
DIABETES
CYL2 has gone virtual!
BWHI has culturally tailored a virtual program just for Black women.
Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2), is our yearlong evidence-based lifestyle change program that gives you the tools and support you need to help prevent type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Here’s what participants can expect:
- A personal Lifestyle Coach and a community of support including others also committed to making positive behavior changes.
- Help to change your relationship with food so you can shop better, prepare food in healthier ways, and eat differently.
- Support in understanding what triggers your eating, how your thoughts affect your behavior, and how to replace negative habits with positive ones.
- A better understanding of how chronic stress increases the risk of weight gain and keeps us from losing weight.
- Tips on practicing self-care to help manage the stress.
Who Should Enroll In This Program?
Participants must be 18 and older and have a BMI of 25 or more. You must also meet one of the following:
- Diagnosed with prediabetes by a healthcare provider
- Have a history of gestational diabetes
- Score at least a 5 on the Prediabetes Risk Test
Not sure what your BMI is? Don’t worry! Take the Prediabetes Risk Test to get the answer.
Submit the Risk Test and your contact information if you are interested in joining our virtual program.

CYL2 App
With the BWHI App, the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) are working to make optimal health and well-being a reality for all black women and girls. CYL² is a lifestyle change program that utilizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved curriculum to help prevent type 2 diabetes and other preventable chronic conditions. The program includes a lifestyle coach who can provide the education and support needed to replace unhealthy habits with healthy ones that lead to a path of long-term success. Through the app’s features, participants learn problem-solving skills and coping strategies for overcoming barriers to lifestyle changes, such as shopping for and preparing affordable and healthier meals, stress and emotional eating, food triggers, eating away from home and access to healthier food choices overall. A community of others on their personal wellness journeys will provide the much-needed support with discussions about solutions to overcome common challenges to wellness.
High-Touch Coaching
We understand, value, and respect the lived experience of Black women and Latinas, as well as the influence that experience has on every thought they have, every change they are faced with, and every decision they make.
Along with their own self-awareness, our high-touch coaches are empathetic, compassionate, and share many of the lived experiences of their participants. We help participants get to the heart of what is required for lifestyle change by helping them understand how their lived experiences contribute to their current behavior, to what got them to where they are, and how to turn that knowledge into positive behavior change. our coaches do not pressure participants to change who they are but to realize they are worthy and capable, and because they are, they have everything they need to meet their goals.
Our Impact
“What I’ve learned in this program is I CAN DO IT! I can control my appetite and what I eat. I’ve made the necessary changes to prolong my life. I’ve changed my lifestyle and I am making better choices. I’ve decided to live, really live abundantly.”
Aronese
CYL2 Participant
Maryland
PREVENTION
Take Our Online Risk Test Today!
EDGE PROGRAM PROVIDER NETWORK
Educate – Demonstrate – Guide – Empower
Visit our lifestyle change program partners’ websites by clicking the logos below. If you do not see your location listed, please visit the CDC website to find a program near you! Please note that with COVID-19, many programs have moved to a virtual model.
*FOUNDING MEMBERS