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We hear it again and again: Good food and physical activity create a deep well of energy that you can draw from all day. Christine Corvalan has been discovering just how true this is. Christine has type 1 diabetes, and, since starting to work at APOGEE in March 2009, she’s been exercising regularly and eating the fresh, whole foods from the APOGEE Café in White Plains.  “It definitely makes a difference in how I feel,” says Christine. Her healthy habits help create a natural energy balance so the 23-year-old often needs less diabetes medication.

November is American Diabetes Month, a time to build awareness of the disease. Type 1 diabetics, like Christine, are born without the ability to regulate blood sugar naturally. They lack insulin, the hormone that moves blood sugar into cells where it’s used for energy. Type 2 diabetics develop the disease as adults; they either no longer produce insulin, or their cells have lost the ability to use it. Both types must monitor blood sugar several times a day. High levels mean they must take insulin to lower their blood sugar as excess blood sugar damages organs.

Christine has found firsthand that exercise is powerful medicine. “When I take a Pilates class at 5:30 I need a very small dose of short-acting insulin with my evening meal, if any at all,” she says. Exercise lowers blood glucose and improves the body’s ability to use insulin. The effect is the same for everyone, including type 2 diabetics and people who don’t have diabetes. Regular workouts create balanced, healthy energy and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The APOGEE Café’s soups and whole-grain based salads are also a boon to Christine’s control of the disease. Christine must eat regularly to balance her blood sugar and having such healthful foods available is a real plus. The whole grains deliver fiber, which slows absorption of food; the protein and good fats in the salads also create a steady stream of energy into the bloodstream. “Quality grains require less insulin coverage,” says Christine. “The fiber and the mix of proteins and fat have less of an effect on my blood sugar. “ A fiber- and nutrient-rich diet is another way that everyone can provide their body with steady energy and reduce their risk of developing diabetes.

Now working as APOGEE’s marketing coordinator, Christine knows firsthand how the company’s wellness philosophy translates into a healthy life.

When White Plains resident Cynthia Adams first joined APOGEE Pilates & Wellness Center in May 2009, she was hesitant: She didn’t know anything about Pilates and wasn’t even certain she could perform the exercises. Just four months earlier, she’d had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery and was still undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

It turns out that Pilates was just what Cynthia needed. Now, during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month,  Cynthia reflects on what Pilates has given her: balance, strength, and the knowledge that her body can heal.

Before her first class at APOGEE White Plains, Cynthia felt less than balanced. “I’d spent so much time focusing on my breast, shoulder and upper arm that I’d forgotten about my core and my other side,” she says. “Pilates is tremendously balanced. I strengthened my legs and my core and my right side to offset the limitations on the left. I feel longer and taller,” says the corporate attorney, who will turn 43 in November. “It was empowering to regain my strength using my own body.”

Cynthia is particularly grateful for the understanding she received from the APOGEE White Plains center staff.  Before starting a new class, Cynthia let the instructors know she was recovering from surgery and each helped her modify exercises when necessary.

Maintaining her fitness and wellness routine was part of healing and visiting the APOGEE Pilates & Wellness Center was important. “It’s a beautiful facility,” Cynthia says. “You feel you’re doing something good for yourself just by walking through the door.” There were times during her chemotherapy that Cynthia couldn’t make it to class, but she was able to do basic mat exercises at home.

Now, “happy, healthy, and cancer-free” and approaching the one-year anniversary of her diagnosis, Cynthia has added a weekly Saturday yoga class, moved from Intro to Beginner level Pilates classes and is about to start exercises on the Reformer. “I’m enlightened about my body’s healing abilities,” she says. And when she returns to work in mid-October, she plans to apply the healthy lifestyle lessons she has learned in Pilates to the financial world.