Pre-diabetes - not always a bad thing

In December 2017 Dr. Crawford during my annual checkup disclosed to me that my AC1 was 6.1 and that I had pre-diabetes. I was 63 years old at the time, 6’ 1” and weighed a little over 200 pounds. All my life I ate whatever I wanted and I was always a big eater. In my previous check-ups my A1C’s were inching up by I chose to ignore them. However this time maybe because my brother and father died fairly young, I became fearful. I didn’t want to take metformin as I was already taking blood pressure medication and I don’t like taking pills. At this point I knew something had to change but I didn’t know what. I ordered many pre-diabetes and diabetes books from Amazon and read and learned. Dr. Crawford made an appointment for me with a dietician. I changed my diet by cutting way back on carbs, pretty much eliminated sugar and although I always ran for exercise until hip pain in the last few years, I started some serious walking. I was retired and I had the time. Towards the end of 2018 I began keeping a walking log. From 2019 through 2023 I walked 1,371, 1,855, 2,055, 1,707 and 1,750 miles and I lost 30 pounds. I did this walking in spite of a 2020 burst appendix (luckily in the hospital right before surgery) and a 2022 double hernia operation. Anyway after all this my A1C’s have been between 5.5 and 5.7 since that first 6.1 reading. My blood tests every year have been great. As a result of my pre-diabetes diagnosis I got into the best shape of my life.