When a certain politician described Australians as lifters, not learners, do you think he'd met June Bray?

June Bray, who lives in Tiaro outside of Maryborough, was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2014 when she visited her doctor after surgery to remove her thyroid.

"I felt lethargic and bloated. Something wasn't right," June said.

When the same doctor got June's blood tests back, she told her patient she had type 2 diabetes.

"No I don't. Of course I haven't," she said. 

Oh yes she did, and the doctor calmly told her she had three choices on how to deal with it: tablets; insulin injections; or diet and exercise.

Standing 146cm and weighing about 62 kilograms, June, 68, was shocked to think her lifestyle could have had any bearing on her diagnosis.

"I'd always been a good walker, and my diet was okay," she said.

"When I wrote down everything I ate for the doctor, she told me to stop the two teaspoons of sugar I was having in my coffee, two or three times a day.

"It made a difference," June conceded, with that one measure reducing her daily kilojoule intake by about 420 kilojoules.

Described by her loving husband, Kevin, as a "determined old bugger", June turned her mind to managing diabetes, and laced up her walking shoes.

"I used to go for a 35 or 40 minute walk every day," she said.

"Then it started getting cold and cloudy during winter, so I invested in a treadmill.

"I found it so much easier to work up to a run on the treadmill."

Having never been a jogger in her life, June now runs for 30 minutes a day, averaging about three kilometres. She starts at about 5km/hour, and ends her run at about 7km/hour.

'Simply too good to be true' is what her doctor may be thinking, but it's also the name of June's favourite cookbooks by Annette Simms.

June says they've been her regular source of recipes to help her lose about 10kg to arrive at 51kg. Her blood glucose levels now range between 5.5 and 5.9 percent.

"Nobody else can do it for you. You've got to do it for and by yourself," June said.

"Being diagnosed with diabetes has opened a new and healthy chapter in my life."

From the Health Team:

Some of us will need medications as well as lifestyle changes to manage glucose levels. Whatever your situation, the ultimate aim of all treatment is to reduce the risk of complications so keep all options open.

Also, it is a commonly held myth that people living with diabetes need to avoid all sugar. Reducing kilojoule intake by removing sugar from June's coffee is only one possible measure to lose weight. Others include smaller portion sizes, increasing vegetable intake, and a host of other options.

Diabetes Queensland advocates a "whole diet" approach rather than just focusing on one nutrient.