#69 - From an A1C of 6.9% to 5.0%: How One Listener Changed Everything in 3 Months

Ben Gougeon is an arts administrator, actor, director, and theatre producer. You may have seen him in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Law & Order: SVU, The Blacklist, a multitude of commercials, or on stages across the country. His most famous "role" is a listener of the Diabetes Remission Roadmap (ok, that's just our opinion) who took serious action on his blood sugar.

Ben shares how he turned around abrand-new type 2 diabetes diagnosis through simple food changes, daily walking, and steady experimentation. We talk through the real habits that took his A1C from 6.9% to 5.0% in about three months, plus the mindset shifts that keep the progress going with a busy family life. In this episode, we discuss:

• Prediabetes and the “no urgency” problem when symptoms stay quiet
• Choosing lifestyle changes before starting metformin and why that decision feels empowering
• Low-carb eating with minimal processed sugar to improve satiety and curb cravings
• Intermittent fasting as a flexible tool rather than an all-or-nothing rule
• The importance of simple meals that fit real life
• Using small wins and daily glucose trends to stay motivated between A1C checks
• Building a better environment through what you listen to and who you learn from
• Practical encouragement for anyone overwhelmed by a new diagnosis

If you have been struggling with a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis, and have wondered if improvement is possible, you won't want to miss this episode.

Find Ben all over the internet, on your podcast player and on the stage!

Socials: @bdgougeon (Threads, Instagram, Facebook)

Podcast Link: Talking Art | WVIK, Quad Cities NPR

Actor | Ben Gougeon

Ready to take control of your health and stop settling for “managed” diabetes?
   Grab your earbuds and listen in.

Brian & Cory
  Diabetes Remission Partners

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Transcript

Diabetes Remission Mindset Reset

SPEAKER_00 0:02

If you have type 2 diabetes and you're tired of being told it's chronic and something you'll just have to manage forever, if your ailment seeds control but your medication that keeps growing or stays the same, then you know deep down you're capable of more than this, you're in the right place. This is the Diabetes Remission Roadmap podcast where Brian Bitcher and Corey Jenks, two pharmacists who spent over two decades inside healthcare. And we started this show because we got tired of watching capable people stuck getting managed instead of rebuilt. Here's what most people aren't told. Type 2 diabetes isn't just a blood sugar problem, it's a muscle and energy storage problem. When your body loses strength and metabolic flexibility, blood sugar rises. And you can rebuild that. On this show, we break the scripts and say more meds are inevitable, you're destined to just manage, remission is impossible. And instead we teach you how to build muscle, eat in a way that keeps you full, and regain control of your health again. No extremes, no shame, just practical strategy to help you move toward remission and lead your health again. Let's get to work.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Welcome to another edition of the Diabetes Remission Roadmap podcast.

Ben’s Diagnosis And Quick Turnaround

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Brian is not here with me. He's off playing in the pool with his kids somewhere because I have someone way more interesting than him. And that's the joke. Every time Brian is not on the show and I have a guest, they're always more interesting than him. Brian has been pushed aside today because we have Ben Gujan, who is an arts administrator, actor, director, and theater producer. And you may have seen him in the Marvelous Miss Mazel, Law and Order SVU, The Blacklist, a multitude of commercials, or on stages across the country. And these days, Ben lives in the Midwest with his wife and kids, where he continues acting, works in the arts, and most importantly for today's conversation, has made some remarkable improvements in his blood sugar. Ben, welcome to the Diabetes Remission Roadmap Podcast. Yeah, thanks for having me here, Corey. I'm pleased to be here. All right. I think we should just hop in. Tell us your story. Before you found our podcast, you mentioned remarkable improvements in blood sugar. So what was going on with your blood sugar, your diabetes? Want to hear where we're starting and where we you can get to today.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, and I have to say I'm very new to this game. I first got my diagnosis in late March of this year.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

Record this in July of 2026. So March of 26th. So yeah, very new.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

March of 26. And one thing that really struck me and was very informative with what you guys have talked about was talking about those seven-minute meetings with your doctor where you're supposed to get everything and know what to do. And I had been given a pre-diabetes diagnosis at my yearly physical, the previous March, and thought, eh, it's pre. I didn't really know anything or what that actually meant. And so when I went in this March and I had an A1C of it wasn't off the charts, it was 6.9, and my blood, my glucose was 149. And he said, You've tipped the scale now, and now you're in diabetes. And he originally said, I'm gonna put you on 500 milligrams of metformin and we'll check again in a few months. And I went home and just did a little Googling and online research, and I called him back and said, Can we skip the medicine for now and let me try to do this with diet and exercise? And I started looking for resources and I found you guys and because I was like, I want something to listen to while I'm driving around. And I found you guys and started to adapt to the principles that that you guys expouse. And I'm the first to admit I'm not perfect in it, but you guys also hammer home it's progress, not perfection. So I had my three-month checkup with my doctor at the end of June of 26, and my A1C was down to 5.0. Wow. And I've dropped about 50-55 pounds. And it's obviously it's working.

