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Special to the Signal

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. And a community meeting will be

Tuesday, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Lowndes County Health Department, 507 East Tuskeena St., Hayneville, AL 36040

Participants interested in the CYL² program should know that the classes will meet for one year. In the first six month of the program, classes will meet 16 times. In the second six months, classes will meet six more times to help participants maintain healthy lifestyle changes. Parties 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.

The Black Women’s Health Imperative is the only national organization dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the nation’s 21 million Black women and girls — physically, emotionally and financially. It identifies the most pressing health issues and invests in the best of the best strategies, partners and organizations that share their goal: ensuring Black women live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives.