Florida Mom Loses 60 Lbs. After Starting Sweet Side Gig as the 'No Sugar Baker' (Exclusive)

• Jayne Jones learned she was "inches away from a stroke" on her 46th birthday, due to high blood sugar and previously undiagnosed type 2 diabetes

• She revamped her diet and tossed "all my sugar, my flour," losing 60 lbs. in six months

• Jones now shares sugar-free recipes on her popular blog, No Sugar Baker, and has invented a popular cookie dough that sells out on QVC

Jayne Jones was always waiting for the weekend. A lawyer for nonprofits, she "worked like a fanatic" during the week and spent Saturdays and Sundays in her kitchen crafting sugary cookies, pies, and cakes. "I baked all the time," Jones, 50, tells PEOPLE.

In the summer of 2020, Jones suddenly couldn't keep food down. She thought she had a stomach flu and ended up in the emergency room two weeks later.

There, on her 46th birthday, she was told she had dangerously high blood pressure and blood sugar levels. "The doctor told me I was severely diabetic, that I had type 2 diabetes," Jones recalls. "She told me I was inches away from a stroke."

Shocked by the diagnosis — she'd never had issues with her blood sugar before — Jones returned home determined to revamp her diet.

At the time, Jones was 235 lbs. Weight had long been a struggle for her.

"Growing up, I was always chubby," she says. "In high school I was probably a size 16, flour. I googled type 2 diabetes, and the first thing you find out is it's caused by obesity. So I'm like, 'I did this to myself.' I was mad and embarrassed.”

Jones completely changed her diet, focusing on low-sugar vegetables, lean proteins such as turkey, chicken and fish, and salads. She started walking at least 40 minutes a day in her pool or through her Sarasota, Fla., neighborhood. "If I don't exercise," Jones says, "my blood sugar goes up."

Within three months, she lost about 30 lbs. Her blood sugar levels improved. "When I went to my doctor he said to me, 'You don't even look like the same person,'" she recalls.

One of her biggest champions was her husband Chris Beehler, 50.  "He's been totally supportive," Jones says. "He is pretty much sugar-free, certainly around me."

Together their lifestyle became healthier than ever. "We are a team," she says.

Related: Kids Who Eat Less Sugar (Even in the Womb!) Are Less Likely to Have Diabetes: Study

Still, getting through Christmas that first year without sugary treats proved challenging. While Jones' physical health had vastly improved, she felt down. "I always did a Christmas cookie baking day," she says. "Baking was my hobby and it was suddenly gone."

One day she was at the grocery store and bought a couple of bags of a sweetener made from grape skins.

"I went home and made chocolate chip cookies and brought them over to my parents' house. When they tried them they started to cry. I'm like, 'Oh, dear God, are they that bad?' They're like, 'They are so good — we've been waiting for this day since the day you got sick! Your energy is finally back and that smile is finally back.'"

Related: Parks and Recreation Alum Retta Reveals Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis

Jones started experimenting with sugar substitutes — she's a fan of Swerve — and began creating new recipes. Her total weight loss reached 60 lbs. within six months of her ER visit.

"I was feeling wonderful," she says. "People said, 'Your skin looks better, your hair looks better. And I was able to get a whole new wardrobe! I went from a size 22 to a 10."

When COVID hit, her daughter came home from college with an idea: "She said, 'You're sort of like the no sugar baker. You should start that on social media.' And just to make her happy, I created a blog called No Sugar Baker."

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Since then, Jones has developed over 250 sugar-free recipes, which are all available on her blog. In January 2023, she was invited on QVC to sell her frozen cookie dough, which sold out three times. It's also available in more than 185 grocery stores in Texas and Louisiana, and she's working to expand to other retail stores nationwide. Jones hopes to expand her business so her treats can be available in hospitals, nursing homes and schools. "In the hospital, they had no sugar-free food for me to eat," she says. "It makes no sense!"

These days Jones maintains her weight loss through nutrition and daily exercise — and she loves to spread her sugar-free knowledge.

"Starting that blog, it had to be very authentic, I wanted to share what I learned," she continues.

"I am tired of the skinny little fitness models telling people to run around the block — that is not the answer by itself. Genetics plays a big part of it and you have to find the right formula that works for you."

And along with her healthy cookie ideas, she also has a recipe for success: "You can't give up. If I can go cold turkey, become sugar-free, and be healthy, anyone can."

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