“I had a wake up call when I saw my primary care provider last year and she used the word ‘prediabetic,’" says Lori Grinnell. “I thought to myself, ‘things have got to change.’ Now, I feel a lot better. The weight is coming off and I’m making better food choices.”

Grinnell is participating in the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program. Her father was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in his early 40s and eventually passed away from complications with diabetes, so she was motivated to take control of her health when she saw her A1c blood values creeping upwards.

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program has been both a challenging and encouraging experience for Grinnell. “We’ve all had bad weeks, but you don’t give up because you know that the next week you’ll be held accountable,” she says. “It helps that we laugh a lot and the group really supports each other.”

The program is not prescriptive, but instead is about changing your lifestyle and how you look at food. The hard work, according to Grinnell, “is in understanding your motivations for the food choices that you make, especially around comfort foods at times that you feel stressed.” She and her husband have made changes at home and in how they grocery shop as a result of her participation in the program.

“The program is a yearlong, so it’s not a short term fix,” says Grinnell. “It takes commitment to make lifelong changes. It’s been worth every penny.”

A new YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program class is forming now to begin on July 12. This class will meet on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at the Boothbay Region YMCA. The class meets weekly for the first 16 sessions, and then transitions to a less frequent meeting schedule. An additional class meeting on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. will be starting in the Damariscotta area shortly. 

You do not need to be a YMCA member or receive a referral from a physician to enroll in the program. The Y is committed to working with all eligible individuals who desire to participate in the program to ensure that the program is affordable for them.

The YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program is offered by the Boothbay Region YMCA and the Central Lincoln County YMCA in partnership with LincolnHealth. All employees who work on the LincolnHealth campuses may enroll in the program at no cost, due to a grant.

Contact Casey Clark Kelley at 207-350-7026 or cclarkelley@clcymca.orgto learn if you may be eligible and to enroll today.