Cynthia’s Journey: From a 9.9 A1c to Thriving Health

Article written and reviewed by Robby Barbaro, MPH
Published January 23, 2025

The Wake Up Call

Cynthia was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2012, following a number of very stressful life events. After over 10 years of living with diabetes, she received an A1c reading of 9.9 at a doctors appointment, and it was a wake-up call she needed to finally put more effort into taking better care of her health.

When she got the alarming 9.9 A1c reading, she already had the MD book on her reading waitlist, so she immediately purchased it and read the book in one week. She started making changes on her own right away, then joined the group program as soon as she could. 

Support Systems are Priceless

The group program was game-changing for her. The support, accountability, and sense of community made it easy for her to stay on track with her goals and new lifestyle choices. Her coach also helped her break down the process into bite-sized chunks so that it wasn’t overwhelming to make the changes all at once.

Watching Her Health Rapidly Improve

As she was starting the Mastering Diabetes program, Cynthia bought a blood glucose monitor. Her first fasting reading was 179. After just one month, her fasting blood glucose came down to 90 and below.

Since then, her blood pressure, weight, and A1c have come down significantly as well. She’s lost nearly 30 pounds and even returned her A1c to a non-diabetic range!

Header

Before

After (5 Months)

Fasting Blood Glucose (mg/dL)

179

90

A1c

9.9

5.6

Weight

183

154

Blood Pressure

148/96

110/77

Cynthia feels encouraged and excited by the results she has experienced so far.

Once You Get the Hang Of It, It Becomes Second Nature

Cynthia says that she loves the simplicity of the Mastering Diabetes Method. “This has been the easiest plan to follow!” she says with joy.

The food is filling and satisfying, and she never goes hungry. Sometimes she even has to break up the meal into two servings because the portions are so big. In addition, she’s amazed by how much her taste buds have changed. In the past, Cynthia was a self-proclaimed “salt-fiend,” and these days she enjoys meals with little to no salt.

She is especially impressed because she hasn’t added exercise to her routine. She does yoga here and there, goes for short walks, but nothing drastic and nothing different than what she did before. All the effects have been from diet alone.

You Can Do It Too!

It’s never too late to get started, and Cynthia is an example of how quickly you can see results when you go all-in. She is also a great example of how much you can speed up and ease the process of change by utilizing the resources available to you. With the book, the meal plan, group coaching, and the Facebook group, she armed herself with support to ensure her success. And you can, too!

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About the author 

Robby Barbaro, MPH

Robby Barbaro, MPH is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Mastering Diabetes: The Revolutionary Method to Reverse Insulin Resistance Permanently in Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, Prediabetes, and Gestational Diabetes.

Robby was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 12 and has been living this lifestyle since 2006. In that time, while eating pounds of fruit every day, his HbA1c has been stable with a current A1c of 5.3%, TIR of 92%, and average total daily insulin use of 30 units.

Robby graduated from the University of Florida and is the cofounder of Mastering Diabetes and Amla Green. He worked at Forks Over Knives for six years before turning his attention in 2016 to coaching people with diabetes full time.

He is the co-host of the annual Mastering Diabetes Online Summit, a featured speaker at VegFest LA, and has been featured on The Doctors, Forks Over Knives, Vice, Thrive Magazine, Diet Fiction, and the wildly popular podcasts the Rich Roll Podcast, Plant Proof, MindBodyGreen, and Nutrition Rounds.

Robby enjoys exercising every day, spending time with friends, and sharing his lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.