The Daily Plan That Worked

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Great. I'm gonna go back to last year, actually. So you mentioned the pre-diabetes diagnosis, and I think what a lot of people are probably gonna identify with you is that seven-minute rush to appointment. I don't know what this means. Like pre-diabetes, I'm pre-approved for a credit card. I'm there's there's good pre's. This is obviously not something the doctor's like, you're pre-diabetic, way to go, right? But I have 13 more patients to see today. So don't tip into diabetes. Good luck, goodbye, move more or eat less, move more. Is that pretty much diet exercise?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Which you know, I've yo-yoned up and down with weight my whole life. So I've heard yep, diet and exercise all the time. So it did not register as anything more urgent than that.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Yeah, and I think that's something that a lot of people can relate to as well. Is that the hard part with diabetes, and you I would like to hear your feeling or experience with this, is it's there's no sense of urgency. Your blood sugar doesn't tick up to pre-diabetes, and you're like, ouch, my it hurts. I'm it's a silent epidemic. Really, one in two people in the United States have pre-diabetes or diabetes. So yeah, is that the lull of it's pre-diabetes, but it doesn't hurt?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah, and I obviously was cognizant of having put on some weight and feeling lethargic. And there there were symptoms there, but I didn't know that they were the symptoms I should have been paying attention to.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

And so that there wasn't an alarm bell, other than just looking in the mirror and being like, Oh, I got it. And it was funny because in my doctor's appointment, before the one in March where I got my diagnosis, before the blood results came back, I had said to him, like, you know, some of my other things were looking good, and he was I said, This is next, and I padded my belly, but it was too late.

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Great. I'm curious. You mentioned you're not perfect, and nobody is perfect, whatever endeavor we're going after, you're an actor. Yeah, some there's a multiple ways to approach a scene, there's different ways to prepare. Some people are gifted. I've done some acting or tried to do some acting, and it's really hard, folks. So if you ever get in front of a camera and you're like, why is this movie so bad? It when you see it done really well, you can appreciate because you I've done it really bad. So what are you doing? What are the things you're doing to get this progress over perfection that's gotten you down two percent of your A1C that's helped you lose 50-55 pounds? What is your secret?

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Yeah, so what I ended on, and there was certainly a few weeks of trial and error and experimenting, but I do a fairly low carb, low to no processed or added sugar diet, and then I mix in some intermittent fasting with that. And then I walk every day after dinner. That's definitely a non-negotiable for me minute walk. And typically about twice a week, I'll do a 10 to 15 minute kettlebell exercise. The thing that was really important to me, and my wife and I talked through this, was like, I'm someone who you have a problem, it's okay, I'm gonna fix it right now. And it's like, okay, I need to get the gym membership, I need to do all these things. And we talked about the realities of that. And we have three kids, and they're all busy, and so it's okay, what are the things I can do that are going to fit into our current lifestyle? And I would say an average day for me, like food-wise, I and I played around with the interminute fasting, and typically I'll work or I'll eat between 10:30 and 6:30 every day. So I'll hold off on breakfast till 10:30. But typically, for me, I chose not to go completely no carb. And so I'll do something like overnight oats in the morning, like especially during the week, because it's something I can very quickly prep the night before, or even if I'm up at 5:30 or 6, I can make and then they're prepped and ready by 10:30 when I first eat. So I'll do overnight oats and then maybe my lunch is a salad, or if I'm on the go, my job a lot. I have to am running around and doing different things, but it's things like string cheese and almonds, or there's a few the fair life protein shakes, which I found have not affected my blood sugar. And I know some people it does, but and then for dinner I go with the the diabetic plate method, and I'll have some protein, and I use a lot of times just like frozen, like heat them up in the microwave veggies because that stuff's it's easy and it's not something that I think a lot of times, and I've done other kind of diets and things to lose weight before, and it was never sustainable because I was either doing too much prep work or they were like meal replacement diets that didn't you guys talk about satiate satiety, yeah, feeling full satiety, yeah, the fancy word, um satiety all the time, and it's like they were never things that left me satisfied. I just felt starving all day. Yeah. And for me, focusing on those proteins and things that do have a healthier fat content have been really helpful where I'm not just thinking about when am I gonna eat, when am I gonna eat all the time.

