Dennis Higgs of Santa Rosa recently shed 12 pounds and happily shows off the extra notch he had to make in his belt to fit his slimmer body.
"My wife is saying my pants don't fit any more," said Higgs, 59, who is making the lifestyle changes that experts say can forestall the damaging and deadly impact of diabetes.
About 120,000 adults in Sonoma County are on the verge of developing diabetes, a disease characterized by high blood sugar, and statistics indicate that nearly 90 percent of them are unaware of their condition, known as prediabetes.
Diabetes, the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, affects 26 million people with an additional 1.9 million new cases a year.
But 79 million adults are classified as prediabetics, with a blood sugar concentration above normal but below the level associated with diabetes.
If they make no lifestyle changes - eating healthier foods, exercising more and losing weight - 15 to 30 percent of them will develop diabetes within five years.
"You might not want to change your diet, but all of a sudden you realize you have to," said Higgs, who is diabetic.
Since he enrolled in the Sonoma County Family YMCA's first Diabetes Prevention Program in October, Higgs said he has been keeping tabs on his diet, including his consumption of fat and carbohydrates.
"Sometimes the number is off the charts," he said.
Paul Walsh of Santa Rosa, who is also in the program, said he's lost seven pounds and intends to lose three more.
"I've been really watching the stuff I eat," said Walsh, 73. He's eating more sprouted wheat bread, found a tasty oil- and calorie-free salad dressing and cut his fat intake below the recommended level.
The battle against diabetes is "directly related to weight," said Dr. Jerry Minkoff, an endocrinologist at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa.
Excess fat forces the pancreas to work harder to produce the insulin needed to control blood sugar level, and "your pancreas can only do so much work," he said.
Since the body's fat-to-muscle ratio normally increases as people age, the battle becomes harder as the years pass, said Minkoff, a prediabetic himself.
Diabetes is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, vision loss, nerve damage, foot amputation and impotence.
Half of all hospital patients have high blood sugar and at least 30 percent are diagnosed diabetics, Minkoff said.
The YMCA of the USA was one of six organizations that received a total of $6.75 million in grants from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 to expand a national Diabetes Prevention Program.
The local YMCA program starts with 16 weekly one-hour classes, followed by monthly maintenance for the rest of a year. Its goal is to get participants to lose 7 percent of their weight and boost their physical activity - working out, walking, mowing the lawn - to 150 minutes per week.
Even modest weight loss will improve a prediabetic's condition, and those who achieve the program's goals have a 58 percent lower risk of developing diabetes over the next two to three years, Minkoff said.
"We're hoping to change people's lifestyle so they will have a longer and happier life," said Nicole Martinovich, the YMCA's Diabetes Prevention Program coordinator.
"It's not a quick fix," she said, noting that the yearlong program provides support in meeting goals and that class members "hold each other accountable."
Higgs said he comes to the YMCA twice a week for aerobic exercise on a treadmill or stationary bike, and walks his dog two to three miles a day.
As his pace picks up, Higgs said he needs to walk farther to achieve the 150 minutes of weekly exercise.
Walsh said he swims an hour a day in the YMCA pool and does 160 knee-to-chest crunches in the gym.
Adults 18 or older with a body mass index of 25 or more are potentially eligible for the program, and Minkoff said one-fourth of the county's population could benefit from it.
A blood test is necessary to confirm a diagnosis of diabetes or prediabetes. People over 40, those with a family history of diabetes and those with obesity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol are advised to have annual blood sugar tests.
The YMCA program costs $429 for the year, with Sonoma County Department of Health Services funding to reduce the cost to $75 uninsured people and those with Medi-Cal.
The next class is scheduled to start in March.
For more information, see the Sonoma County Family YMCA's website, www.scfymca.org.
(You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.)
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: