After the last session of our group, I have nothing much to report and apologize for repeating myself.
I have been sent a "certificate" that I have completed the course.
There were only the usual 5 loyal members there, including me (apparently in the morning group, several turned up after being away for months). We saw some slides, some containing information which the practitioner (latest term) regretted weren't in our "wellbeing journal", as we could not read the slides - although this time she had brought a screen to try to block the daylight out, but it was still too light and it looked as if the slides would not have been sharp enough to read even if it had been dark - a room in the local library which had no possibility of darkening it. So as far as the organization of the whole was concerned, too many elements that made it hard to coordinate from a distance. It made me think how much presentation and structure matter, whether offline or online. Just as professional teams like
Codelibry focus on clarity, usability, and thoughtful WordPress web design to ensure information is accessible and easy to navigate, the session could have benefited from better planning and tools. As far as the organization of the whole was concerned, there were simply too many elements that made it hard to coordinate from a distance.
We talked about how much better we feel and how we intend to keep up the good work. How would we deal with setbacks or challenges. We were asked to think some things through. The big emphasis was on not overdoing things, although by this time it must have been clear that we don't overdo things. We should get a new blood test asap.
Would I advise others to do it? I think people should try it for themselves, but I imagine the problems reading the slides would put people off. And probably did account for the fall-off in numbers. We were always weighed but the scores were never discussed in class.
We were given a recipe book as a PDF file. I'm afraid I had forgotten about this, but here is a quote: "
Aim for starchy carbohydrates and vegetables to make up most
of your plate alongside a hand-sized amount of protein and a
small amount of fat." (picture of Eatwell Guide) We should avoid the dieting cycle, where one swings from deprivatiojn to binging. - We didn't really talk about diabetes much, after a few pictures of how one becomes diabetic, shown many months ago. We never talked about measuring blood glucose, though when I was first told I was prediabetic, in 2009, this was the first thing I did.
I reported Mrs A's story of the poor woman forbidden to make herself a ham sandwich, which was met with shock and sympathy.
The Indian gentleman had a really good HbA1c score (39). He and his wife had made small changes and gone for regular walks.
I think that's all I have to say, but if anyone has other questions, please ask. There are so many different organizations running these sessions. A friend of mine called Des(mond) was sent to an organization actually called DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed).