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Yeah,

Making It Sustainable For Family Life

SPEAKER_02 9:26

yeah. A few things that really stuck out to me that I hope as you're listening, you can take away with this is you're allowed to pick the easy route that works for you. Frozen vegetables are your friend, bagged lettuce is your friend. I think meal prepping can be a many different things. It could be spending all Sunday cooking for the whole week, which I have three kids ourselves, and there's just no time, no one told you how much time it would suck. The joy it brings you and the time it sucks away from you, right? So pick the easy route, use the crock pot. To me, meal prepping is it could be the hours in the kitchen, or it could be just spending 10 minutes writing down a list of groceries that are easy for you to prepare in a in a small amount of time. Meal prep is multifaceted. You said it best it had to fit your life. If you had to be chained to a gym and stuck inside a kitchen, you can't go live and do the things you love to do. And the whole point of this is to build your health so you can do the things you like to do.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Yeah. And I want to reiterate something you just pointed out in that first week or so after I got my diagnosis and was like, okay, I need to change. Like I was just researching and reading and put together like a pretty big list of okay, these are safe foods, these are the foods I can eat, and then figured out things that were gonna work for me out of that list. I still don't feel most of the time, there's still moments, but I don't feel like I'm denying my things. It's oh, I have all these things to pick from, and these are the things that that I've got.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Yeah, and as you say, it does not have to be perfect. I think breakfast is a really important baseline meal because one, it sets you up energetically for the day. If you have a donut, you're gonna be hungry, you're gonna be tired, your sugar's gonna be spiking and crashing. And another thing that I like to think about is if you eat a donut for breakfast, anything that isn't yummy for lunch is gonna be super disappointing. You're like, I started my day with the dopamine hit, everything else is a mess. I think you're giving our listeners a lot of permission to just give yourself some grace, find what works for you. And you mentioned you didn't want to eliminate all carbs. Overnight oats, for you, they've helped you meet your goal. They're easy, they help you prepare. For someone else, sometimes oatmeal spikes their sugar, but you also mentioned the fair life shakes, the core power. So one of my favorite on-the-go beverages is you said people where it spikes their sugar. It doesn't for you. Great, you've learned that about yourself. It's okay if something works for you and not somebody else. This is about experimentation, and it sounds like you spend a lot of time figuring out what works for your sugar and your life.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah, and that's something too. Like, I'm just I'm very curious about is I I've read lots of things in chat groups and things about people talking about the progression of the disease. And this may be something that in a few years doesn't work, and I'll probably have to adjust. I can't predict the future. And like I said at the beginning, I'm very new to this.

Personal Experimentation And Real Numbers

SPEAKER_01 12:12

But quick pause for a second.

SPEAKER_02 12:14

If you're finding the podcast helpful and you want more practical ideas to help move your blood sugar in the right direction, come follow us on Instagram at Diabetes Remission Partners. We share quick tips, food and exercise insights, and blood sugar mistakes people don't even realize they're making. It's also where we can answer your questions directly in the DMs. So if you want more help between episodes, Instagram at Diabetes Remission Partners is the best place to find us. And when you follow us, make sure to say hi.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

All right, back to the show. The numbers have borne out to me. Last night after dinner, we

Follow Along On Instagram

SPEAKER_01 12:54

had a little dinner, and there was more carbs than I normally eat for dinner and what we had made for the family. But I took a very small portion of it and did my walk after dinner, and I tested my blood sugar after that, and it was 80.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah. So it was like that worked. Yeah, that's great. And I think we've had some email exchanges back and forth. I'll challenge you as you move forward to incorporate more of the strength training. I think that's gonna help make this more help make it more durable, but this is not to nitpick. You've in three to four months just transformed your health and your outlook. So was there a moment when you realized, oh my gosh, this is actually working?

