In 2020, Ken Stegall crossed the line.

 

After flirting with prediabetes for years, the Granbery Elementary School counselor got news he’d long been dreading: “Congratulations! You’ve rung the bell! You’re officially diabetic,” he says wryly.

 

Ken knew the trouble ahead. His grandfather had died from diabetes, and his father was struggling with it. With retirement just a few years away, he also knew he needed to make a dramatic shift if he wanted to enjoy life after a career.

 

“I had tried to lose weight before and wasn’t very successful,” Ken says. “Now I was looking for something to give me structure and motivation to make a change.”

 

He found it right under his nose: Omada, a program for people who are ready to make lifestyle changes and develop long-term healthy habits but need some help doing it.

 

Ken had seen an announcement about Omada at school and signed up.

 

Once enrolled, he was assigned a doctor, a nutritionist and a health coach. He was mailed a telemetric scale, blood pressure cuff and blood sugar monitor to log his readings, which transmitted automatically back to Omada.

 

“I started having some success pretty quick following the doctor’s and nutritionist’s advice,” Ken says.

 

His weight had hovered around the 200-pound mark for most of his adult life, but he lost 50 pounds in the first five months. His 38-inch waistline is now 31 inches.

 

He liked Omada’s online weekly lessons on food and health best.

 

“I was really hungry for information and learning,” he says.

 

Although the program doesn’t push counting calories, Ken added that to his framework. He now pays closer attention to serving size after learning he had wildly miscalculated before, like with the walnuts he’d regularly been allowing himself.

 

“They were 800 calories!” Ken says. “Things I thought were healthy were keeping me fat. I started being more scientific and weighing my food.”

 

He also had help on the home front.

 

“My wife is a wonderful cook. She helped me change gears,” Ken says.

 

Nowadays, his scale sits between 160 and 165.

 

“I like being this weight,” he says, “I have a good sense of control at this weight.”

 

Ken works with the MNPS Health Care Centers to monitor his labs and for other services like physical therapy and general health issues. They know about his participation in Omada and tell him not to change a thing.

 

Meanwhile, his A1C — an important measure for people with diabetes — has dropped from 7.4 to a normal 5.4. His doctors have been able to cut his blood pressure medication dosage by 75 percent.

 

Ken would definitely recommend Omada to others.

 

“If you want to make a change and are determined to do it, give yourself a chance by following advice you’re given,” he says. “I never envisioned I would get the results I got. My doc said at my last visit, ‘You’re dieting yourself right out of diabetes.’”