Wednesday, June 10, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
13
Sisters ‘Prevent Diabetes’ class hits halfway mark Agenda
By Katy Yoder
Correspondent
What does it take to
change your life and improve
your health? Classmates in
Sisters are finding answers as
they seek ways to avoid Type
2 diabetes. Most of the adult
students either have pre-
diabetes or are teetering on
the edge of a diagnosis. It9s
Kylie Loving9s job to guide
students who either have pre-
diabetes or are concerned
about getting the potentially
debilitating disease. A collab-
oration with Prevent Diabetes
Central Oregon, the Sisters
program began in January
with a dozen participants.
Together they9re navigating
the challenges and rewards of
getting active, losing weight
and feeling better.
Loving is a Health
Educator with the Crook
County Health Department
and has been teaching a year-
long class in Sisters for the
past two years. She9s dedi-
cated to providing the tools
necessary to make behavioral
changes that promote overall
health and decrease the pos-
sibility of adverse health
risks associated with being
overweight or an unhealthy
lifestyle.
Students learned that
avoiding diabetes takes more
than just shunning sugary
food and drinks. Fats, both
saturated and unsaturated,
can play an important role
in becoming diabetic. Some
fat is beneficial. To find a
healthy balance of fat in
their diets, students learned
that saturated and trans-fats
(often solid at room tempera-
ture) and monounsaturated
and polyunsaturated fats
(often more liquid) have dif-
ferent effects on the body.
To gain insights into their
eating habits and how it may
be affecting their health, stu-
dents began tracking the total
fat and calories they ate daily.
They began reading packag-
ing and investigated the fat
and calories in animal prod-
ucts and plant-based foods.
For many the realization of
how much fat and calories
were in certain foods was
shocking. That knowledge
helped them decide to control
and balance how much, and
what, they were eating.
At the beginning of the
class, each student had a six-
month weight-loss goal that
was approximately seven
percent of their starting
weight. With a daily target
for exercise and total grams
of fat and calories, students
could expect to lose one to
two pounds per week. Then
COVID-19 entered the pic-
ture, adding a level of stress
and challenges to every-
thing from having weekly
meetings to managing food-
related triggers.
The pandemic took a
toll on the class with some
students deciding to stop and
possibly start again next year.
<Zoom meetings were tough
for some of the students,=
said Loving from her home
in Redmond. <Overall, there
was more engagement this
year and many of the people
have made steady progress
with the class.=
Facilitating online meet-
ings and a weekly curricu-
lum, Loving guides her stu-
dents as they explore the
inevitability of stress and
how to manage it.
<We talk about alterna-
tive strategies when deeply
ingrained, unhelpful choices
tend to show up. With what
we9re going through now it9s
super understandable. People
are more home-bound and
are using food to cope,= said
Loving. <We talk about find-
ing strategies for specific
situations to stay healthy and
maintain beneficial goals dur-
ing stressful circumstances.=
Loving has heard students
in the virtual meetings say
they appreciate the interac-
tion and materials.
<They tell me if they
hadn9t joined this program,
they9d be so much worse
off. At least they9re able to
maintain and not completely
spiral. They are more aware
now and realize when they9re
turning to food. There9s a
greater awareness and they
were healthier before enter-
ing this stressful time.=
At the halfway point,
Loving finds that some
people decide they9re not
committed and choose to
step away. A second group
is finally feeling ready to
fully commit to some of the
changes they9ve learned but
weren9t completely follow-
ing yet.
<Six months is a good
landmark,= she said. <Some
may drop off while others
commit to the whole year.
Then there9s the third group
who just plugs along, has
done a lot of the work and
are ready to solidify it. The
first six months are about
checking in and helping
people not slide into old hab-
its. It9s not realistic to think
you won9t have moments of
backsliding.=
To keep people mov-
ing in the right direction,
principles are reinforced to
solidify those changes. It9s
all designed to change each
person9s status quo as they
shift habits and continue to
get healthier.
Age, family history, and
being overweight are all
factors for those concerned
about Type 2 diabetes. By
losing five to seven percent
of their weight students can
reduce the possibility of get-
ting diabetes.
There are other benefits,
too.
<I hear about people who
go to see the doctor and are
happy to find they lowered
their blood sugars. Studies
have shown that losing
that weight is effective and
reduces the risk of getting
diabetes by half. The goal is
to get there by six months,=
said Loving. <The second six
months is either maintenance
or setting another goal of 5 to
7 percent. It9s about making
changes that are sustainable
and not just something you
stop after a few months.=
Other benefits to follow-
ing the program can make
exercising easier.
<Every person who takes
the class and is successful
in following the program,
always reports health ben-
efits whether it9s less joint
pain, better sleep, lower
blood pressure medica-
tion or feeling more in con-
trol. The positive results are
usually attached to weight
loss. There9s a real sense
of accomplishment when
they9re able to lose weight
and make their goals. It9s a
fun class and the year-long
program provides interac-
tions and relationships with
classmates that often con-
tinue when it9s over.=
Takeaways for success are
consistent. A big key is track-
ing what you eat.
<The people who track are
more successful. They can
see in black-and-white what
their habits are and where
they could make changes.
Just the act of writing down
what you eat is a key com-
ponent in managing weight
and weight loss. People are
often unaware of how much
they9re eating and how often.
That awareness piece is
vital,= said Loving.
For more information con-
tact Sarah Worthington with
Deschutes County Health
Department at 541-322-7446.
Sisters City Council
Wednesday, June 10,
2020
520 E. Cascade Ave.
The meeting will be
accessible to the public via
teleconference.
Use the following phone
number to listen to the
meeting:
1-844-802-5555
Access Code: 399434
5:30 p.m. workshop:
1. Republic Services
request for rate increase.
2. COVID-19 City opera-
tions update.
3. Update on East Portal
acquisition and concept.
6:30 p.m. regular meeting:
Written comments will
be accepted for the public
comment section of the hear-
ing via drop-off to the util-
ity payment box at City Hall
or emailed to nmardell@
ci.sisters.or.us by 4 p.m. on
Wednesday, June 10.
A. Continuation of a pub-
lic hearing: Modification to
the MP 15-01/SUB 15-01
(Master Plan and Tentative
Plat for the ClearPine
Subdivision). The modifica-
tion would alter the condi-
tions of approval related to
the timeline for delivery and
type of affordable housing
units.
B. Personal services
agreement with Becon, LLC.
for Well #4 Phase B design.
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