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah, I for me, it was always I was just kind of waiting for that three-month checkup and to get the A1C. I was kind of testing my blood sugar all along, and I was seeing my resting blood sugar, especially when I started incorporating the fasting, and I was seeing that kind of baseline fasting number go down. And that was probably four to six weeks in. Okay, yeah. And it even the immediate diet changes, though, brought that down from where it was when I got tested, which was at 149. Originally, it was hitting in the low 100s, 1 teens, and then it slowly just kept going, oh, I'm 94 in the morning, I'm 88 in the morning, I'm 79 or 80 in the morning. And being able to see that progress was really inspiring as well. I'm an actor, I have some vanity about me. So seeing the number on the scale go down is always yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

And I think that's something to realize too is we have to try to find every win that we can. And yeah, when we're working with clients, sometimes those fasting numbers can be a little bit delayed coming down, but the post meals come down, or the weight is delayed coming down, but the clothes are fitting looser because you're losing visceral fat and gaining muscle. And so tell me if you think about this, but I think you have to find little wins along the way to keep you going because you mentioned four to six weeks until you saw a big drop, three months until you have an A1C. Humans are we're not good at looking to the future and delaying gratification.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

We want to see something happening right now, and that's I think what has been because uh as I said, I've done kind of weight loss programs before, but it's always been like six weeks, eight weeks, and then slowly a week or two after your program ends, then it's oh no, I'm gonna eat, I'll just introduce this back into the diet. I'm gonna introduce this back in, and then suddenly a year later, you've put on all the weight plus. And I wasn't testing my blood sugar then, but I'm sure it wasn't just not helping it. There are a few things that have kept me on track. A seeing the progress, B shameless plug listening to you guys. Oh, thank you. And like having kind of that, but having that constant reminder of myself of no, I'm diabetic. I need to like put diabetic resources in my life so that I retain awareness and don't say, Yeah, I listened to a few episodes, I got it, and then don't think about it anymore. But also just the energy that I regained on a day-to-day

Small Wins And Better Energy

SPEAKER_01 16:07

basis of just not feeling lethargic and loaded and stuffed all the time, being able to be more active and play with my kids rather than I'm tired. Yeah, that's that has kept me going, and also a deadly fear of needles. Man, I just don't want to get to that point.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Great. Hey, I think those are all healthy, healthy, a healthy fear of needles is okay if we want to avoid insulin and things like that. But a couple things. I think the the reminders from us, thank you for the shameless plug. If someone's listening, you're already listening, so keep listening, subscribe, and leave us a nice review. But what Brian and I like to talk about a lot is our environment. And we talk about our food diet, but I think the consumption of what we watch and listen to can have a big effect on us as well. I think if you're around a group of people who, if you have a family history of diabetes and it's just, and I've seen this countless time in my clinic, my dad had it, my mom had it, my sister has it. I'm just doomed to it. We talk about it all the time and we compare medicines. You're putting yourself in an environment that's inevitable. But if you're willing to, as you said earlier, also get curious, investigate is there another way? Is there something beyond the seven-minute doctor's appointment where I can go and improve myself without having to take metformin be stuck on a pill, etc.? Of course, I'm gonna plug our podcast, but I think it's information, but I think it's also environment that it's helping you create as well. And then the other piece, we talked about it earlier, like the whole goal of this is to live a great life. And to hear that you have energy to play with your kids, like that's I think what makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside is yeah, your A1C is better, you're reducing your risk of complications, but on a day-to-day basis, you're showing up more for the people that matter in your life. And I think that's what this is all about is how can we be fitter, stronger, healthier, so that instead of sitting at a pharmacy or a doctor's office or in a recliner, we're up and living life and getting the most out of the life we have.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah. And that my my maternal grandparents and they've both passed on now, but they were, and it wasn't diabetes, but it was my my grandfather was a very heavy smoker. And the whole time before they passed, that I knew them growing up, they spent their whole lives like we went to doctor's appointments. When I went to visit them, it was going to doctor's appointments. And I don't want to be 65 and just spending my time going to doctor's appointments because my health is in such poor shape.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Yeah. I think something is great that you took action. We've Jay from the Girl Coach was a guest on before, and he delayed action a little bit, but took it pretty heavily and and things improved really quickly. For yourself, it was a year of a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and three getting the diabetes diagnosis, you took action right away and you're seeing big improvements. And if you're listening and it's been a year, two years, five years, 10 years, the timeline of seeing improvements like Ben has had, it's gonna be different for everybody. And so really going back to as you start implementing changes, if you can see the little wins and celebrate those, understanding that if it took a decade for you to develop and continue to have diabetes, it's not gonna just reverse itself overnight, but it takes that consistent, imperfect but consistent effort. Well, then your story is inspiring. I am thanks. I you guys are inspiring. Yeah, I have my kids are three, six, and eight. So I'm tired at the end of the day, even with feeling pretty healthy because they don't sleep good and I'm running around all the time, especially on summer vacation. It's camp dad right now as we record

