Joyce Changed Her Lifestyle and Her Life: You Can Too

Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2), is our year-long evidence-based lifestyle change program that gives people the tools and support they need to help prevent type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Many people have taken part in our program and found ways to make lasting changes. Joyce Simmons is one such person.

We asked Joyce about her experience in the program:

Joyce, Why Did You Join CYL2?

I retired in December 2020 after 40 plus years and joined CYL2 right after. This was the best decision on my new journey that I have made. I joined the program to become healthier and to learn how to change my lifestyle so I can enjoy life to the fullest and be more functional with less medications and to reduce my risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

What Do You Enjoy Most About the Classes?

I enjoy the support, the education, the sharing, and the accountability of the class participants. I eagerly look forward to seeing each person and hearing about their journeys since our last meeting. We discuss the good as well as the not so good, and always offer encouragement to each other. We share recipes, information about local events that will help us increase our physical activity, and we participate in healthy cooking demonstrations.

How Has Being a Part of CYL2 Impacted Your Habits and What Have You Learned?

The program has helped me tremendously with my eating habits and food choices through the class education. I now know the importance of reading food labels, how to shop for less with coupons, and store sales. The program has also taught me the importance of physical activity and ways to get this done.

What Has Being a Part of This Program Meant to You?

Being a part of this program has been a refreshing and wonderful experience for me. Our lifestyle coach always greets us with a smile and never becomes disgusted with us when we fall off track.

The continuous encouragement, motivation and support keeps me wanting to do better and become better. I often tell her that whenever I do anything related to food, I can hear her voice nudging me in the right direction and reminding me that I have already changed my life by changing my lifestyle, and to not look back.

I find myself looking forward to our bi-weekly classes and really miss meeting on a weekly basis. I have learned a lot about food preparation, healthy substitutes, serving sizes and seasonings/spices that enhance flavors without adding excess calories that will jeopardize my health goals.

Learn more about our diabetes prevention program at TheWellnessCoalition.org/CYL2.