The View co-host Sherri Shepherd talks about her struggle with diabetes in her new book, Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, Even If You Don't Have It. The comedian says that diabetes could have ended her life, but it actually ended up being a life-saver.
Although diagnosed with pre-diabetes prior to the official diagnosis, Shepherd went into a state of denial. Shepherd was then diagnosed with diabetes in 2007 and exhibited known symptoms of the metabolism disorder. Shepherd said she was lethargic, had blurred vision, made frequent trips to the bathroom and had numbness in her feet.
Shepherd said her doctor was honest with her about the seriousness of diabetes, "She said, 'Sherri, you love wearing those shoes, don't you?' I said, 'Yes, I do'. She said, 'You won't be wearing them with your foot cut off, because if you keep eating the way you are eating, that's where you're headed,' " Shepherd said in her book.
Still not accepting the dangers of diabetes or as she refers to it, "the big D," Shepherd continued her poor eating habits until eventually her doctor put her on medication. She admitted that she was afraid that she wasn't going to be around to raise her son and knew she had to change her eating habits.
"I was scared. I was going through a nasty divorce at the time, and I thought, I'll be damned if my husband's girlfriend is going to raise my son," Shepherd said.
Shepherd said she changed her relationship with food, making changes to her diet and improvements to her exercise habits. She says her husband does most of the cooking and is like a "personal chef" to her.
"I never liked vegetables before. Now I'm a kale freak because one day we got kale and my husband sauteed it with green peppers, olive oil and garlic," Shepherd said.
Shepherd now exercises three days a week, going to intense cardio and weight training boot-camp workout classes. She also hits the gym a couple of days a week to work out on the elliptical machine.
"If I didn't have diabetes, I would probably be at the International House of Pancakes eating a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup. I would probably be 250 pounds. I would not be going to the doctor. I probably wouldn't be married to my husband, Lamar Sally. I wouldn't be healthy for my son, Jeffrey," Shepherd said.
