyle change program using a CDC-approved curriculum, a trained Lifestyle Coach, and the support of a group working toward similar goals.³
I think the word coach is important.
As a Lifestyle Coach, I’m not there to tell participants what they can and cannot do. I’m there to walk alongside them, help them build skills, ask questions, work through barriers, and empower them to make choices that work for their lives.
Because real life doesn’t always cooperate with our healthy-living plans.
There are restaurants, vacations, birthdays, holidays, stressful weeks, busy schedules, and days when nothing goes according to plan. Throughout the program, participants learn how to navigate those situations rather than avoid them.
They learn to plan ahead, problem-solve, recognize their own patterns, manage stress, and get back on track after setbacks.
One meal doesn’t erase months of progress. One vacation doesn’t mean you’ve failed. One difficult week doesn’t mean you have to give up.
The Changes You Can’t See on a Scale
Of course, one of the rewarding parts of coaching the National DPP is watching participants make physical changes. I have seen people lose weight, become more active, and reach goals they weren’t sure were possible when they started.
But some of the most meaningful changes aren’t measured in pounds.
I’ve watched participants become more confident. I’ve seen them become better problem-solvers and begin to understand their own habits. I’ve watched people share their successes and struggles with one another and encourage someone else who is having a difficult week.
One participant told me the program had given him “a new outlook on life.”
That has stuck with me.
A scale can measure pounds lost, but it can’t measure confidence gained. It can’t measure someone’s growing mental strength or the feeling that comes from realizing, “I can do this.”
Why a Full Year Matters
Sustainable lifestyle change takes time. That’s one of the reasons the National DPP lasts a full year.
Participants have time to try something, see what works, make adjustments, experience setbacks, and try again. And throughout that process, they have a cohort of people going through many of the same challenges.
Research also suggests that the benefits can last well beyond the program. Ten years after the original DPP began, participants originally assigned to the lifestyle intervention continued to have a **34% lower rate of developing type 2 diabetes compared with the original placebo group, and diabetes was delayed by about four years on average.**²
That long-term impact reinforces something I see throughout the program: we aren’t trying to create perfect habits for a few weeks. We’re building skills people can use for the rest of their lives.
From “Where Do I Start?” to “I Can Do This”
Many people enter the National DPP scared and unsure of what comes next.
They know they need to make changes. They just don’t know where to start.
Then, little by little, things begin to change.
A ten-minute walk becomes part of the day. A restaurant menu becomes easier to navigate. A vacation can be enjoyed without abandoning every healthy habit. A setback becomes something to learn from instead of a reason to quit.
Eventually, “I don’t know where to start” can become “I know what works for me.”
For me, that is one of the greatest rewards of being a Lifestyle Coach.
Preventing type 2 diabetes isn’t about perfection, and the National DPP isn’t about someone telling you how to live your life. It’s about giving people the education, support, skills, and confidence to make choices that work for them.
Because sometimes the changes that have the biggest impact don’t start big at all.
They start with one small choice—and then another.
FREE National Diabetes Prevention Program at Tillamook County YMCA – Starting in October
Join our FREE National Diabetes Prevention Program and learn how to build healthy habits, increase physical activity, and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes—all with the support of a trained lifestyle coach and others on the same journey.
Watch for more information about the next NDPP session starting in October.
Questions or ready to get started? Reach out to me at gflores@tillamookymca.org or call 503-610-5553.
Together, we can build a healthier future—one small step at a time.
Sources
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prediabetes and Diabetes Data and Research. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
2. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). National Institutes of Health.
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program.
