Meet Wendy. Six or seven years ago, her experience with diabetes took a frightening turn.
She wasn't feeling well one day and passed out. She ended up in the hospital in a diabetic coma, where her condition became serious enough that she was intubated.
When Wendy left the hospital, insulin became part of her life. She was distraught.
Wendy wanted to know whether there was anything else she could do to improve her health, but she struggled to find the nutrition guidance she was looking for. She continued researching on her own, discovered Mastering Diabetes, bought the Mastering Diabetes Book, and eventually joined the Mastering Diabetes Coaching Program.
Then, years later, Wendy experienced another major change in her life.
Her husband passed away in February after Wendy had spent more than a year as his caregiver. Before he died, she had told him she wanted to attend the Mastering Diabetes Retreat.
His response was simple: “Go for it.” A week later, he was gone. Wendy decided to follow through.
She hadn't been on a plane in five years, but she made the trip and chose to spend several days focusing on herself and her health.
Within days, Wendy stopped taking her long-acting insulin while receiving guidance at the retreat, reduced her short-acting insulin, saw her fasting blood sugar improve, slept better, felt physically stronger, and stopped experiencing the shaking she had noticed when she first arrived.
But when Wendy was asked about the most important thing she gained from the retreat, her answer wasn't a glucose reading. It was confidence.
Years of Searching for Another Way
After her hospitalization, Wendy promised her family that she would take her insulin. They had watched her experience a diabetic coma and undergo intubation, and the experience had frightened everyone.
At the same time, Wendy continued wondering what else she could do.
She brought the Mastering Diabetes book to her doctor, hoping to discuss nutrition. According to Wendy, her doctor told her she hadn't gone to medical school for nutrition and suggested finding a nutritionist.
Wendy felt largely on her own. But she kept researching.
She believed in what she was learning through Mastering Diabetes and eventually discovered that she could receive Coaching instead of trying to apply everything by herself.
Her coach became an important source of support. Wendy also appreciated the knowledge she received from other coaches over time, describing how each person left her with additional wisdom about managing diabetes.
Even with that support, Wendy wanted something more immersive. The retreat gave her that opportunity.
Choosing to Focus on Herself
Attending the retreat represented more than traveling somewhere to learn about diabetes.
Wendy had spent more than a year as a serious caregiver for her husband. After his death, she realized it was time to take care of herself.
Making the trip wasn't easy. She hadn't flown in five years, and attending required her to step outside the routine she had known for a long time.
But Wendy also remembered that her husband had encouraged her to go.
She made the trip.
Once there, she met other people living with diabetes, experienced the Mastering Diabetes lifestyle firsthand, and began seeing changes almost immediately.
She was glad she had taken the step.
Wendy's Retreat Results
The results would exceed her expectations.
Before | After |
|---|---|
Taking long-acting and short-acting insulin | Stopped long-acting insulin with guidance |
Fasting glucose reaching the 160s | Fasting glucose reached 119 mg/dL |
Managing diabetes with uncertainty | Greater confidence in food and insulin management |
Less physical strength | Felt stronger |
Exercise felt challenging | Gained confidence in movement |
Wendy had been taking 10 units of long-acting insulin in the evening, along with 4 units of short-acting insulin. By her second day at the retreat, she stopped taking the long-acting insulin while monitoring her glucose with the retreat team.
She was nervous.
Then she woke up with a fasting glucose of 119 mg/dL, a significant improvement from the readings in the 160s she had been experiencing.
Later in the retreat, Wendy reported taking only 2 units of short-acting insulin that day while maintaining good glucose numbers.
For Wendy, watching these changes happen while surrounded by experienced support made the lessons she had previously read about feel real.
Experiencing the Connection Between Movement and Blood Sugar
The movement sessions were challenging for Wendy.
She had recently returned to Tai Chi after approximately three years away, so the workouts pushed her physically. There was effort, discomfort, and plenty of sweating.
