NOW I DO 10,000 STEPS A DAY, EVEN IF IT’S RUNNING ROUND THE KITCHEN

LINDA BOWYER has always made an effort to stay trim.

‘I’m only just over 5ft tall, so even a small amount of extra weight doesn’t look good on me,’ says the grandmotherof-six from County Durham.

‘My dinners have always been relatively healthy, mostly vegetables and meat, and rarely junk foods like chips.

‘And I’d run around after the grandkids at weekends and I did all the housework, running up and down stairs.’

So when a routine blood test in October 2020 indicated she was on the cusp of diabetes, she was shocked. ‘My blood sugar level was 47mmol/mol – one point below diabetic levels,’ says Linda, pictured above, who weighed a healthy 8st 11lb at the time. ‘I never expected it for one minute. I called my son and he said, “You can’t be!”’

Linda’s GP referred her to WW, formerly Weight Watchers, as part of the NHS’s Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. She enrolled on a six-month programme with coaches trained in treating diabetes and improving blood sugar control.

Linda was advised to restrict sweets and eat smaller portions while upping her physical activity. She says: ‘I made small changes – I tried to do 10,000 steps every day, even if it was just running around the kitchen. I’d have one slice of wholemeal bread at lunch, instead of two slices of white. I switched to low-fat alternatives and made soups and salads.’

After six months Linda had lost more than half a stone – and her blood sugar was a healthy 33mmol/mol.

Today she has reintroduced a handful of sweets each week. ‘It’s worth cutting back to keep myself healthy,’ she adds.