“We’re doing this for our kids” - How Virta helped Walter and Tere prevent type 2 diabetes

En Español

By Walter and Tere, on Virta for 4 months

Walter: As a proud Mexican-American family, food is important—both to connect with each other, as well as to our culture. My wife Tere and I, as well as our three children, have always enjoyed our traditional Mexican dishes like enchiladas, but we also really love Italian food like pasta and pizza. In a lot of ways, food is one thing we all share in common. 

Tere: Unfortunately, one of the other things we share in common is a family history of diabetes.

Our family has a 90% chance of getting diabetes, and I was determined to not to go through that as well. I lost my father to type 2 diabetes last year and my grandmother to it years ago at the age of 77. 

Walter: Tere had tried to change her diet for 8 years until she finally felt like enough was enough. That’s when she started doing research and looking for answers on her own. When she stumbled onto information about the benefits of a ketogenic diet, I remembered a benefit our employer, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, was offering called Virta that helped reverse type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. After receiving a few emails, we decided to look into it and sign up together.

Tere: The more we looked into Virta, the more I felt that doing this treatment with Walter was going to be my best bet at stopping my prediabetes from turning into type 2 diabetes and starting to take medication. 

As a team, we’ve been working together for four months to keep up with our goals. We are enjoying the improved health benefits that have come along with the Virta treatment.

This change led us to discover a better lifestyle, vast improvements to our health and happiness, along with a ton of delicious recipes to enjoy as a family. 

Walter: I’ll be honest, when I joined Virta, I was skeptical about how the nutrition plan would affect our way of life. But together, we’ve managed to adjust some of the foods we’ve always enjoyed, like making a cauliflower crusted pizza from scratch at home and enjoying it as a family with the kids. Some of the delicious italian pasta alternatives we’ve enjoyed making are a cauliflower risotto, pumpkin fettuccine and a lasagna made with zucchini. 

We definitely miss tortillas. Every now and then we still eat a limited amount, understanding that there may be consequences. But whereas we used to eat five tacos with double tortillas, now if we want to satisfy a craving, we’ll only have two tacos with one tortilla each. 

And that highlights one of the biggest differences of Virta. With Virta, if we slip, we can pick up where we left off the next day instead of waiting for the following Monday or January to start over. Virta has taught us that there’s no shame in eating the foods you want to enjoy, just know that our bodies are carbohydrate-intolerant and if we continue incorporating them in our diets, it won’t do us any good.

The changes we’ve made are now permanent, but we’re always learning. The information on the app really helps break down what we can and can’t eat and how much protein we should be adding in our diets. We’ve also learned how to go out to a restaurant and figure out what to order on a menu. 

Tere:

Since joining Virta in March, I’ve lost 20 pounds and Walter has lost 18 pounds. We have a little competition going, but regardless of the outcome, we’re both very happy. We’ve enjoyed seeing so many other changes happen to us since we started. Our moods and energies have improved, we’ve gotten sick less, and most importantly for me, I’ve suffered with migraines for most of my life, but since the very first day of starting the treatment, the migraines went away. I was stunned that changing my diet could have that kind of impact on my health. It amazes me that we are on this treatment to address our prediabetes, but it’s helped our health in many other ways. 

Walter:

This change led us to discover a better lifestyle, vast improvements to our health and happiness, along with a ton of delicious recipes to enjoy as a family. Thanks to Virta, we have a new mindset on food—one that helps prevent type 2 diabetes.

Virta has given us the chance to prevent future issues. I want to be here for a long time for everyone. This has been such a good opportunity for us. The people in our lives can see a difference. It’s been an opportunity to tell them what we’ve done and share how Virta has changed our lives. I look forward to continuing to do this as we maintain a healthier, changed lifestyle with Virta and continue to feel better about ourselves and each other. 

Tere:

It’s hard to know that if my father and grandmother had found out about Virta, maybe they could have enjoyed more years with us and our children. I’m doing this program for them and for my kids. I want my kids to have us in their lives for a long time.   

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