Success Story: Losing 14lbs in weight and reversing pre-diabetes

Suzette was newly retired after 45 years of work, including running a busy 24-hour Telecare Service with varying shift patterns. She wanted to enjoy retirement but struggled with sleep, felt tired and lethargic, lacked energy, leaned on caffeine to get through the day, and suffered with constipation.

She also had a family history of high cholesterol and a higher BMI than her GP recommended. Her doctor suggested statins, but Suzette had experienced side effects last time and wanted to avoid medication if possible. With cardiovascular disease in the family, she knew action was needed.

What Suzette didn’t know when she walked through the clinic door was that she was already pre-diabetic. As a Registered Nutritional Therapist specialising in cardiometabolic health, I see this pattern in clinic every week: tired, gaining weight, sleep falling apart, cholesterol creeping up, and no idea that blood sugar is already part of the story. Book a free 20-minute call if any of that sounds familiar.

In her first consultation, Suzette said she wanted to enjoy her retirement by:

• Sleeping better
• Improving her energy
• Regulating her bowel movements
• Lowering her cholesterol

Her story shows how a holistic look at the whole body can catch imbalances before they tip into a chronic condition, and what’s possible when someone is ready to act on what they find.

Symptoms that needed answers

Several symptoms in that first consultation flagged something deeper going on:

• Waking at night to urinate
• Frequent daytime urination (despite drinking very little water)
• Water retention in the lower legs and feet
• Slow wound healing
• Numbness and tingling in the hands and feet

These are classic early warning signs of pre-diabetes, and they’re easy to dismiss as ‘getting older’. Blood tests coordinated with her GP confirmed the picture: Suzette was pre-diabetic, with high cholesterol sitting alongside it.

‘When I met up with Natalie last year I felt sluggish. My diet was poor and Natalie requested blood tests via the GP due to some of my symptoms. The tests identified I had high cholesterol and I had pre-diabetes, I’m not going to lie this worried me.’

That worry became the lever. Knowing the diagnosis turned vague ‘I should eat better’ intentions into a clear plan, and pre-diabetes is one of the most reversible conditions we work with when someone is ready to move.

The first steps to better health

The plan focused on realistic, achievable steps addressing her initial concerns: poor sleep, constipation, high cholesterol, and getting blood sugars under control so the pre-diabetes could reverse. We work holistically because symptoms don’t sit in tidy boxes. Suzette’s case is a textbook example: a gut symptom, a sleep symptom and a metabolic symptom were all part of the same underlying story.

Why gut health tells us so much

Frequent constipation is rarely ‘just constipation’. It signals an imbalanced gut microbiome, and that imbalance feeds back into blood sugar control, weight, and cholesterol. Healthier gut flora supports better metabolic health across the board, which is why we never look at blood sugar in isolation.

Where sleep and diabetes meet

Poor sleep is one of the fastest routes into insulin resistance. Less sleep makes it harder for the body to move sugar out of the blood and into cells. It also raises cortisol, which pushes blood sugar up further. Fix the sleep, and a lot else starts to follow.

The role inflammation played

Pre-diabetes builds quietly over years, and inflammation is what speeds it up. Certain foods trigger it, and so do lifestyle factors: alcohol, poor sleep, ongoing stress. Bring the inflammation down and you give the body room to recover.

This is the work we do inside our blood sugar and insulin resistance programme: joining the dots between gut, sleep, inflammation and metabolism so the numbers move and the symptoms go.

The road to success

Suzette and I worked on the following together, layered in over time rather than all at once:

• More food diversity and colour, for a wider spread of antioxidants and nutrients
• Eating breakfast, to anchor energy and blood sugar through the day and drop the caffeine dependence
• Swapping to fibre-rich carbohydrates that support gut health and blunt blood sugar spikes
• Bringing in omega-3s and other anti-inflammatory foods
• Building water intake from almost nothing to a minimum of one litre a day
• Supporting natural detoxification to improve circulation and reduce water retention
• Targeted supplements chosen for her bloods, her symptoms and her goals
• A sleep routine that worked for both her and her husband
• Daily movement, starting small and building up

She’s now frequently logging 25,000 to 30,000 steps a day. Walking became the keystone habit that pulled the rest along, and we see that pattern again and again in clinic with blood sugar.

Suzette feels lighter, more energised and healthier, and her alcohol intake dropped on its own once everything else started to feel good. That’s the bit that’s hard to argue with: when the body works better, the behaviours follow.

Within 3 months of small, consistent changes, Suzette was:

• Sleeping soundly, no night-time bathroom trips
• Going to the loo regularly every day
• Free of the water retention in her legs and feet
• Excited about food again, and positive about her health

In under 9 months, Suzette was:

• No longer pre-diabetic
• No longer under pressure to take statins
• One stone / 14lbs / 6.5kg lighter
• Living fully, and doing more than ever before

‘With Natalie’s help and encouragement, we both worked hard towards getting my diabetes and cholesterol markers down. I changed my diet and outlook on food, introduced walking every day and started to drink more water. Today, less than 9 months from the results, I’m no longer pre-diabetic and have lost just under a stone in weight. I feel fantastic!’

Suzette still pops in for a check-in every few months, but the day-to-day is hers. She knows how to eat, sleep and move in a way that keeps her well. If you want to see what this looks like for someone with weight loss as the primary goal, read Lou’s story: he came off medication after dropping 44kg.

Recognise yourself in Suzette’s story?

If you’re noticing the same things, broken sleep, creeping weight, worsening bloods, the cycle of losing weight and gaining it back, you don’t have to white-knuckle through it. There are three ways to take the next step with us, depending on where you are right now. 

Just looking and want to learn? Download our free blood sugar walking guide for the simplest single habit that moves blood sugar in days, not months. 

Want to know exactly where you stand? A Wellness Check gives you full blood work, a clinical interpretation, and a clear picture of whether pre-diabetes, cholesterol or insulin resistance are already in play. 

Ready to do what Suzette did? Our blood sugar and insulin resistance programme is one-to-one work with a Registered Nutritional Therapist, built around your bloods, your symptoms and your life, with the same approach that took Suzette from pre-diabetic to no longer pre-diabetic in under nine months. 

Not sure which one is right? Book a free 20-minute call and we’ll point you to the right rung.