Client Success Stories Tell The Zizania Health Story

Hello Dominique I am writing to give you the BEST NEWS of the year. His (my husband’s) blood sugar numbers are excellent, 98 in the morning and 133 in the evening. At the latest blood test, his HBA1c is 5.5. The doctor has him off the diabetes meds now. The next step is to have him lose more weight so that he can get off the blood pressure meds next. But with your recipes, guidance, I have no doubt that we will get there.

The doctor continues to be pleased with his health and diet. I make a whole bunch of food to take us through the week. I am using the books you recommended as guide and I do some of the recipes you gave us.

I make a sauté of greens every week and will make a bunch of quinoa and freeze it so I have it ready made during the week.

So here are pictures of the food and us at my 56th b-day party.*

I began working with Dominique because my Type II Diabetes was getting much worse, and my doctor was prescribing a number of medications to save my life. My daily sugar levels topped 200, my A1C was over 8, and I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Daily activities fatigued me and I began to shy away from fun activities, fearing they were too physical. I began the program in June 2009 and had lost 40 pounds by mid-Fall. My daily sugar was usually below 100, my A1C was down to 6.5, and my cholesterol and high blood pressure were greatly improved. My doctor was amazed and said I wouldn’t need any of the medications if I kept doing what I was doing. But most importantly, I have the energy to walk my dogs for miles, kayak, sail, snorkel, and do whatever I want to do.*

What I admire is your willingness to accept the challenges and to work at ways of meeting them — really, of overcoming them, or working around them. In other words, you work *with* the client’s problem.

When the usual statements about “Do this?” and “Don’t do this” prove not to be applicable, you never stop trying to devise something new that *will* be applicable. You don’t just throw up your hands or turn your back or repeat the traditional mantras. To my mind, that is the key to your effectiveness: you treat each client as an individual and you tackle the client’s problems on their own terms. *

My doctor took me off the Metformin yesterday. My blood sugar was 88. I Had a great compliment from a co-worker this morning. She said “since you have changed your diet, you’re not only losing weight, your hair and skin look wonderful and you seem to have a happier outlook. Even your smile is more radiant.” What a way to start the day! *

My initial reason for selecting [the Zizania] program was to reduce my blood sugar trend. My doctor suggested a pre-diabetes diet and more exercise. Since we were not accustomed to this type of planning and cooking, I found Dominique’s approach very informative and instructive unlike just going to a nutritionist for consultation. It has also been fairly easy to implement given the variety of substitute foods for traditional meats and dairy. I have become a much more informed shopper and have been able to consistently follow guidelines Dominique has taught us. I have to admit I sometimes stray off occasionally since we still have kids in the house and they tend to eat more for taste than good nutrition! However, my sugar levels have been below 100 since adopting the Zizania plan and that is the goal my doctor recommended.*