Why WAIT? In this groundbreaking book, diabetes and weight management expert Osama Hamdy, M.D., Ph.D., reveals how you can reverse the course of your type 2 diabetes, lose weight for good and finally reclaim your health—in just 12 weeks! Dr. Hamdy is at the forefront of cutting-edge clinical research conducted at Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For the first time, he shares those scientific breakthroughs in a usable and doable step-by-step 12-week plan based on the successful Why WAIT (Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment) program he conducts at Joslin. And with the professionally formulated exercise plans fine-tuned by Dr. Sheri Colberg, an exercise physiologist and renowned diabetes fitness expert, you'll not only get results but keep them. With the Why WAIT program, Dr. Hamdy and his Joslin team have helped hundreds of patients: • Break free from the pill bottle. It is possible to cut your medications by 50-60%—or even stop them altogether! • Stop fearing the scale. Learn how to safely lose—and keep off—those 10, 20 or even 50 plus pounds that are holding you back from a healthy life. • Never dread exercise again. Tailor your exercise plan to the way you really live and work, so you can get results without being a slave to the gym. • Make it easy. The dozens of checklists, goal worksheets and real-life success stories in this book will keep you motivated to make smart decisions, even on the busiest days. So don't settle for a diabetes diagnosis. Shed the pounds, toss the medications and conquer your diabetes, once and for all. A medical doctor from the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard and a professor of exercise science who is diabetic team up to give patients with type 2 diabetes a sensible, doable weight-loss plan. A big goal is building muscle and exercising 300 minutes a week instead of the more commonly recommended 150. The authors recommend pedometers to count steps, too. The acronyms they use may seem corny: their 12-week program is called Why WAIT? (for Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment), which uses the management mnemonic SMART (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-limited). But the tips make sense. Instead of a vague plan to eat better, patients should vow to eat two servings of veggies at every meal. (Specific!) And instead of promising to generally exercise more, they should go for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. (Measurable!) Each week gets its own chapter. Then the authors give steps for maintaining success (positive rewards instead of negative consequences), and healthy recipes (chicken stir-fry). With good exercise illustrations and nutrition-facts charts, the book serves as a can-do motivator. --Karen Springen OSAMA HAMDY, M.D., is the medical director of the weight management program at Joslin Diabetes Center, the director of the inpatient diabetes management program at the Center and at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. SHERI R. COLBERG, PH.D., is the author of eight books, a professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University and a diabetes researcher. Why WAIT? Lose Weight Now Who would ever have imagined that the often relentless progression of a chronic disease like type 2 diabetes can be stopped or reversed? Or that you can reduce your diabetes medications even if you've been taking multiple ones for a long time, including insulin? The good news for you-and the rapidly expanding number of people with type 2 diabetes worldwide-is that it is finally imaginable and definitely possible and the program outlined in this book is the key to making it happen. Maybe your doctor just told you that you have a "touch" of the sugar. Is that a reason to worry that you have diabetes? If truth be told, even if you only have a condition called prediabetes (which develops before type 2 diabetes), now is the time to get motivated and take action to improve your health and prevent it from turning into full-blown diabetes. Even in the early stages, diabetes can be a treacherous disease, one that may be damaging your blood vessels, eyes and nerves when you don't know you have it and while you're still feeling just fine. Once it has finally been diagnosed, your health may already be starting to suffer. So what can you do? Luckily, diabetes is a controllable condition if you lose weight and follow a healthy lifestyle plan. You may have already heard that advice from your doctor, but you may not know how to accomplish these goals. Healthy lifestyle changes, like changing what you eat and exercising more, are critical for controlling diabetes at any stage of the disease, but they're particularly important in the early stages. Improving your lifestyle is also the key to losing enough weight to reverse the course of diabetes and avoid its negative impact on your health and well-being. All you need is the right guide on your path toward conq