2. Lower Your Weight. If you're overweight, you might not have to lose as much as you think to make a difference. In one study, people who had prediabetes and lost 5% to 7% of their body weight (just 10-14 pounds in someone who weights 200 pounds) cut their chances of getting diabetes by 58%.
Ideally, two to four hours before a workout, eat a meal that is rich in complex carbohydrates (think oatmeal or brown rice), moderate in lean protein (think chicken or low-fat and fat-free dairy foods), lower in fat (think nuts and oils) and fiber (think broccoli and cauliflower) and includes plenty of fluids (think water or low-calorie beverage).
As a general rule of thumb, when it comes to pre-workout eating, you can time it any way you like, but the closer you get to a workout, the more simple the meal should be, says Sass. If you eat two to three hours before, you'll have time for your food to digest and be absorb from your GI tract into your blood. Therefore, you can eat a more complex meal containing protein, fat and fiber, which take longer to break down. Within an hour of a workout, however, you should eat something that will be digested and absorbed more quickly, says Sass (like a small bowl of cereal or a piece of fruit).