Changing your lifestyle can approximately halve your risk of progressing from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes. Here is what you can do:
1. Reduce your weight by 5 –10 per cent
a. Eat regular meals breakfast, lunch and dinner every day.
b. Eat some carbohydrate at each meal, see the plate below around ¼ of your plate/meal.
c. Limit eating foods high in sugar.
2. Try eating smaller portions and reduce your daily calorie intake
A great tip is to reduce the size of the plate you use and look at what food groups are on your plate, food groups are:
Carbohydrates
Colourful vegetables
Protein
3. Learn about foods that contain high sugar and hidden fat and have less of them in your diet
Examples of everyday foods that have hidden sugars include: Bread, Tomato sauce, crackers and energy drinks.
4. Eat more whole foods, avoid processed foods and include 5+ servings of fruit and vegetables
Whole foods are plant foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed.
5. Choose to drink water instead of sugary drinks
Find alternatives to sugary drinks such as fruit juice or fizzy drink. Try water and herbal teas either hot or cold, there are a variety of teas in the supermarket, our favourites are liquorice or fruit teas with a slice of lemon or orange, add berries frozen or fresh.
6. Aim to be physically active for at least 30 to 60 minutes every day.
Being more physically active has so many benefits, it will increase your energy, help with weight loss as well as provide your heart a workout. Find an exercise you enjoy and make everyday changes, like taking the stairs to work or parking further from the shops and walking.
Choosing to take positive action is the first step in any lifestyle changes. These habits will become easier the more to do them until they are part of your daily routine.