Just a quick point: I wouldn't be naive enough to accept the medical industry's gospel that, as the poster says, "Losing weight is, frankly, the answer to a lot of health problems. In this case, losing weight will require less medication to manage your diabetes". Just about everyone on both sides of my family is diabetic--the fat ones, the thin ones, and the in-between ones. When my Aunt took her doctor's advice to lose weight, she did. She ate very sensibly, exercised regularly, and did it in a very smart way (lots of veggies, no crazy techniques, no 5-grapefruits-a-day or whatever the new fad is), and she lost 30 pounds. The result? Her diabetes got worse, and she now has to inject herself with insulin on a daily basis. So, just a comment to nuance the discussion of diabetes--while weight loss might be useful to some, and perhaps even many, people, some of us are destined to be diabetic (if weight were so important, why are ALL of the thin people in my family diabetic, and the few who aren't happen to be fat?). Of course, talk to your doctor, take your meds, blah blah, but if losing weight doesn't help your diabetes, don't be surprised.