The Wellness Coalition is helping people in Montgomery, Macon, Lowndes, Elmore, and Autauga counties change their lives by joining an evidence-based diabetes prevention program, Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2). CYL2 allows participants to work with trained lifestyle coaches to develop and self-monitor individualized health and wellness plans at no cost to them.

“CYL2 participants meet in small group settings to learn strategies to help them lose weight, become more physically active, manage stress and problem solve challenges,” said Martine Rocker, diabetes prevention coordinator for The Wellness Coalition. “The goal is to help participants make positive behavior changes that can not only prevent type 2 diabetes but other preventable and obesity-related chronic conditions.”

As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program, the CYL² program tends to outperform fad diets because the tailored approach supports each individual participant to make lifestyle changes while considering their personal situations and challenges.

“CYL2 empowers participants to lose a minimum of 5% of their body weight and maintain 150 minutes of physical activity per week,” said Rocker. “This is a realistic and sustainable roadmap for success. Just a few simple changes can make a considerable impact in reducing the risk of preventable chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.”

The Wellness Coalition will hold community meetings throughout the River Region to determine interest in the classes. There is no cost to attend. Community meetings will be held at these dates:

  • Saturday, February 10, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at River Region Health Center, 1845 Cherry Street, Montgomery, Alabama 36107
  • Saturday, February 17, 2018 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Gateway Family Health Center, 2905 East South Boulevard, Montgomery, Alabama 36116
  • Tuesday, February 20, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Lowndes County Health Department, 507 East Tuskeena Street, Hayneville, Alabama 36040
  • Wednesday, February 21, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Elmore County Health Department, 6501 US Highway 231, Wetumpka, Alabama 36092
  • Thursday, February 22, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Macon County Health Department, 812 Hospital Road, Tuskegee, Alabama 36083
  • Tuesday, February 27, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Autauga County Health Department, 219 North Court Street, Prattville, Alabama 36067

Participants interested in the CYL² program should know that the classes will meet for one year. In the first four month of the program, classes will meet weekly. In the following eight months, classes will meet every other week to help participants maintain healthy lifestyle changes.

Persons interested in attending the listed community meetings to learn more about the CYL² program should call (334) 293-6502.

CYL2 is conducted in partnership with the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since its inception in 2012, BWHI has expanded CYL2 to several cities throughout the United States. The goal of CYL2 is to inspire participants to sustain a healthy lifestyle change.