Diabetes Diet Made Fun! ‘No Sugar Baker’ Shares Tips to Lower Blood Sugar and Lose Weight
Discover how Jayne Jones, ‘No Sugar Baker,’ made her diabetes diet fun, effective and delicious!
On her birthday four years ago, Jayne Jones thought she had a stomach bug. “It got so bad, my husband took me to the ER,” shares the Florida mom. Tests revealed advanced type 2 diabetes, her blood sugar seven times higher than normal. It was causing massive inflammation in Jayne’s organs, soaring blood pressure and dangerous deposits in her blood vessels. “They said I’d come within minutes of a stroke, even though I’d never been warned about my blood sugar before.”
Once emergency meds kicked in, a doctor stopped by Jayne’s bedside. “Follow up with your primary care physician and eat lean meat and salad for the rest of your life,” she advised, signing Jayne’s discharge forms. Jayne felt a tingle of fear. She’d almost died and now she’d just…go home? “A nurse squeezed my toe and said, ‘It’ll be okay, kid,’” Jayne recalls. And she was right. Jayne was not only going to be okay. She was going to create her own ‘diabetes diet,’ normalize her blood sugar levels, reclaim her health, lose stubborn excess pounds she’d carried for years—and have a whole lot of fun doing it.
Natural ways to lose weight with diabetes
After leaving the hospital, Jayne was soon in her own bed and on the internet. What she learned: Overeating sugar and processed food not only drove her hunger and weight gain, it had been gradually causing damage that made it hard for her body to keep blood sugar at a safe level. She felt foolish for dismissing symptoms (like fatigue, GI trouble and stubborn belly fat) as signs of aging. “It also felt like I was to blame for never getting my eating under control,” says Jayne, a lifelong yo-yo dieter. Then there were the treatments she read about. “I knew I didn’t want to inject insulin,” she says. “Which meant I had to cut out sugar and processed foods or I could die.”
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Jayne remembers pulling out notes the ER doc had given her on how to eat. She’d written that half of every plate should be veggies with a drizzle of olive oil or dressing; a quarter should be lean protein; and a quarter could be a tiny potato or piece of fruit. “I’m a lawyer, but baking is my passion. It hit me: I’m never going to bake again,” she says. “Suddenly, I was mad at the world.” With tears in her eyes, “I started throwing everything away.” Flour, sugar, sprinkles—gone.
Did it work? She was recovering, overhauling her diet and learning to use a blood-sugar meter, “so the first month was rough. But my sugar came down and I got off the oral meds I’d been prescribed. I also lost 15 pounds,” she says.
How to add fun to a diabetes diet
When the holidays arrived, Jayne skipped cookie exchanges and barely ate at gatherings. “My health was improving, but it felt like my spark had gone out.”
One day, while shopping at Target, “I was just so down,” Jayne recalls. “I said a prayer. ‘Dear God, help me find a better way to get healthy.’ I literally turned around and there were the zero-sugar sweeteners and baking supplies.” Jayne grabbed some to try.
“I made chocolate chip cookies, but I didn’t taste them. I was afraid I’d be disappointed,” she chuckles. “So I brought them to my parents. My mom took a bite and started to cry. I was like, ‘That bad?’ She said, ‘That good! We’ve been waiting for this day since you got sick. Your smile is back!’”
From then on, Jayne was in the kitchen constantly. She still used a blood-sugar meter and the ER doc’s basic plan, but she also began tracking her carbs in a notebook. She found she could easily stay at a healthy level—for her that was under 50 grams a day—while incorporating her new no-sugar treats. Jayne lost 50 pounds in six months and got her blood sugar back to normal. She felt like her high-energy old self for the first time in years.
Jayne lowered blood sugar levels and lost ‘sugar fat’
Whether you have a diagnosed blood-sugar issue or not, experts say following Jayne’s lead can work wonders. A big reason: All of the added sugars and processed foods we eat continuously spike blood sugar in a way that stresses, inflames and damages our insides—factors linked to diabetes, thyroid problems and countless other health issues, according to Cleveland Clinic functional medicine expert and Young Forever author Mark Hyman, M.D.
Surging blood sugar also spikes insulin. “Insulin is a fat-storage hormone that locks fat in fat cells,” the doc says. It’s why chronically high blood sugar can make weight so hard to lose.
Luckily, cutting back on sugar and processed food “can reduce inflammation and help cells begin to regenerate in a few weeks. You can feel a difference quickly,” adds Jaclyn London, M.S., R.D., CDN, former head of nutrition for Weight Watchers. Studies show you may even start to burn sugar-related fat (especially the ‘sugar fat’ that piles on around our middles) up to 650 percent faster!
