How much do I need to lose?
The plan the Diabetes Prevention Program ran, sized to you and dated to your retest.
You
Your target
10to14lb to lose, 5 to 7% of your weight
That takes you from 200 lb to between 190 lb and 186 lb. The trial's goal was 7%, 14 lb for you. Your BMI is 29.5, over the line of 25.
Each tick is 2.2 lb. In the trial, each kilogram lost went with 16% lower risk of diabetes. Those don't stack into one number, so take each tick as its own step. Calories and a safe pace: tdee.guide's calories-to-lose calculator.
Your minutes
150 minutes a week of brisk walking. Ten minutes after each of three meals is 30 a day, so you reach 150 by day 5.
Your retest
February 7, 2027, 12 weeks from your start: an A1c and a fasting glucose at the same lab. Then once a year.
February 2027
What the trial found
- 58% fewer new cases of diabetes over 2.8 years, in 3,234 adults with raised blood sugar who aimed for 7% weight loss and 150 minutes a week.
- 16% lower risk with each kilogram (2.2 lb) lost.
- 44% lower risk for people who missed the weight goal but hit the activity goal.
Not for pregnancy, an eating disorder history, or insulin or a sulfonylurea without your prescriber. The Gyroscope app personalizes yours.
How it works
The target is 5 to 7% of your weight, what the ADA's 2026 standards ask for. The Diabetes Prevention Program aimed for 7%, along with 150 minutes a week of activity like brisk walking. In 3,234 adults with raised blood sugar, that cut new cases of type 2 diabetes by 58% over 2.8 years, almost twice the 31% from metformin.
Weight lost was what counted most: each kilogram went with 16% lower risk. People who missed the weight goal but met the activity goal still had 44% lower risk, which is why the walking stays in even when weight isn't your lever.
The BMI line is 25, or 23 for people of Asian descent, as the CDC and ADA set it. Under that line the weight target hides and the plan starts with walking and sleep.
The retest is 12 weeks out because A1c leans on the last 3 months. Use the same lab both times so the two numbers compare. After that, test once a year.
4 sources
- American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, section 3, Prevention or Delay of Diabetespmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Knowler WC and others, Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin, New England Journal of Medicine, 2002pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Hamman RF and others, Effect of weight loss with lifestyle intervention on risk of diabetes, Diabetes Care, 2006pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2026, section 2, Diagnosis and Classificationpmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
