From Type 2 Diabetes to Remission: Diane’s Life-Changing Slimpod Transformation

So Diane, you started, um, you started SlimPod, uh, which— tell us a little bit of the story, uh, because you've done exceptionally well. Your diabetes, uh, is— would you say it's now in remission, or is it? Yes, right. So, um, it's, uh, you're not taking medication, or you're— nope, nope, nope, medication-free. Amazing.

Yeah, medication-free. Yeah, my, um, Cholesterol, bad cholesterol's gone right down. Um, yeah, so I'm out of all that. Um, I think the most amazing thing is that for 30-odd years I've had really bad IBS. Um, almost kind of some days couldn't go out. Um, I had to be— dietitian put me on the FODMAP back then when it was like very restrictive and adding food back in, and nothing worked. Um, and so, yeah, so I went on to— when I started SlimPod, I thought, right, okay, so— and it was just very strange. My, my brain kind of almost showed me what I needed to and not needed to eat. Um, I went, uh, gluten-free first, and then it got to the stage where I went carb-free. Um, and every time, you know, I thought, oh well, I'll have that— no, no, my brain kind of went, you don't need that. Um, which is most bizarre. But, um, so yeah, I don't have any, um, kind of processed carbs. I don't have processed food, um, ultra-processed food. Um, I, I don't have like potatoes or rice or anything. Um, and my IBS is disappeared. It's gone for the first time in 30 years. Over— so I started SlimPod in March and March 2025. Yeah.

Um, and it's now July, uh, well, 1st of August, actually.

1st of August. Yes.

Gosh, I don't know where time is, is flying. I know, I know.

Scary.

Uh, so yeah, yeah.

So since March 2025, yeah, I've not had one symptom of my IBS at all. I've lost now 2.5 stone. So yeah, and it's just, yeah, I can never describe it. It's like I tried to describe it to my friends who, I've got a couple that have joined as well and are doing really well, and I tried to explain it to them and I said, I don't know how to explain it. Your brain just is trained to eat the good things and, and not the bad things, or no such thing as bad thing. I don't know, it's just, it's, it's just actually just told me what my body needs, um, which I can't explain. But so very much Mediterranean diet, um, but without, you know, a lot of the kind of carbs.

Yeah. So you, what was the way, um, that you were eating before you came on the program? And then, you know, and then how did that change? What were the differences that you noticed that made that change?

Differences? Yeah, so the way I was eating before, it was biscuits, bread, anything, a bit of a kind of emotional eater. When I felt down, I needed chocolate, biscuits, bread, cheese. Loads of, of the things that I know that affected my IBS, um, but also, you know, my weight, um, and I've been yo-yo dieting for 55 years, um, and yeah, it— and my weight has fluctuated from anything from 18 stone to almost anorexic 8 and a half stone, up and down, all over the place. Yes, I'd lose some weight on the different diet plans I'd gone on, but directly you stopped them, it'd all come back on again. And I'd kind of given up hope, really. And then I kept seeing your adverts come up, and I kept thinking, "Oh, I don't know, I don't know." I thought, "Oh well, what have you got to lose? Just do it." So that's what I did. And In the first week, maybe 2 weeks, I noticed a real difference in the foods I wanted to eat. So I didn't go for the biscuits, even though they're here from my grandson. I didn't want them. I wanted to eat healthy, so I thought, okay, we'll do this. It's just gone on from there. So it's just, yeah, I was always eating, and big meals. You know, I'm one of these people, well, like most, a lot of people, you know, you finish what is on your plate. That's what we were always told. And, you know, it was, even if you're full, you still finish what's on your plate. And that's what I did. And it felt very strange at first to leave some food when I was full, but definitely listened to my body. Um, and I know the kind of trigger when you're full is only a split kind of minute, um, and then it's gone. Um, but yeah, definitely listened to my body of what I wanted. And now, you know, when I walk the dogs, I always used to have, um, uh, a bag of sweets in my pocket or a bar of chocolate, or, you know, and I'd go out and I'd munch that on the way around. And now I'll take an orange or an apple and I'll have that if I want it, and sometimes I don't. So yes, it's, it's been very, yeah, educational and very strange to understand how my brain is now, yeah, working. Amazing. Yeah, it's been really good.

And with the food and lifestyle changes that have reversed the diabetes, or, you know, brought down your blood sugar levels, how do you feel? I mean, now, do you feel that's all manageable?

