After being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes in 2017, Karl suggested to his GP that he could benefit from the support of a registered nutritionist and his GP referred him to Second Nature. Six months on, he’s lost over 11kg, is sharing his new recipes with friends and family, and his HbA1c has dropped by over 20 back into the healthy range!

A bit about me

I work in accounts by day and as a counsellor by night, working on a voluntary basis with cancer patients, people dealing with bereavement and mental health issues. I also volunteer as a Samaritans listener and prison visitor listener. I am 54 years old and have 2 daughters and a granddaughter. I was diagnosed with diabetes in mid-2017. I started changing my diet and lifestyle but the change wasn’t happening fast enough.

It all started with a GP visit

On a visit to my GP in November 2018 and jokingly said to him that I needed a nutritionist and he said OK! I was registered with Second Nature and started the course on 28th January 2019. I have found it to be a thoroughly engaging, professional and excellent programme!

Since joining Second Nature, l have come to realise that having a good relationship with food is a lot easier than going on a diet. I have learnt new recipes and how to incorporate these ideas into making food I love and enjoy regularly. I have achieved my weight loss goal and I am also feeling much healthier with my asthma being less problematic and I have not been to the doctor for asthma so far this year. The pain in my foot is also gone, and I have lost 11kgs in six months.

An enjoyable experience all round

I can’t stress enough how much I have enjoyed being on Second Nature; with the health coach’s support and group discussion, it’s like we’re old friends! The biggest difference for me is the changes in my relationship with food and my subsequent weight loss! I usually eat fairly healthy but with gigantic portions. I absolutely love food! Now my portion size is in line with the Second Nature programme. Even my sleep has got better although I still have some work to do on this front.

I enjoy the recipes and it is remarkable how easily I embraced the changes to my relationship with food. Even at parties, I find myself taking an appropriate portion size without even thinking about it. My friends and family are amazed at how quickly I have adapted to the changes. They act as my food police, ensuring I don’t stray back into bad old habits.

Striking the right balance

Eating healthy portion size consisting of the right proportion of carbs, fat, protein and fibre is now becoming the norm. I am experimenting more with vegetables, especially salads and I am totally loving the coleslaw! I have never made coleslaw before and didn’t really like its creaminess.

Surely when I jokingly asked my GP for a Nutritionist, I wasn’t expecting to get what I have been receiving over the past 4 months. The nutritional advice from the health coaches and the group discussions are always encouraging and helpful. We are like a family striving to achieve the same goals; fighting for the same cause and readily lifting each other up daily!

Recipes for the whole family to enjoy

Using the Second Nature recipes were and continue to be a delight! I am not a great fan of coleslaw, yoghurt and tomato-based dishes. But now I have come to enjoy dishes such as jerk chicken and coleslaw, and Hungarian goulash and yoghurt. I have been cooking the recipes and sharing the meals with my friends and family! They have been thoroughly enjoying these meals and they continue to be a great source of encouragement to me in my quest to maintain a healthy lifestyle and relationship with food!

Find your vitality with Second Nature

Second Nature is truly awesome! If you have tried many diets and exercise and things haven’t changed much; you need a new direction, a new path! You may have lost all hope, have lost your vim, have lost your vigour and have lost your vitality. Fear not Second Nature is here! Join up now and walk the Second Nature way of food science.

It’s time for a change, it’s time to enjoy great food and not go on a diet. Time to rediscover your vim, rediscover your vigour, rediscover your vitality, it’s time to join Second Nature!

You can read more Second Nature stories here.