Sherri Shepherd: Diabetes Is Not A Death Sentence

Sherri Shepherd says living in fear of diabetes is no way to live life. Neither is denying the disease.

The comedian and co-host of ABC’s The View just penned a new book about coping with the disease, Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even if You Don’t Have It). Sherri Shepherd, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2007, said she had lived in denial of the ailment for years, even though her own mother died of complications from diabetes at age 41.

Shepherd told U.S. News World Report:

“I ignored it for years because mostly everyone in my family had diabetes. My mom passed away from complications at 41. But there wasn’t really an urgency to change anything because we called it ‘the sugar’ – we didn’t call it diabetes. And when you have a term called ‘the sugar,’ it sounds kind of cute. So for years, I ate, because that’s what I was taught: If something was going wrong in your life, there was a peach cobbler to fix it.”

With help from her husband, Sherri Shepherd now tackles diabetes head on. She has a dedicated workout plan and included more vegetables in her diet. The changes helped her drop 40 pounds, from close to 200 pounds a few years ago to 157 pounds today.

Part of her quest to take on a healthier lifestyle played out in front of an audience of millions. Shepherd was a contestant onDancing With The Stars last year, though she was eliminated as the show wound down.

Sherri said others should attack diabetes with the same vigor:

“If you have diabetes, it’s not a death sentence. And if you’re prediabetic, don’t sit in the dark and try to ignore it. So many people are paralyzed with fear, but knowledge is power. Once you know, then you can take charge and make slight changes to your diet, and add in some exercise.”

Health experts have given high grades to Sherri Shepherd for her diabetes advice. The Devils Lake Journal noted that her book is filled with “lots of practical celebrity health tips, including a week in her life with diet and exercise suggestions.”