Susan Dalgety: Dropping a dress size to beat diabetes – but the wine can stay
The GP receptionist was blunt. “Your HbA1c levels are too high,” she said on the phone. “My what?” I replied. “The HbA1c levels in your blood,” she said.
“But what does that mean?” I asked. I don’t watch medical dramas, never read the health pages in any newspaper or magazine, and avoid my GP as much as humanly possible. I had no idea what she was talking about, but it sounded serious.
“You have prediabetes,” she said. “You will have to come in for a chat. But don’t worry.”
Two hours of frantic Googling and a friendly session with ChatGPT later and I was an expert in prediabetes. I have an app, aptly called ‘My Diabetes’, to track what I eat (and drink) as well as how many steps I take every day.
It can also log my blood pressure (high) and my daily blood sugar levels (also high it seems), but that requires me to test these two indicators every day, and that is a step too far for me at the moment.
The good news is that if I lose at least seven per cent of my current weight and do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, I may be able to reverse the prediabetes and so avoid diabetes 2 and all its attendant risks, such as stroke and heart disease.
So I have embarked on a diet. Out goes the sourdough toast loaded with peanut butter and sliced banana for breakfast, to be replaced by a lonely oatcake and a poached egg.
No more chips, Jersey Royal potatoes smothered in mayonnaise or Lidl dupes of Snickers bars. I should really give up wine, but ChatGPT tells me that a glass of Cremant is (relatively) low in calories and sugar, so I have deferred that sacrifice.
Food is not my real problem. I cook from scratch every day, use olive oil (liberally) and eat lots of fish and vegetables. I suspect the main reason I have prediabetes is because I spend most of the day on my backside with my laptop balanced on my knee.
I simply do not walk enough. That is all about to change as I attempt to drop a dress size, or two. Wish me luck.