Herman Kemp

Concord, North Carolina

My name is Herman Kemp and I just celebrated my fifth anniversary of losing 239 pounds. And I’d like to share my Stop Diabetes story with you.

In 2005, I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. At that time, I weighed 454 pounds and suffered from hypertension and increased cholesterol. When I drove to work, I had to sit in my car for about 30 minutes to get enough energy to walk in to work. I was always out of breath and felt dizzy frequently.

Giving thanks to God and a doctor who really cared about me, I am proud to say I am now 215 pounds. How did I do it?

I followed a 1500-calorie-a-day meal plan from the American Diabetes Association’s Exchange List and began exercising. It took me approximately 18 months to lose the weight. My wife, Christa, completed this plan with me and she has lost 100 pounds.

I am proud to say that I my lab work is good and I no longer take any more medication for diabetes, hypertension or cholesterol! Now that I have lost the weight, I am able to run 6 to 8 miles four times per week and I weight/strength train three times per week.

My mother has type 2 diabetes and Christa’s father has it too. That is why we are on a mission to break the family cycle of diabetes.

It can be done and my wife and I are living testimonies to others. Our way to stop diabetes is through healthy eating and exercise - a lifestyle change. We hope that this will be a blessing to someone who needs encouragement, motivation and inspiration.