SLCo Employee Wellness Wellcast

Claim Your Power Over Prediabetes: Join Our Diabetes Prevention Class

• SLCo Employee Wellness

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Ready to claim your power at the point where it matters most? Session Zero opens the door to our year-long Diabetes Prevention Program by demystifying prediabetes, explaining A1C in plain language, and laying out a simple path that helps you prevent or delay type 2 diabetes without crash diets or punishment workouts. We focus on practical changes you can use this week—balanced meals, movement you enjoy, real-world tracking, and the overlooked levers of stress and sleep—so your choices feel doable and your progress shows up in energy, mood, and measurable markers.

We start with clarity: what the A1C test reveals about your last three months, how prediabetes signals a pivotal window for change, and why early action pays off. Then we get tactical. You’ll learn how to read nutrition labels without overwhelm, build meals that steady blood sugar, and pick activities that fit your body and schedule. We keep it light, flexible, and personal—no one-size-fits-all plan here. You’ll also see how simple tracking of minutes and meals can reveal patterns that guide smarter tweaks, and how we define success beyond the scale with non-scale victories like improved sleep and a lower A1C.

Sustainability is built in. We lean on habit stacking and approachable strategies inspired by Atomic Habits to make progress feel automatic over time. The program structure—weekly sessions to start, then every other week, then monthly—keeps you supported without burnout. You’ll receive class materials, community, and free A1C testing at key touchpoints to mark your progress. Whether you’re curious or ready to commit, you’ll leave Session Zero with confidence, a clear next step, and a team in your corner.

