Expert: Daphne E Brown MS CPRP - 12/2/2009

Question
I am male, 47, 139 lbs at 5'6".  My parents are both diabetic and I am diagnosed with Glucose Intolerance (not quite diabetic yet but will get there).  I used to exercise 35-45 minutes a day in one session (elliptical). I recently is thinking breaking one session into 3.  Would it be advisable to break the exercise to 15/15/30 or 20/20/30 (I don't mind doing the extra minutes).

Also, how many pounds would you recommend I get rid of?

Thank you very much.

Answer
You haven't told me your current fitness level, your overall goals or how long you've been diagnosed. Are you under a physician's care?  You need to watch the peaks and/or valleys of your blood sugar level to make sure you don't run into exercise induced acute hypoglycemia. That may determine what type of exercise regimen you create for yourself.

Definitely, if you can, work with an exercise physiologist who is affiliated with a medical program and/or hospital wellness that specializes in working with metabolic conditions such as diabetes along with your physician, even if only for a couple of sessions.  If you do it right, you may prevent developing diabetes altogether with proper nutrition and regular exercise.

Here is a pretty good website of information about exercise and diabetes
http://www.cdc.gov/DIABETES/faq/exercise.htm

Here is a scientific article I like about impaired glucose tolerance and exercise ==this article is a bit involved, basically says accumulating at least 30 minutes of exercise per day works better than doing nothing
http://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/14/2/93.full

Hope this helps you a little bit.  Keep up the motivation to not be sedentary, to eat more nutritiously and to watch your blood numbers closely.  Thanks for the question!! Take Care!!  -Daphne