Yes, definitely. Yes. And it's very difficult because when you've got diabetes or type 2 diabetes, but you also got high cholesterol, it's really hard because the foods for bringing down diabetes are not overly good on, um, the cholesterol side. So diabetes is all kind of high fats and things like that you've got to eat, but when you've got bad cholesterol that's high, you can't do that. So yes, it has definitely, yeah, changed completely. And I, at first when I listened to the Sugar pod, um, for about a week I thought I really crave sugar, I really craved sweets. I thought, no, no, no, just go with it and listen to the pod. Um, and I was a 3-sugar-in-my-tea, yeah, um, You know, I have got a really sweet tooth. Yeah, sweets, sugar, any dessert, whatever. And now I don't have any of it. I don't want it. I don't need it. My brain tells me I don't need it, so I don't. I still listen to Trevor every night as I'm going to bed. So yes, it's, yeah, it's been amazing. Absolutely amazing. Yeah.

And on the exercise front, how's that? Or how's that changed? Did you want to— did you start wanting to do more, or how?

Yeah, I do. I mean, I've got problems with my knee. I wear a knee brace until I get my knee replacement, and I've also got 5 bulging discs in my back, so exercise is really hard. I still walk my dogs. I've got gundogs, so I still walk them. You know, we're out for an hour and a half twice a day, walking, training. I still do that, but I needed to do more, so I started to do kind of armchair-type exercises, or seated exercises, very much upper body strength. So yeah, so I started off with like cans of beans in each hand, and I've now progressed to weights and Yeah, but also with my problems, I've got much more energy and my knee is— yeah, sometimes I don't have to wear my brace. I don't, you know, they've put off the knee replacement surgery at the moment because I'm still walking really well. So losing the weight has really, really helped. And that's basically why I did it in the first place. I wanted to get my diabetes down. And my cholesterol down to get into a healthier place so that if I did have an EOP, I was in a better place than I was being, yeah, overweight and unhealthy. So, so it's doing all that and more, really.

So fantastic, fantastic. That's lovely. It's, it's, it's just, yeah, a joy to hear all this. The doctors must be very happy with you.

They are, yeah, yeah, they are, yeah, yeah. They, they've, uh, when I went, you know, um, last year for my diabetes and, you know, they were saying, oh, it's creeping up, it's creeping up, you know, you're, uh, the numbers were creeping up. And then obviously when I went this year, they said, I can't believe how much, and they really couldn't believe how much I'd gone down. And then, yeah, and then gone from Type 2 diabetes into pre-diabetes and out of pre-diabetes to remission.

So, and, and what, and what specifically food-wise would you say that is responsible for that then? Which, you know, um, compared to what you were eating before, what is it that you're doing so differently that has done that?

I eat Mostly I eat salad or veg, fish, loads of fish, occasional chicken, not often, but olives. Yeah, all those sorts of things. I just don't have the carbs. If I need something that is like a carby type, biscuit type thing, I make sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Um, and chia seed biscuits. And I just— it's just those 3 ingredients and water, and then you bake them and they come out as like little cracker biscuits. So sometimes I'll have fish, um, um, oily fish, um, on with a salad and just 2 of the little crackers, and that's— and that's it. That's all that I need. I don't need any more. And I, you know, my plate, whereas it used to be probably piled is now not, is now a smaller portion. Um, and yeah, if, if I've had enough, I'll just leave it and it will either go in the fridge for the next day or, yeah, or if it's, uh, something dogs can have, they have it.

Fantastic, fantastic.

But yes, very much low, low carb. Um, and yeah, lots of Good proteins, good kind of veg and salads and olives and getting the oils and things like that into my body. Lots of water. So yeah.

And that's just your new way of living?

My new way of living. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and even like my son said about, you know, inviting me around for dinner and he said, oh, but you can't eat anything. And I said, Yes, can. So I said, I just don't have the potatoes. I can have the veg and I can have a bit of the meat, but that's it, you know. And I've just adapted the way I go about things and, you know, and it's really easy to say when, like, when we're going out or if I go out with, you know, with my grandchild and they're all having ice creams and this and the other, but I don't even think about having one. I say, 'Oh no, no, I'm fine, I'm great, I'm all right,' um, which was never me, ever, ever. So yeah, it's totally transformed the way I live, the way I eat, and the way I look, really.

So lovely, that's fabulous. Well done. Thank you. And if there was, uh, one tip that you could give to people who are just, you know, in the early stages— excuse me— in the early stages of the SlimPod programme, what would that be?

Trust in the process. Just trust it. Everybody is different. Everybody's brain is different. Everybody's story and journey is different. Um, but if you, if you keep up with it and you keep going, then yeah, you'll see, see the good effects it will have. You know, it may not be a couple of weeks, it may not be a couple of months, but you know, somewhere down the line, as I said, it's kind of my brain just suddenly clicked.

Yeah.

And that was it. It was like, oh, okay. You know, I'm now just doing it. I don't need— there's nothing telling me to do it or telling me not to eat something. If I want a biscuit with a cup of tea, you know, I'll have one. It's just my brain doesn't tell me that anymore. It's just, it's just very strange, but in a good way. Lovely.

Thank you so much.

That's all right.

So much. It was lovely speaking to you.

And you.