Take the one-minute prediabetes risk test, complete the quick enrollment survey, and join us for Session One where we set your personal goals and get moving together. If this helps, subscribe, share with someone who’d benefit, and leave a review to spread the word.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello everyone and welcome. I'm really glad you're here. Today you are listening to our National Diabetes Prevention Class Session Zero. Now, what is the Session Zero? It's our orientation to the Diabetes Prevention Program. This is your chance to get familiar with what the class is all about, why it matters, and how we'll work together to support your health goals. So let's talk about why diabetes prevention matters first and foremost. Type 2 diabetes doesn't necessarily happen overnight. Most people develop prediabetes first, and that is when your blood sugar is higher than normal, but not yet in the diabetes range. This is determined by an A1C test. Now, what an A1C test is, is it takes a three months, a three-month average of your blood sugar, and then it processes that information in a machine by drawing some blood. And we actually have the means to do A1C testing here at Salt Lake County. And so what we do is we take a very tiny finger poke and a very small amount of blood, and then we have a machine that will process that and out pops a number. Now that number puts you in a specific range due to how your body is processing your sugars, the glucose in your body. Now, the good news is that in this stage, this pre-diabetic stage, is where you have the most power. But with the right tools and support, many people can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes for years or even avoid it entirely, which sounds amazing. I love that it's this is the stage where you have the most power. So let's claim it. So ultimately, let me tell you why you should care. Diabetes can affect your heart, nerves, kidneys, vision, and energy levels, amongst other things. It can slowly impact daily life, things like sleep, activity, and even your mood. But like I said earlier, the earlier that you take action, the more control that you have. So we have this diabetes prevention class. Research shows that with small realistic lifestyle changes, especially around eating habits, physical activity, stress, sleep, weight management, people can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by nearly 60%. And that percentage even rises for adults over the age of 60, which is very encouraging. So that's why we've got this class is it's going to walk you through a year long of these lifestyle changes, realistic lifestyle changes. Like I said, this program is about empowerment, not perfection. So you don't need to overhaul your life all at once, right? The best health goals is the ones that we can keep and stick to. We just need to look at the tools, the support, and the space that you surround yourself in to make these changes step by step. In this class, we're going to focus on practical skills each and every week that you can use right away. So, some of the things that we'll talk about, amongst tons of others, is how food choices can affect blood sugar. Now, I'm not talking about dieting, I'm just talking about learning how to build balanced meals and understanding food labels and nutrition labels. The more knowledge that we can gain about the food that we're putting into our body, the more power that we regain. And this allows us to take that power into our own hands and make an educated decision based on how we feel, what we want, and then what's available to us, right? Another one is how to increase physical activity safely. We focus on movement that fits your life and your body, as well as things that sound fun to you, right? Again, it's all about what works for you, the season of life that you are in, and also what's fun, what's exciting, what makes you want to continue to move your body, right? We customize this completely to what you want to do. Another thing that we talk about is how to set realistic goals and track progress. We will talk about tracking our physical activity. We do that every time that we host classes. We'll ask you what your activity minutes were for that week. And then we also talk about tracking for food and having a food log. Now, um, there's a balance with tracking in all things when it comes to health and wellness. And we'll go into more in-depth with that when it comes to time in the class. But we understand that when we make goals that are doable and meaningful for us, then we want to stick to them. And then it makes it not overwhelming, right? Again, it goes back to doable and what's meaningful for us. A couple of the things that we're going to talk about is how stress and sleep impact your health. Now, I think that oftentimes when it comes to um our health and wellness, oftentimes these two things get overlooked, especially when it comes to um getting our A1C lowered, right? Stress and sleep are very two foundational things that you're going to learn how to manage both of those with tools, resources, and practice that we'll go over in the class. And definitely not the last thing that we're going to talk about, but one that I also want to mention that's very important is how to stay motivated long term. This can be something that we all struggle with. And I know I've struggled with staying motivated long term for certain goals that I've set. So we're going to talk about habits, how to stack habits. We're going to go in depth with the book Atomic Habits. We're going to offer that to you, and you'll be able to read it alongside class as well as we're going to intertwine those principles along with our goals that we have and how we can stay motivated. So ultimately, habits stick best when we have the support, the accountability, and the confidence within ourselves. And while we have others surrounding us, we're going to talk about that. Now, with this class, you don't need any special equipment or prior knowledge. Everything that we're going to teach is taught step by step. Um, some of these things are very foundational when it comes to what we're talking about, but that's where it all starts, right? Our foundation. And then how can we build up from there? Now, again, I'd like to put a plug-in to the fact that we talk about very um practical tools that you're able to take from the class once you tune in to turn around and immediately start implementing them if that is your choice. You're never going to leave a class saying, Oh, well, I don't know exactly where I'm supposed to go from here. I promise you, every class you're going to say, Yep, I've got some, I've got a new tool and I'm going to use it. Now, when it comes to the class setup, we host it a couple of different ways to be able to keep ourselves engaged, but also recognizing that it's a year-long class, right? We're talking about lifestyle changes here. So we'll meet once a week for six weeks, which are we, it's a year long, like I had mentioned. So again, once a week for six weeks. So that's sessions one through six. And then after that six weeks is over, we go every other week for two months. Now, this is sessions six through 17. And then we'll meet once a month for six months. That is sessions 21 through 26. Now, when it comes to how you're going to attend class, our first, middle, and last classes are in person. The rest is a virtual live hosted over WebEx. The reason why we do the first, middle, and last class is first of all, I want to get to know you, and I also hope that you want to get to know those other individuals that are tuning into the class with you because we're going to be building a community of support around us. Another thing that we do at the first class is we give you all of the class materials that you'll need. Like I mentioned, we're providing you with the book Atomic Habits. And then we've got some other fun things that we'll give you as well. We also do A1C testing at all of these classes. So when we're looking at getting out of that pre-diabetic range, the biggest telltale of a health indicator when it comes to pre-diabetes is that A1C, it's that blood draw. And we'll offer to you that to you for free. So we want to be able to have those as markers to be able to see progression, right? It's a non-scale victory that makes all the difference. Now, let's talk about what success looks like in this class. Um, success in this program isn't about hitting a number, it's all about building sustainable habits and noticing positive changes like more energy, better sleep. I'm feeling stronger and more confident. I'm noticing the progress in how I'm making decisions on what to eat and how I'm staying active in ways that I like to. Again, seeing improvements in our blood sugar, our blood pressure, our moods. And it really is every small step that counts. So if any of this has piqued your interest, what we do is we'll have you take the pre-diabetes risk test. Now, what this risk test is, is it's literally one minute long. And it will ask you some questions like your age. It will ask you questions about uh family history. So if you have a mother, father, sister, or brother with diabetes, it will have you, it will then ask you have you ever been diagnosed with high blood pressure? What race or ethnicity describes you best, are you physically active? And a couple of other things that help indicate whether what your risk is for pre-diabetes. And then we're also going to ask you about your A1C. Now, if you've gotten tested for your A1C before and you know what that level is, then we'd love to know that. If you don't, that's okay because we're able to offer that within our employee wellness program. Now, depending on what your results are for the risk test, we then have a survey that signs you up for the program. So we'll let you know in that survey when the class is being held, what time it's being held, and then the things that you'll um need. So we will provide to you all the things that will make you attend class and be successful, right? So we'll ask if you need a webcam or headphones or a microphone or a tutorial on how to utilize uh the WebEx or the tools that we're going to be using. So we really want to make sure that we set you up for success when it comes to participating in this class. Now that you have a sense of what this program is all about, my goal today was to just try to help you feel comfortable and ready. So if this is of interest to you, then fill out that survey. And then I'll see you in session one, where we'll dive into our very first topic and set your personal goals. And I'm really excited that you're here and that you just tuned in whether or not you're interested or taking the class. By showing up, you've already taken that first big step towards preventing type 2 diabetes and improving your long-term health. So whether you learned something new today or it got you thinking about something in your lifestyle that maybe you're interested in making some adjustments. But I do want to let you know that there is a community out here that is willing to help support you in making those changes, and that is the diabetes prevention class. So if you're interested, let's do this together, and I'll see you in session one.