BU I LD YOUR
BODY
Personal trainer and power lifter GINGER VIEIRA offers tips on getting stronger
BY TRACEY NEITHERCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY DUBACK
Considering Ginger Vieira’s current career choices—
she’s a personal trainer, yoga instructor, motivational fitness
and diabetes coach, and professional power lifter with
15 records to her name—it’s hard to believe she ever
considered herself something of an athletic dud.
Her junior year of college, when her A1C reached
its highest level since her diagnosis with type; 1 diabetes
at age 13, the on-again, o;-again jogger hit the weight
room. After a summer of strength training and doing
yoga, Vieira had gained muscle, reduced her daily
insulin dose, and dropped 10 pounds.
Her new workout kept her blood glucose steady, so
she stepped it up, hiring a personal trainer and teaching
yoga. “By the end of that year I had become a certified
yoga instructor and certified personal trainer,” she says.
The 26-year-old exercise diva from Burlington, Vt., looks
back on that time as the turning point in her life. It’s when
she decided to take control of her diabetes and help other
people find their inner athlete. She’s even self-published
a book, Your Diabetes Science Experiment.
Diabetes Forecast chatted with Vieira about power lifting
(which she plans to participate in again this spring, once a
back injury is fully healed), diabetes management, and how
she’s helping others with diabetes combat high blood
glucose with good ol’ sweat sessions.
