By the time she reached 300 pounds, Whitley Yates started to lose some of the feeling in her legs from the knees down — a frightening complication of diabetes.
The results of her A1C — a blood test that measures average blood sugar levels over the past three months — indicated Type 2 diabetes as well.
“I was really scared because all the men in my family have diabetes. My grandfather has had amputations because of diabetes,” Yates, 34, who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, tells TODAY.com.
“I didn’t know if I could walk… I’m a single mother and I had to make a change, not just for me, but for (my daughter) as well, so that I could be around to raise her.”
So the political commentator set out to lose weight — a journey that would lead to big lifestyle changes, surgery and a new way of looking at food.
Yates now weighs 120 pounds, less than half of her highest weight. At 5 feet, 2 inches tall, she has a normal BMI and is no longer diabetic. She has feelings in her legs again, she says.
Here’s how Yates got her health back on track:
Weight gain:
Yates says she began gaining weight after giving birth to her daughter in 2015.
She also slipped into a depression after moving from Los Angeles back to Indianapolis, her hometown, to get distance from an abusive relationship.
“I began to just emotionally eat to cope with the circumstances of my changing situation,” Yates recalls. “It was really about portions. I was eating like two dinners a day — two really large meals.”
She might eat a 16-piece chicken wing meal, for example, and then dine on lamb chops later. There was lots of fast food from McDonald’s and Wendy’s. Yates never cooked, preferring to eat out every day.
As her weight rose, Yates developed sleep apnea and had to use a CPAP…
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