I’m out in the countryside in Northern Ireland so I chose the online type 2 prevention course which was over Zoom. We’d meet weekly, then fortnightly - always on a Tuesday from midday to 1pm. 

We’d get sent a reminder a couple of days in advance and a very useful course booklet. 

The course leader went through the booklet page by page. It encouraged you to eat less and walk more without being silly about it. You’re not training for the Olympics!

My course had about 16 people. They shared their own experience too. You could have little conversations with other people in breakout rooms. You’d worked on questionnaires together. You’d learn from them. 

Making changes

I paid a bit more attention to what I was eating and portion control. I have a sweet tooth and I was avoiding things like chocolate biscuits and having less cake and eating more fruit and veg and the weight started to fall away.  

You’d work out your calorie intake and keep a record of it. I wasn’t very good at that. But I got myself a smart watch. My oldest boy is an engineer, and he happened to read about it online. It cost £100. And I got it linked to an app called Zepp on my phone which is excellent at keeping records, sleep patterns, how much walking I’m doing and my heart rate.

With the help and guidance from the course, I got my weight down to about 103KG (16.2 stone). I had a blood test at the end of the course to check my HbA1c and I was no longer prediabetic. 

My doctor asked me if I wanted to go on a type 2 diabetes prevention course. I was at my heaviest weight-wise. We’d just had a baby – my wife had carried. 

As you can imagine with a new-born baby, routines had gone out of the window and so had my eating habits. There were lots of take-aways and quick and easy not very nutritious meals and the weight piled on. 

The prevention course took place in different sessions over nine-months. One of the most useful sessions was one on stress and sleep. It helped me see that if I’m stressed or not sleeping well, it makes it hard for me to eat healthily.

When I started the prevention course, my HbA1c was 43 mmol/l but it had only gone down to 42mmol/l by the end of the course. Although I was making some changes to my eating habits I’d been diagnosed with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which is linked to insulin resistance and a higher HbA1c and I was started on metformin.

Last year we bought a house and moved in so things were busy. My sister’s getting married and last October I thought enough is enough – and since then I’ve lost three-and-a-half stone. My latest HbA1c was 42 mmol/l.

I try not to focus too much on the HbA1c numbers, as sometimes they can only change a small amount even with a huge amount of effort and as such it can feel disheartening. 

Since going on the prevention course, I've become a more mindful eater, so taking my time to enjoy my food and recognising the nutrition the food is giving me. I have also become more active than I was. I walk more and take the car less. 

I want to live a long and healthy life in order to be there for my daughter. Now that she is a very active toddler, I want the energy to play with her and ultimately not hold her back because of my weight or any health concerns.

(Please note the name of this person has been changed for privacy reasons. The photo is posed by models.)

I knew I needed to make changes to my diet. 

"I’ve always been an active person, but my weight had been steadily creeping up, and after the birth of my second child, it reached the highest it had ever been." 

I made a firm commitment to completing the course because I felt it was now or never, and so that became my motivation. 

My risk of developing type 2 diabetes was also higher due to a strong family history of diabetes, and having seen firsthand how devastating diabetes can be, I felt determined to do everything I could to reduce that risk. 

Getting results

At the start of the course, we each set our personal targets. Some women didn’t have any weight to lose, but in my case, I had a fair amount I wanted to work on. I set myself the goal of losing 10% of my body weight by the end of the course  — and I achieved it. 

Because the course focused on long-term, sustainable changes rather than crash dieting, it all felt very manageable over the extended period. The advice was practical, realistic, and genuinely helpful for making better long-term choices.  

The course helped me rebuild a healthier relationship with food, particularly around nutrition and portion sizes, and gave me a much better sense of control.

"Losing weight gradually over time showed me that the changes I was making were truly sustainable. It wasn’t about being perfect or chasing points — it was about discovering what genuinely worked for me."

There was even a section on takeaways and convenience foods, acknowledging that these are part of modern life. The course leader offered simple swaps and straightforward advice for eating out, which made everything feel achievable rather than restrictive.

The benefits extended beyond me and had a positive impact on the whole family — from making healthier food choices to becoming more active in our daily routine.  

My children now see me exercising as well, not just their dad, which feels like really positive role modelling, especially as we have two boys, and so it's good for them to see me doing other things like exercise and not always in the kitchen making the meals.

The course lasted about a year in total. The first few sessions were a few weeks apart, and then it switched to monthly meetings, adding up to roughly nine months overall. (Find out about type 2 prevention courses where you live).

One additional point I want to highlight is that although I was losing weight during the course, my average blood sugar levels (HbA1c) were still rising, which prompted investigations from my GP. 

After having some hormonal tests, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). A feature of PCOS can be insulin resistance, a condition strongly linked to diabetes but not widely discussed, which means symptoms can be missed. 

If it hadn't been for the course, these investigations would never been done, and PCOS would never have been picked up.

I’m now having treatment for PCOS. Thanks to that and the changes I’ve made since the course, I’ve so far been able to prevent developing type 2 diabetes.

With more exercise than a regular day, I had to make sure I ate more food, especially carbohydrates, than on a regular day to keep on top of energy levels.  

I bought a mix of short and long-acting carbs so I could eat them throughout the expedition to help me manage my blood sugar levels. Some examples of snacks I bought were jelly sweets, cereal bars and brioches.  

I’ve found that eating some protein with carb-dense meals reduces a spike in my blood sugar, so I prioritized protein as well as carbs. I included ham, tinned tuna and chose cereal bars with higher levels of protein.  

It’s hard to include fruit and vegetables into your meals on an expedition. I took apples and fruit juice - which I could also use to treat hypos!.  

I made sure I kept well hydrated by drinking plenty of water. There are lots of water-carrying options – including water bladders and bottles.

For my bronze DofE, I used two hydration bladders – one containing water, and one containing Lucozade which I had little sips of throughout the day to help manage my blood sugar. However, on my silver DofE, I just had a bottle of each because I found the tubes of the hydration bladders annoying while walking.  

Bethany says that there’s a perception that diabetes is just “inject and get on with everything” but it’s so much more than that.

“It’s so much more complicated than anyone really understands. ‘How much insulin do I need to inject for this meal’, ‘have I actually remembered to inject?’ – those things are constantly in your mind. So much of what people with diabetes have to do is hidden. Even my husband who’s around me all the time doesn’t really see it and I think you can only truly ever understand it if you have it yourself.” 

The biggest misconception Bethany comes across and wishes people understood the truth about was the relationship between diabetes and food.

“I think the thing probably everyone would say is that question about ‘should you be eating that?’ or ‘why don’t you swap that for something lower carb?’ In our work chat we were talking about some fundraising work we’re doing for Diabetes UK and a presentation I’m giving. Someone just responded with ‘eat less sugar’ and while that’s obviously why we’re doing the presentation in the first place, it’s so frustrating to hear all the time. 

“I wish people understood how complicated and difficult it is, and how much it impacts on all aspects of your life. It’s not just about medication, it’s all the little things that are constantly on your mind. If my foot suddenly feels sore, should I go and get it checked just in case? Or if I’ve had a headache for a few days, do I need to get that checked?"