She Reversed Prediabetes in 3 Months and Cut Her Body Fat in Half—At 66!

Want to know how to reverse prediabetes in 3 months—and maybe lose half your body fat in the same time frame? That’s exactly what Forbes Riley, 66, did after a near-death experience inspired her to experiment with lifestyle changes. The best part: Her key strategies are easy to copy and “about as effective a jumpstart as you can get,” says nutrition expert Ted Naiman, MD. Keep reading for how-tos and inspiration that can change your body and your life forever.

The crash that set Forbes on a prediabetes-reversing path

If Forbes looks familiar, it’s probably because she got her start as an actress and then transitioned into infomercials and QVC. Though many of the $2.5 billion in products she sold were fitness-related, she says she was steadfastly unfit and “fluffy.” “I wore color-blocked jackets that made me look like I had a waist. I didn’t,” she says. “I felt like an imposter.” After having late-life twins and hitting menopause, her weight crept higher, and she was diagnosed with prediabetes. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s a condition that often develops when we eat so many blood-sugar spiking foods our cells become damaged and stop working properly. (You have prediabetes when blood tests show your A1C levels are between 5.7 and 6.4.)

Forbes was concerned, but she did little to lower her blood sugar levels. Not until everything changed. In 2024, Forbes’ family was in a tour van crash while on vacation. In the wreckage afterward, “I heard my daughter say to my son, ‘Mom might be gone,’” Forbes recalls. The words woke her up—literally and figuratively.

As Forbes recovered from the shock and a shoulder injury, she became eager to reclaim her health and live life to the fullest. So when her husband, Joshua, a world-champion bodybuilder, mentioned a bodybuilding competition for women over 60, Forbes… laughed.

At that point, she was in the worst shape of her life and working 12-hour days to start a business. Yet something inside her said, “Go for it!” Was it even possible for someone her age? She found women on Instagram transforming in their 60s. Intrigued but skeptical, she signed up for the contest.

How Forbes reversed her prediabetes in 3 months

With help from Joshua and expert pals, Forbes came up with a two-part plan to lose weight and reduce her risk of developing type 2 diabetes:

Step 1: Protein loading

Joshua, who regularly experiments to find the most effective dietary strategies, was using a carnivore diet at the time. That meant only animal foods, no plants. Forbes liked the simplicity. She also liked that it allowed for unlimited portions and no tracking. She tried it.

Her staples? Things like protein-spiked coffee, cheese, eggs and meat plus occasional veggies. “I ate whenever I was hungry,” she says. “There was no fasting. I snacked.” So she was always full. And since she didn’t plan to do it forever, she says she didn’t feel deprived by her limited menu.

Why protein works: “Protein is the most satiating nutrient by far,” says Dr. Naiman, author of Satiety Per Calorie. Eat mostly protein like Forbes, “and it naturally reduces your total calorie intake without you even trying.” You’ll also crowd out a lot of carbs, triggering shifts in body chemistry that improve blood sugar function and burn fat up to 900 percent faster, per a study in the journal Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome.

Also crucial: After age 50, we need large amounts of amino acids from protein to build muscle—which is key to fast, healthy, lasting results. Duke University tests show that getting about 1 gram of daily protein for every two pounds of body weight doubles weight loss in older adults who are attempting to watch what they eat and increase physical activity.

Step 2: Building muscle

Forbes hit the gym at 5 am each morning, following a program Joshua created. He didn’t want to hover, so he left her to her own devices. Did she know what she was doing? No. But she showed up every day for 99 days, blasting music like Pitbull’s “Fireball” to hype herself up. She’d usually work afterward, from 7 am to 7 pm.

At first she was achy, and the scale didn’t budge. Luckily, her doctor had given her a body scan earlier in the year; she went for another. In 45 days, her body fat had plummeted from 33 to 24 percent. Her muscle increased dramatically too, which is why the numbers on the scale didn’t change. “The whole office went nuts,” Forbes recalls. “They’d never had anyone in their 60s do that.” And it was just her halfway point!

Why muscle matters: Building muscle is one of the best ways to improve prediabetes and other blood-sugar issues like insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Why? Muscles run on blood sugar, so having lots of them burns sugar like crazy, says Dr. Naiman. And our muscles can pull sugar from the bloodstream without help from the hormone insulin—so if your insulin isn’t working properly (which happens when conditions like insulin resistant, prediabetes and type-2 diabetes develop), it doesn’t matter.

For Forbes, as her blood sugar improved, her hunger and cravings got much better too—which is one way building muscle helps slim us down. And muscle is metabolically active, “so the more you have, the more calories you burn every hour of every day,” explains Dr. Naiman. Muscle is key to success maintaining long term.

As for hormonal changes that cause women to lose muscle, “strength training is the only thing that reverses this.” In a JAMA study, even 90-year-olds saw a 174 percent improvement in eight weeks!

Forbes’ happy ending

In 99 days, just over 3 months, Forbes cut her body fat by about half and she got stronger than ever. Her prediabetes—gone. She placed second in the competition, her husband beaming by the stage. Did she backslide once she relaxed her diet and workouts? “I’ve maintained all of it,” she beams. Her consulting business is up and running, and she is the proud author of a new book, The Pitch: A-Z. “I am happy, I am fierce—and I love going shopping!”

How to start using Forbes’ simple strategies

Follow Forbes’ lead and stick primarily to dairy, eggs, fish and meat. You can add veggies and even some fiber-rich starch without impacting your progress, says Dr. Naiman. The key is very high protein intake and very few ultra-processed foods (which drive hunger and fat storage). To make getting enough protein super-easy, he even created the Hava app that assesses meals based on photos you snap with your phone.

As for strength training: “The most important thing is just to start—even 15 minutes three times a week will produce noticeable results,” promises Dr. Naiman. Use body-weight exercises you already know (like squats and crunches) or find free workouts on YouTube. Do enough reps to fatigue your muscles. “As you get stronger, add resistance with bands or dumbbells.” You need to keep pushing muscles to build them. To track progress accurately and stay motivated as you build muscle, consider getting a smart scale that measures body fat (as opposed to just body weight).

Skeptical it’ll have an impact? Just look at Forbes. “She ate the right foods and lifted weights,” he says. “Simplicity works!”

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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM.