With a restricted diet (Dr recommended) I have managed to lose around 35lb so far (leaving me at BMI 27.5). I went to see my doc today and despite my HA1C being down in the normal level (5.1), she won't remove or re-evaluate my 'pre-diabetes' status until I lose another 28lb!! What?! Isn't it supposed to be based on HA1C and blood sugars, not weight?!

Sigh. Anyway I hate the diet. Do you think that I can acheive the weight loss by exercise alone?

Yes weight loss can be achieved by exercise alone, but you'll need to remember that for any calories you take in, you'll need to exercise that much more to get rid of them again. If you hate the diet your doctor has you on, are there ways you can experiment with the options available to you to make them a little tastier without adding the calories back in?

Medics have their own ideas. I'm not even sure that you can rely on BMI as any sort of guidance any more. Didn't they just show that some well known mega fit rugby player was classified as morbidly obese because of his BMI?

The guy who won all the gold medals for swimming in the Olymics was a really fit, tall, lean muscular athlete but his diet was beyond the pale...stuff like three times a normal portion of bacon, eggs, fries etc for breakfast and carbohydrates, fats, etc all day long yet the exercise regime he undertook was so intense that he did not gain a pound in weight and maintained his magnificent body! I think this shows the power of exercise.

Yes exercise alone can be successful in weight-loss. It would help if you take your execise seriously and push yourself to do a little extra each day. Swimming, jogging and running up the stairs are excellent cadio exercises that help you lose weight. You can do these exercises at least 5 days a week.

I pretty much eat what I want but I am very active and my weight is about what I want it to be. I do notice that if I don't take so many hikes, or do so many runs, like in the Winter, my weight creeps up, so it is the exercise that is keeping me slim.