document: A changed life THREE-MINUTE AWAKENING : The day after I had the operation , a wonderful young woman came in and dragged me to rehab . I told her how much I hated her , and she put me on the treadmill for about 3 minutes . After that , I just kept exercising . Life is good and I want to enjoy it as long as I can . We built a new home in 2000 and put in a big-screen TV , and now we have three machines facing it : a bike , a combination treadmill/stepper and a stretching machine . So it 's not boring like it would be otherwise . I do that at least a half-hour a day , and three days a week I go to Over Fifty and Fit at Minnetonka Community Education . SCALING DOWN : I spent my life in food distribution . When I was around it , I did n't pay any attention to my weight . Today when I bend over , my stomach is n't in the way . I have an old doctor 's scale that I got in 1967 , and that 's what I stand on every morning . When I started I had to put it on the 250 and add 30 pounds . Then I moved it to 200 , and now 150 . I got to my goal weight - under 190 - about 90 days ago . FOR THE DOGS : I loved food so much , and I always ate everything that was served to me , never leaving anything on the plate that was placed in front of me . When I decided to lose weight , I went to a class where the leader stated that it was n't the last taste on the plate that was best , but that it was the first taste . That hit me like a brick . Since that time , I never clean up my plate , whether I am home or in a restaurant . When I go to a restaurant I cut it in half and bring the rest home to my dogs . DRAWING INSPIRATION : After I was diagnosed -LSB- with diabetes -RSB- , it was on track to getting worse : I would wake up in the middle of the night sweating , having to get sugar into my blood , etc. . That does not happen to me now . When I was at the VA in January , the nurse said I should teach a class on how to leave Type 2 diabetes behind because of my numbers from the blood draw . I do n't stick myself anymore . SHEILA MULROONEY ELDRED
extractive_keyphrases: operation va exercising rehab treadmill blood diabetes 3 minutes scaling down weight loved food drawing inspiration sweating sugar bring stretching wonderful plate leader stated put numbers machines new served middle diagnosed food rest restaurant attention started
abstractive_keyphrases: type 2 diabetes lose weight minutes