My Story: Antionette and Diabetes

ANTIONETTE BLAKE: I stay positive, period. Diabetes is not going to have me. My mantra is when you wake up looking up,

everything else is gravy, baby. I did not discover that I was a Type

2 diabetic until many years later. And I was taken aback.

I was like, OK, what do I do now? It wasn't until after I found out about my diabetes diagnosis

that I found out that on my father's side, the diabetes ran rampant through the family. And I knew that I did not want any part of that.

The dietary adjustments that I had to take to control my diabetes was to cut back on anything that contained any type of sugar.

I do not have any alcohol whatsoever and keep fresh vegetables constantly,

whether it's lunch, dinner, or even breakfast. So those are things that I've done to make changes to make sure that I

keep those numbers in check. I am currently not on any medication. Simply making changes, lifestyle changes,

not only to my physical activity, but also to my diet, has really given me that opportunity

not to have any medication. Oh, it's definitely vital that you listen to your health care team, because again, you need to make sure that you

are taking care of yourself. Diabetes is not something that you want to take lightly.

I plan on making an appointment, a telemedicine appointment, with my physician so that I can ensure that I'm keeping my diabetes in check.

Exercise is vital. I make sure that I'm up and around, especially because I work from home, and I'm sedentary here.

So getting out, getting fresh air, you know, moving your body, getting the oxygen in your blood and your heart rate up is very, very important for myself.

My family is very supportive. You know, my husband understands that I have to be careful with what I am eating.

And as a mother of two adult sons, I like to prepare foods that are going to be filling for them,

and so everyone is kind of like, you know, we're OK with that, Mom. A diagnosis of diabetes is not a death sentence.

It's a lifestyle change. And you can do it. [MUSIC PLAYING]