But Wendy was determined to participate.
She could see a difference in her glucose numbers, and that made the work feel worthwhile.
The trainers encouraged her and adapted the experience in a way that made Wendy feel she could continue.
Walking became particularly important.
By the end of the retreat, Wendy understood more clearly how movement could influence her glucose, and she was motivated to keep walking when she returned home.
She also participated in swimming and noticed another change that surprised her.
“My body is stronger after these couple days. I know my body is stronger.”
Wendy had heard and read about the importance of muscle and movement before. At the retreat, she experienced the connection for herself.
That made it much harder to forget.
Learning How to Make the Food Work at Home
Wendy also enjoyed the food.
She joked that there was “a lot of chewing,” but she found the meals genuinely good.
More importantly, the retreat helped her see how she could recreate the lifestyle at home.
Participants didn't simply receive prepared meals. They went into the kitchen, watched food being made, participated in the process, and learned practical recipes and techniques.
One recipe that particularly excited Wendy was a plant-based sausage they learned to make.
These hands-on experiences gave her more confidence that she could continue eating this way after leaving the retreat.
Instead of returning home with another set of instructions, Wendy was returning with experience.
She had seen the meals prepared. She had eaten them. She had watched her glucose respond. And now she knew more about how to make those meals herself.
Discovering More Than Food and Exercise
Not everything Wendy valued about the retreat was something she expected.
Meditation was one of the surprises.
She described the experience as wonderful and was particularly impressed by the coach who led the session. She also noticed that she was sleeping better.
Together, the food, movement, meditation, sleep, education, and glucose monitoring helped Wendy understand that managing diabetes involved more than making one isolated change.
The immersion connected those pieces.
“I heard and I read, but to actually experience it the way you guys have taught it and had that support while you're doing it” made the difference for her.
By living the Mastering Diabetes Method for several days, Wendy felt that the lessons had finally become ingrained.
Finding Support from Coaches and People Who Understood
Community became another major part of Wendy's retreat experience.
Participants talked openly about their lives, their glucose numbers, and the challenges they were facing. Those conversations became another opportunity to learn.
The coaches added another layer of support.
Wendy appreciated that they checked on participants personally, starting with a simple question in the morning: How are you feeling?
She felt cared for rather than simply instructed.
After years of searching for answers and trying to figure out nutrition largely on her own, being surrounded by knowledgeable people who could help her understand diabetes felt very different.
The retreat gave Wendy both education and camaraderie. It reminded her that managing diabetes did not have to be something she faced alone.
Leaving with Confidence
When Wendy reflected on everything she gained during the retreat, one word stood above the rest: Confidence.
Confidence in herself. Confidence in how to eat. Confidence in understanding her insulin. Confidence that movement could make a meaningful difference.
Within only a few days, she had stopped her long-acting insulin while receiving guidance at the retreat, reduced her short-acting insulin, recorded a fasting glucose of 119 mg/dL after previously seeing readings in the 160s, stopped shaking, slept better, and felt physically stronger.
But the retreat wasn't simply about what happened during those few days. Wendy was already thinking about home.
She wanted to continue walking. She wanted to make the foods she had learned to prepare. She wanted to keep applying the lessons that had become much clearer through firsthand experience.
After caring for her husband for more than a year and then losing him, making the trip had required Wendy to choose herself during an extraordinarily difficult period of her life.
Her husband had encouraged her to go. Wendy is grateful that she listened.
“It was a life-changing retreat, really.”
Ready to Experience the Mastering Diabetes Retreat?
If you've learned about improving insulin sensitivity but want the opportunity to experience the Mastering Diabetes Method with hands-on support, the Mastering Diabetes Retreat provides an immersive environment where you can focus on your health.
Join us at the next Mastering Diabetes Retreat and experience hands-on coaching, world-class education, delicious whole-food, plant-based meals, daily movement, and a supportive community that will help you build momentum long after you return home.
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