'My belt has gone in three notches' caller explains how he has lost weight
1 September 2020, 19:32
'If you can swim, go swimming' caller tells LBC how he manages diabetes
'If you can't swim then learn' caller urges the public to get fit as he tells LBC how he uses exercise to manage his diabetes and weight
Gordon from Ilford called in to speak to Eddie Mair to say that a nurse had advised him to take up swimming to help shed weight.
The caller said the nurse told him: "I'm more worried about your weight and your diabetes than I am about Covid".
He said the "bottom line" was that he'd been swimming since the pools opened up again five weeks ago, and that while he doesn't enjoy it, he feels good for it.
"I feel a sense of achievement," he said, adding "my belt has gone in three notches" while several of his neighbours have commented on his weight loss.
Gordon reached out to listeners and said: "If you can swim, go swimming if you can't then take lessons."
Health bodies suggest swimming vigorously for an hour burns around 800 calories.
Joe's motivating weight loss regime during lockdown
It comes as the NHS is set to encourage diabetics to try a soup and shakes weight-loss plan as the health service steps up efforts to tackle a condition that costs them billions a year.
Some 5,000 patients will get access to the diet programme after NHS England said results from a trial showed almost half of people who undertook the plan saw their type 2 diabetes go into remission after a year.
As part of the year-long plan, patients who have been diagnosed with the condition in the last six years and meet other eligibility criteria will be given so-called "total diet replacement products" such as shakes and soups for three months.
