Armando Salinas III, 60, said he is feeling good about his health journey.

But that hasn't always been the case.

“It took me a while to start doing what I’m doing today,” Salinas said.

Salinas, a diabetes patient at DHR Health, said he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-thirties.

“I just got real depressed because I was not expecting to be a diabetic at a very young age," Salinas said.

Salinas had an A1C of 11%, which is a very high level of blood sugar.

He was experiencing numbness in his fingers, and urinating often at the time.

It wasn't until he turned 45 when he began to take his diabetic journey more seriously after seeing family members go through complications from diabetes.

“I wanted to change my whole life around because I knew what they went through, and I didn't want to repeat myself in the same way they did,” Salinas said.

Salinas was overweight, didn't exercise, and wasn't sure where to start.

“I started slow,” Salinas said. “And now I’m in a level where I do 5K's, I ride 15 miles on my bike."

With the help of his team of doctors and nurse practitioners at DHR Health, Salinas dropped 60 pounds, and is down to an A1C of 5.9%.

Salinas gets checked every three months.

“Mr. Salinas has had an incredible transformation, he's what we like to see in all of our patients,” DHR Health nurse practitioner Mindy Garces said.

According to DHR Health, one in three people in the entire Rio Grande Valley either have diabetes, or are at risk of developing the disease.

Salinas is a living example that with the right diet and daily exercise, you can prevent or manage diabetes.

“Get yourself checked by going and seeing your blood levels, eat healthy,” Salinas said. “Don't be discouraged. Even though you may just walk a block around your neighborhood, but get something in because your organs need your help too."

This April, CHANNEL 5 NEWS, NOTICIAS RGV and TAKE 5 is educating viewers about diabetes prevention and treatment as part of our Heart of the Valley series.

As part of the series, HEB and South Texas Health Systems are offering free diabetes screenings in the month of April. Click here for the full schedule of where the screenings will be available.