“Being an owner of a sweet shop, I never imagined that I would have to give up sweets forever. It was a long and bumpy road from extremely high to strictly controlled sugar levels. But with great support and the proper guidance, anyone can do it.”

Mrs Mamta Gupta is a 58-year-old housewife and business owner. A diabetic herself, she runs a successful sweet shop in Lucknow. Despite all the delicious treats around her, she has managed to keep her own body safe from all the sugar cravings. She is a proud mother of three children who support her unconditionally in her health journey.

Nowadays, she is living her healthiest and happiest life. Following a daily routine that is as healthy as can be, she starts her day with a walk and yoga to get herself going. After taking her haleem seeds water, she does meditation and prays for a while. She has her fibre intake in the form of fruits before taking her breakfast as well as during the day. After having her lunch at 3, she goes to manage her shop and has fennel and cinnamon tea with sprouts during her day. After her dinner, she walks for 30 minutes and then takes turmeric milk before retiring for the day.

Here is a glimpse of her journey and how she came to adopt this perfect routine.

From selling sweets to having diabetes

Around 8 years ago, she was suffering from a chronic cough that lasted for over a year. She consulted various doctors and visited several hospitals but her condition was not getting any better. After struggling with it for almost a year, finally, a doctor advised her to get her sugar levels tested. It was then that she found out she was diabetic.

“My mother was a diabetic as well so it was not much of a shocker for me to find out that I have it too. But I was quite worried about the long term effects and changes that I will have to make in my lifestyle to manage my sugar levels.”

Once she started taking the medication for diabetes, her cough got better immediately.

“Our bodies have a way of telling us when something is wrong and it is on us to find out where the problem lies. No matter what I did or which medicine I took, the cough was not getting better but as soon as I started my treatment for diabetes, my cough got better within days.”

A change within self

Surely Mrs Gupta could not continue with her earlier lifestyle after her diagnosis. One might think that she may even have had a very tough time leaving sweets while running a whole shop of it, this is not true. Our diabetes superhero has been cautious from the very beginning.

“I grew up in a family where we had a sweet-shop business from the beginning. Ever since childhood, I have been around sweets and sugar and everything sugary. But being aware of my mother’s diabetes, I was careful with my intake of those sweets. I never gave in to my urges. Even when I was not a diabetic, I only used to have sweets once in a blue moon, and that too only on festivals or for quality testing related purposes for our shop.”

She did not need a disease to tell her what is healthy for her and what is not. So even after becoming diabetic, she did not have an extremely tough time with cutting down on her sweet intake. But that’s not all there is to maintaining sugar levels - a lot of other factors are involved.

“Just avoiding sweets is not the mantra for controlling diabetes. So even though I was not taking any sweets, my sugar levels were not in the proper range. I was constantly under the stress of managing my household as well as the shop. For a long time, I continued with average health output because I simply did not pay attention or give enough time to look after my health.”

A helping hand

Being a mother and a wife beside a businesswoman, she did not have it easy. Her everyday life was full of balancing the two roles that she wanted to play perfectly. To aid her in fitting her own well being in this dynamic, she reached out to Zyla for help.

“I joined Zyla around 6 months ago randomly. I had no expectations or idea about what my life would be like because of this app. But when I started my journey with them, I was amazed at the results.”

Mrs Gupta found a friend in Zyla to help her manage her everyday lifestyle in the easiest way possible and control her sugar levels. She has seen such a major improvement in her health that she now calls herself non-diabetic.

“When I started my journey with Zyla, my sugar levels were around 300. By maintaining her lifestyle with the proper diet, physical activity and medicines, I managed to bring her sugar levels within strict control. While I was busy looking after my shop and my family, Zyla was busy looking after me. It reminded me to check my vitals regularly which made me aware of my goals as well as my shortcomings.”

She started working hard on her health with each passing day.

“I am currently in complete control of my sugar levels and so I call myself a non-diabetic because I don’t have to worry about any sugar spikes anymore.”

How I defeated Diabetes

Steps that I took towards becoming non-diabetic -

• I included some physical activities in my day like walking for at least 3 to 4 km in a day.

• I included 30 minutes of yoga practice in the morning.

• I also improved my fibre intake by taking fruits twice a day.

• I improved my diet by including healthier options instead of carbs, fatty food and oily food.

All this helped me to become non-diabetic. Now I am loving this lifestyle even more than my previous one!

The new battle

But her health battle is not over yet. Along with diabetes, Mrs Gupta is suffering from Cervical Spondylosis. It affects her day-to-day lifestyle much more than her sugar levels.

“Because of my Cervical Spondylosis, I often have episodes of dizziness and vertigo. It is quite disabling because it keeps on increasing every year. I feel embarrassed and scared to go outside and socialise with people because of this issue. I don’t know when my next episode will be triggered.”

She is seeking treatment for the same with Zyla and is being guided with exercises, nutrition and home remedies to address her concerns.

“Zyla has provided me with the means to handle my cervical spondylosis as well. I do the exercises given to me regularly and follow their guidance to improve my dizziness symptoms. I have a long way to go and I will keep following their advice to finally improve my cervical spondylosis as well.”

She is not one to back down from a challenge, ready to face this battle with full strength.

Her advice to fellow diabetics

“One advice that I would like to give my fellow diabetics is to believe in yourself that you can do it at any age, any time, anywhere. Friends, you have lots of energy, just try to channelise in the right direction which will lead to good health. Start with changing your unhealthy habits to healthy ones - believe me, you will soon grow to enjoy them!”