Advice For Feeling Overwhelmed

SPEAKER_02 19:30

this. But if someone's listening and they're feeling overwhelmed by diabetes, their diagnosis, the lack of care from the doctors, what would you talk tell that person listening who's feeling overwhelmed right now?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Progress, not perfection. And you guys, the episode of yours I was listening to the other day talked about find those little wins and the little steps you can take if it's switching to diet soda or to water to drink or some of the little things I've done. There's been days where I'm like, oh my gosh, I just want a bag of chips and I'll get pork rinds instead because it doesn't have the carb load, it's got other things, yeah. But it so finding those the least compromised yeah, the less bad option.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love that progress over perfection, and just try to find those little wins. And we in our diabetes coaching program, we have a client who's been with us for several months the other day. She was she's having insomnia, and so she just was like, instead of scrolling nuts, like someone I'll just write down everything that I've learned or implemented, and it was like two pages front and back, and it's that realization that it's these all these small things stacked up over time that you do. I think people often want to look for the silver bullet, like the one magic thing or the magic pill, the magic shot. And then the magic is the consistency, which you're clearly showing up every day with.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yeah, and that's I think one other thing is that when you start it, if you ease into it, that was easier for me because I didn't I'm not where I am now with kind of the way I eat, where I was when I first started. Like I didn't jump in and day one go, I'm in a room fasting, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing this. For the first month or so, I was still eating maybe five or six times a day, but healthier choices, and then gradually just stack things together one at a time so that it wasn't an overload of I'm completely transforming my entire life right now.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Yeah, as someone with three kids, there's just no opportunity to completely transform back in college. I just remembered I had a goal, I'd knock it out. It's like I was single and I had nothing else to do but go to class. This is easy. So I think that the and knowing your personality, I think it's like going to the example of smoking is if you smoke two packs a day and you can cut to one pack a day before you quit totally, great. That's progress. If you don't have to, if you just like if it's all if it's two packs or nothing, smoke one less cigarette a day, eat one less meal a day, have one more minute of walking a day, let that build for you. And I think our healthcare system is built to throw the kitchen sink at you in seven minutes. It's like you have to eat better, move. Here's a medicine, here's testing supplies, and here's the door. I'll see you in three to six months. And so it's when you think about how oftentimes when we try to make a giant overhaul, we fail, we blame ourselves, we feel bad, their shame. It's this terrible spiral where you feel bad about yourself and don't get better. So I love your advice of just start where you are, make some changes, keep making changes, keep adjusting, and then you'll wake up three months later with 50 pounds less to carry around and 2% less of an A1C. So then this is incredible. I love hearing this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Again, I I can't thank you guys enough. And I searched on Spotify and you popped up, and it's you guys are have completely helped me get this under control.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Great. We're we'll we're thrilled to hear it. We're gonna keep showing up for you. I know you're gonna keep showing up for yourself, for your family. And before we get out of here, you have

Where To Find Ben And Closing

SPEAKER_02 22:52

a lot of cool stuff you do in your life. And I would love for you to share if someone's listening to this, and even if they just want to reach out to you and be like, hey, that was inspiring. Thank you. Or wherever we can find you as an actor or doing what you're doing, please share where people can find you, and then you'll give me all the links to share with our listeners in the show notes too.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

Yeah, I'm I'm on all the socials at B D Gujan. Good luck spelling it.

SPEAKER_02 23:13

We'll have your we'll have your we'll have your name in the yeah, the we'll have your last name, G-O-U-G-E-O-N, in the show description. You don't have to pull your car over and write that down. You can look at it later.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yeah, and then I I also host a podcast that's about an art focused podcast called Talking Art that you can find on Spotify and Apple Music and YouTube and all the places. And then I'm gonna be in a production of Death of a Salesman in Moline, Illinois. If anyone's in Moline, come see that. Send me the dates for that.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

I would I will. I that's one of my favorite plays. So I would love it.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

It is mine. I could I couldn't pass up the chance to audition for it. So I'm very excited.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

All right. Folks, this has been Ben Goujan. Super inspiring. And until next time, keep it simple and do what works.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

If this episode gave you clarity or hope, share it with one friend who's been stuck in the diabetes trap. That's how this mission grows. One person, one family, one story at a time. And if you haven't yet, leaving a quick review helps more people find the show and realize they're not stuck with meds forever. It takes less than a minute and it means the world to us. Thanks for being here and thanks for being part of this movement toward freedom. Thanks for listening to the Diabetes Remission Roadmap. The ideas discussed here are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute medical or nutritional advice. We are pharmacists, but we're not your personal health care providers. Always consult your own physician or qualified clinician before changing medications, exercise routines, or nutrition plans. Results vary, and what works for one person may not work for another.