Fixing Dad: How Two Sons Helped Their Father Reverse His Type 2 Diabetes

How Two Sons Saved Their Dad From Type 2 Diabetes
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Two sons have helped their father reverse his type 2 diabetes, ditching unhealthy habits in favour of a more active lifestyle.

Geoff Whitington's type 2 diabetes had become so bad, doctors warned him they may have to amputate his leg.

It was then the 62-year-old began to realise he needed to drastically change his lifestyle in order to beat the obesity-related illness.

Under the guidance of his two sons, Anthony and Ian, Geoff has taken on new food and fitness habits that have ultimately saved his life.

Now, Geoff's sons have turned their father's journey into a short film, titled Fixing Dad.

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"A few things led to us starting the project," Anthony tells HuffPost UK Lifestyle.

"The first was dad's realisation that he might need to have his foot amputated if he continued on the same path. So fear played a big part.

"The second was that dad had seemed to become a different person - not his usual bubbly self, but withdrawing from conversations and generally very depressed.

"And thirdly, we felt guilty, being honest, that for so long our own careers, ambitions and our own family pressures had stopped us from really knowing the man who made us who we are today."

Geoff weighed 20 stone before his sons intervened with their project. Working 12.5 hour night shifts as a security guard had led him to develop unhealthy eating patterns.

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He'd eat takeaways around the clock and his exercise regime was non-existent.

Despite knowing his life needed to change, Geoff wasn't the most engaged pupil when his son's first started to introduce him to new foods.

"There was lots of resistance. Dad is extremely stubborn," Anthony says.

"We instinctively knew we would need to change his environment. He was surrounded by his favourite fast food restaurants, his sofas, his bad habits."

Anthony and Ian took their father on a 10 day trip to rural Spain where the three men went cycling, skydive training, climbing and even tombstoning.

"We wanted to remind him what fun life could be - we then explained why we were doing this. Once we had his attention we began to set goals, big goals, without asking for his permission."

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After more than a year of hard work, Geoff is now 14 stone. At a recent meeting with his consultant he was told he is diabetes-free.

Geoff and his two sons now hope their film will now inspire others to improve their health through lifestyle changes. The three of them talk at corporate groups, medical conferences and diabetes clinics.

"To families everywhere we'd like to say: if there's someone you love who is in a bad way, don't put it off, act now to help them. Don't have regrets later," Anthony says.

"However busy you are, there's no one formulae, just do something different, remind them how much they mean to you, give them goals and regular contact, and above all be positive that you can beat it and enjoy life together."

For more information on how to tackle diabetes, visit diabetes.co.uk.

What Affects Diabetes Risk?
Eat Cheese (01 of08)
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Despite cheese's less-than-healthy reputation, a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that cheese-eaters actually have a 12 percent lower risk of the disease than their non cheese-eating counterparts. Plus, people who ate more cheese, fermented milk and yogurt in the study were also more likely to have a decreased diabetes risk than people who ate less of these foods, noted the researchers, who came from Oxford University and Imperial College London.The people who ate the most cheese in the study consumed more than 56 grams of it per day, while those who ate the least cheese in the study had fewer than 11 grams a day, the UK's NHS Choices reported. (credit:ShutterStock)
Go Nuts (02 of08)
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Researchers from the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center found that people who regularly eat tree nuts (we're talking pistachios, walnuts, almonds and cashews) have a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease and metabolic syndrome. Those researchers found that nut consumption is linked with lower levels of an inflammation marker called C-reactive protein (which is associated with heart disease and other chronic conditions) and higher levels of the "good" kind of cholesterol.In addition, people who regularly ate the tree nuts had lower body mass indexes (BMI, a ratio of height to weight) than people who didn't regularly eat nuts, the Journal of the American College of Nutrition study said. (credit:ShutterStock)
Take A Walk (03 of08)
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Taking a few moments for a walk each day is enough to lower the risk of diabetes in high-risk people who don't regularly exercise, according to research in the journal Diabetes Care.University of Washington and University of Pittsburgh researchers found that people who walked the most in their study -- which included 1,826 people from Native American communities -- had a 29 percent lower risk of diabetes, compared with those who walked the least.But you didn't have to be a star walker in the study to reap the benefits -- the researchers found that 12 percent of people who took just 3,500 steps per day (there are about 2,000 steps in a mile) developed diabetes at the end of the study period, compared with 17 percent of people who walked the least in the study, Reuters reported. (credit:Alamy)
Nosh On Apples And Blueberries (04 of08)
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Apple, pear and blueberry eaters have lower risks of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.The study was based on the diets of 200,000 people. HuffPost Canada reported that anthocyanins and fruits rich in anthocyanins were linked with lower diabetes risk; flavanoids, however, were not. (credit:Alamy)
Get Your Rest (05 of08)
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A Diabetes Care study from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers showed that for obese teens, getting enough shut-eye is linked with a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Researchers conducted the study on 62 obese teens. They found that sleeping between seven-and-a-half and eight-and-a-half hours a night was linked with stable glucose levels. But sleeping more or less than that was linked with higher glucose levels, the Ottawa Sun reported. (credit:Alamy)
Eat Your Greens (06 of08)
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Eating a range of fruits and veggies could help to lower the risk of Type 2 diabetes, Medical Daily reported.The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, included 3,704 people. Researchers analyzed how many fruits and vegetables, as well as the variety of fruits and vegetables, they ate, along with their Type 2 diabetes status. They found that those who ate the most kinds of produce -- as well as just the most produce in general -- had the lowest diabetes risk, Medical Daily reported. (credit:Alamy)
Moderate Alcohol Consumption (For Some) (07 of08)
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Drinking alcohol at a moderate level is linked with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes for some people, according to an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study. Harvard researchers found that for women with refined carb-heavy diets, moderate alcohol consumption is linked with a decreased diabetes risk of 30 percent, compared with non-imbibing women who eat similar diets, Reuters reported."If you eat a high carb diet without drinking alcohol, your risk of developing diabetes is increased by 30 percent," study researcher Frank Hu told Reuters. "However, if you eat a high carb diet, but (drink) a moderate amount of alcohol, the increased risk is reduced." (credit:Alamy)
Coffee Drinking (08 of08)
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Chinese researchers found earlier this year that coffee may stop a protein linked with Type 2 diabetes from building up, thereby possibly lowering the risk of the disease, WebMD reported. The research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests that three particular compounds found in coffee are able to have this beneficial effect: caffeine, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, according to WebMD. (credit:Getty)