Janet decides that her first step is to meet with her family doctor to get her cholesterol and blood sugar checked. If you have not had your cholesterol or blood sugar checked in the last year, or have not had a recent physical, make an appointment with your doctor as your first step also. Too many people have problems with pre-diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol and don't even know it.

At their first meeting, they discussed the problems Janet's father, who is only 62, was having with his diabetes. This is one of the major reasons why Janet wanted to change her eating habits.

The doctor checked her blood sugar and Janet got good news that it was currently in the normal range as was the rest of her blood work. Her physician did agree, however, that she could still eat better, exercise more and work on gradually losing the extra "baby weight" that she had been carrying since the birth of her second child two years ago.

After speaking with her doctor, Janet decides that her general goals are to:

Lose the extra weight and keep it off.
Begin to exercise more.
Learn to eat better to help her avoid developing diabetes.
Teach her children to appreciate eating healthy foods and less "junk" food.