Jeanette McLaughlin risked getting diabetes unless she changed her ways. To help her in the quest, she turned to the Green Prescription programme. By Kelly Andrew.

On the table in Jeanette McLaughlin's sunny living room are three glass bowls – one containing walnuts and dried apricots, one biscuits and one a handful of caramel lollies.

It's a deceptively treat-laden selection of snacks laid out for a guest reporter. Jeanette has become an expert in checking food labels. The biscuits are the most low-fat and low-sugar option available and the sweets are low in sugar.

She has been rigorously following a healthy diet and exercise regime since joining the Green Prescription programme 12 months ago.

A green prescription is a doctor's written advice to a patient to increase his or her physical activity. Patients who sign up receive free follow-up advice and support for three months from local sports trusts, in Jeanette's case Sport Wellington.

She is a success story of the Government-funded programme. The 69-year-old, who has close-cropped white hair and a ready smile, seems full of life and energy. But a year ago she weighed 115 kilograms and struggled to work in the garden she loves because of painful arthritis and fatigue.

The spur for Jeanette's dramatic change in lifestyle was the threat of diabetes. A test last October showed her blood-sugar levels had risen dangerously high. Newtown Union Health Service GP Kathy James told her she had pre-diabetes.

Jeanette says the news hit her hard. Her weight had crept up gradually and looking back now she is shocked by how big she was.

Photos of herself taken last year have been unceremoniously ditched from her photo albums. She went through them a week ago and was so horrified by her size that she threw them all away.

The message that she had to make a change was delivered bluntly and strongly, Jeanette says.

"Kathy's a fabulous doctor, she just tells you straight. I asked her if I had a choice. She said, 'you're very lucky you do, now do something'. So that was it."

Jeanette has lost 26kg after removing high-fat foods from her diet, cutting out late-night carbohydrates such as white bread and potatoes and giving up what she calls lazy food – snacks that are convenient but not very nutritious.

Dr James is impressed by what her patient has achieved. From having pre-diabetes a year ago, she now has normal blood-sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

"It's just fantastic, especially the weight that she's lost," Dr James said. "She decided that she really wanted to make the change and the Green Prescription was really helpful in getting her going and keeping her focused. She's loved doing it."

Also on Jeanette's table is a vase full of velvety Dublin Bay red roses that grow against the fence in her compact garden.

Getting outside and tending the garden is now part of her exercise programme – when she is not dancing to a tape of music from the 1960s and 70s or striding around her Miramar neighbourhood.

The results of her self-disciplined approach have been obvious.

Along with the substantial weight loss she has increased her fitness and energy levels. She has also noticed pain from her arthritis has dramatically decreased.

"Now I feel like getting up in the morning. Before I just got up."

The Green Prescription scheme, which is run by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) and Pharmac, has been running for nine years and has an annual budget of $1.7 million.

At present about 20,000 people a year take part, but Sparc is considering expanding the scheme. Annual surveys of its effectiveness have shown that about half of all participants are still active six to eight months after they have taken part. Nearly all reported noticeable health benefits.

Jeanette had never heard of the programme before she started, but now she swears by it.

"You're not really aware of the amount of weight you've put on until you start to lose it. I love gardening and I can do it now without my arthritis hurting as much, I used to really be in pain a lot."

She has dropped four clothes sizes but hasn't gone on a shopping spree for a new wardrobe yet because she plans to lose even more weight.

Her goal is to reach 80kg within the next six months and then, hopefully, go on a tramping trip. At present she weighs 89.5kg.

"I could go a lot smaller," she says, flapping her baggy trouser legs. "I keep thinking, 'Gosh, these are big', but they've got to get bigger."

Jeanette was sporty as a teenager, involved in a marching team and playing tennis. Her downfall was her sweet tooth, and her love of biscuits and desserts. Now she doesn't deny herself the occasional treat if she has a craving, but she reads the labels on the packets and chooses the treat with the lowest fat and sugar content, and she watches her portion sizes.

"Instead of having half a packet of biscuits, I'll have one."

Jeanette has lived in Wellington for most of her life and worked for drag queen performer Carmen for 12 years as a manager at The Balcony nightclub. She caught up with Carmen recently at her 70th birthday celebrations.

"She's a very kind person, she was too kind for her own good."

Jeanette credits her success with the Green Prescription programme to her Sport Wellington patient support person Helene Kay who calls her once a month to offer motivation and support. Though she has never met Helene in person, Jeanette says that from the outset she liked Helene's lovely friendly voice.

"I wouldn't have done it without her. You're conscious of knowing that someone's going to ring up and check on you as well. When you're a little bit down and you haven't lost any weight that particular week, she gives you that help that boosts you up again. She says, 'Pat yourself on the back, you've done really well'."

Helene helped her work out an exercise programme, which started with a daily 30-minute walk and has increased to a 90-minute walk three times a week and water aerobics.

She also sent Jeanette the 1960s and 70s music compilation that she enjoys – "I just bop by myself, the neighbours must think I'm mad. It's such a fabulous tape it really makes you feel like moving" – and gives her advice on eating healthily and avoiding the pitfalls of low-fat packaging.

Helene has more than 50 Green Prescription clients on her books at any one time and she calls them all at least once a month. The aim is to increase their daily activity to 30 minutes.

She also works as a fitness instructor. She says Jeanette is a star. "She set herself some goals, which she has constantly achieved. Her self- motivation has been really great."

Her role is like being a personal trainer over the phone, she says.

"It's about listening to their needs and what they want to achieve and then finding ways of helping them by offering suggestions or putting them in touch with the right groups. If it hasn't been that successful a month, I'll say, 'That's okay, you can try again next month'."

Jeanette says the first six months were a struggle, but her old ways of cooking and eating have gone for good and she doesn't miss them.

"You're brought up with your roast dinner on Sunday cooked in fat. I never cook with fat now. No potatoes at night, I have kumara and very little red meat. I eat mostly chicken or fish and a lot of vegetables and I steam those. You can vary your food now – sticking a baked dinner in the oven on Sunday is gone."

A prescription for exercise has been the best help her doctor could give her, she says.

"I'd recommend Green Prescription and I would always want to help anyone who wants to join."

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