Adds London: “I want to emphasize that you don’t need a super-strict diet. What I love about Jayne’s story is that she found real-life solutions that helped her meet her health goals while still baking and eating foods she loves.” For more great advice, follow @JaclynLondonRD on Instagram.
How treats actually improve results on a diabetes diet
The desserts Jayne bakes (see examples here and on the next page) use a variety of zero-sugar sweeteners. “Evidence shows that using these sweeteners to replace added sugars tends to be extremely effective for blood-sugar management and weight loss,” says London. Prime example: A University of Colorado study found dieters encouraged to use artificial sweeteners shed three times more weight than those asked to skip them.
What about potential side effects of artificial sweeteners?
While they shouldn’t be disregarded, London says they are often disproven over time. (Click through to learn about potential risks from erythritol and xylitol.) “Particularly if used in moderation, the benefits of zero-sugar sweeteners tend to be far greater than the risks of eating too much sugar,” she notes. Find a sweetener you like and then check with your doctor about what’s right for you.
Would it be better just to skip all sweeteners? “I actually recommend you don’t eliminate dessert if you enjoy it,” London says. “Trying to go cold turkey causes cravings to build. Find options like Jayne did, savor them and then go on with your life.
The diabetes diet with a happy ending
Once Jayne got a few months in to her health journey, “my energy was coming back, so I started taking walks,” she shares. She quickly realized even a little movement had a huge impact. “As long as I did some sort of activity, my blood-sugar number stayed lower.” Experts explain that even when our bodies are struggling to keep blood sugar down in general, our muscles still have an amazing ability to turn sugar into fuel. “It’s a big reason I’ve been able to add little treats to my day and still meet my health goals,” smiles Jayne, 50.
“At one point, my daughter came home from college and said, ‘Everyone’s asking about what you’re doing. You should start a blog and call it No Sugar Baker.’” So Jayne did. As the blog’s popularity grew, she even created a line of frozen sugar-free cookie dough. “I managed to get on QVC, and I’ve sold out three times!” And while she has continued to deal with some lingering effects from her diabetes (like a kidney stone that led to sepsis), Jayne feels amazing overall and is preparing to launch her products in major grocery store chains.
“I’m not a skinny little fitness model telling you to run around the track and to not eat sugar,” says Jayne, who went from a size 22W to a 10. “I have been through the same struggles so many people are facing—and I’ve come out on the other side. If I can help anyone else do the same, well, I can’t think of anything better!”
Jayne’s diabetes diet strategy has room for treats
Will Jayne’s approach benefit your body? Try it and see! Jayne simply ate protein, a little fat and nonstarchy veggies at most meals, adding treats when she wanted them. She also drank lots of water and stopped eating at 7 pm. If you prefer more formal guidelines, use a free app like Carb Manager to help keep carbs down. We’ve got ideas to inspire you here and on the next page. And you can find lost more free ideas and recipes at NoSugarBaker.com.
Sample breakfast
Scramble eggs with cheese, sausage, peppers, onions or any low-carb veggies you enjoy.
Sample lunch
Enjoy bunless chicken burgers with a large salad and some zero-sugar salad dressing.
Sample dinner
Skip breadcrumbs in any meatball recipe; serve with Rao’s sauce and zucchini.
Bonus recipe: Easy bundt magic!
Sour cream makes this No-Sugar Baker cake extra moist and delish.
Serves 12
- 1 box sugar-free chocolate cake mix, like Duncan Hines Keto
- 1 cup sugar-free chocolate chips
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 1⁄2 cup oil
- 1⁄2 cup water
- 2 Tbs. vanilla extract
Mix all ingredients until just combined. Pour into a greased Bundt pan. Bake at 350ºF until pick in center comes out clean, 30–40 minutes. Garnish as desired.
Bonus recipe: Peanut butter chocolate bars
Calling all Reese’s lovers! Jayne is a fan of using Lily’s brand dark chocolate chips in these candy-inspired cookies.
Makes about 12 bars.
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ cup sugar-free peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup zero-sugar brown sugar substitute, such as Swerve Brown
- 1 Tbs. vanilla
- 1 cup flour (almond or all purpose)
- 2 cups sugar-free chocolate chips
In large bowl, mix butter and peanut butter. Add egg, Swerve and vanilla until well combined. Add flour until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Press into greased 8″x8″ baking dish. Bake at 350ºF until center is set, about 20 minutes. Cool and cut. Makes about 12 bars.
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