The prevalence of diabetes mellitus has been increasing worldwide and has become a serious epidemic. Overweight or obesity, hypertension, or dyslipidemia with prediabetes are a high risk for conversion to type 2 diabetes (T2DM) if lifestyle prevention strategies are not implemented. Adhering to a combination of healthy lifestyle intervention was shown to reduce the risk of developing T2DM by about 60% based on well-designed previous studies. Among lifestyle modification approaches, nutrition education/intervention is important in preventing T2DM. The goal of nutrition intervention for preventing T2DM emphasize the importance of food choices that facilitate moderate weight loss and other metabolic disorders. Lifestyle counseling including nutrition education based on behavior change models is understood to be more effective in promoting long-lasting behavior change than traditional counseling. The most useful theories or models of nutrition education/intervention are social cognitive theory and the transtheoretical or stages of change model. Nutrition education theories provide guidance on ways to facilitate people who are at risk of T2DM to take action and make changes in their behavior. The majority of people are not ready for action and will not be well served by traditional action-oriented programs. Individuals are at different stages in terms of their readiness to accept changes in their lifestyle, in particular regarding personal nutrition. Nutrition education interventions for preventing T2DM must be designed to meet the needs of individuals at every respective stage of change. It would be a very effective approach to design and evaluate successful dietary change interventions.