SPEAKER: I was aware that diabetes was in my family. But I didn't know anything about it. Growing up, I was around family members who had a loss of sight or amputations, all due to complications related to diabetes. But it wasn't something that I thought would affect me.

I went to the doctor for just an annual checkup. I didn't-- wasn't on any medication, didn't have any health issues. And the doc said, so your sugar level is a little high again.

Are you urinating a lot? Are you thirsty a lot? Have you changed the way you feel? Do you feel OK? I'm like, I feel fine.

The doc said, I'm going to diagnose you today with type 2 diabetes.

So I was in denial. And as I was driving home, that's when it dawned on me that my mother had also died at 35 from complications related to diabetes. And it scared the crap out of me. She was 35 when she died. I'd just turned 35. So how long am I going to live with this?

I found an endocrinologist in my area. The practice had an exercise physiologist, had a nutritionist, and a diabetes educator. And I said, I want to see them all. I want to see the physical fitness person so I can get moving. I want to see the diabetes educator so I can learn more. I want to see the nutritionist so I can learn more about what I could be eating.

I knew I needed to get active when I got on the scale and it said 225. How did this even happen? The doc said a couple times, well, it would be probably better if you lost a few pounds.

So that's when I decided today is the day I'm going to get out there and do some exercise. And I felt, oh my God, I can't even jog a single block. Are you kidding me?

And I started walking a block and jogging a block, and walking a block and jogging a block until I got up to one mile. And I just started doing that consistently. I worked my way up to a 5K.

Next thing you know, I was down to my goal weight, which was 155, all by myself. It probably took me a couple years. And it's been I think five years now. And I've been able to maintain it.

I learned a lot about portion control. I learned that when I eat out, I don't make good choices. I'm not a huge fan of salads.

I preplan my menu. I do all my cutting of all my ingredients, chopping up everything, with a little music in the background. And it really relaxes me. I love it.

I have containers that I buy in bulk. And I label everything.

I take an oral pill. And I take a non-insulin injectable medicine once a week. And I take the pills twice a day with breakfast and dinner. That combination of pills and non-insulin injectable is helping me manage my diabetes very well.

I check my sugar level definitely every morning when I get up. And then generally I check it right before I eat. Sometimes I'll check it a couple hours after I eat dinner most of the time, because that's my major meal of the day.

I keep a journal if I have a series of bad days when I know I haven't made good choices and I start thinking about it. OK, so what could I have done better? It helps me be a little more accountable.

The advice I'd give to somebody that was newly diagnosed would be take control of the disease. Take control of your life. Don't bury your head in the sand.

But I really just had to wake up one day and decide I'm either going to get busy living, or I'm going to get busy living not so good, not living.

Being in control of my diabetes feels fabulous. And it feels fabulous because I did it.