I was determined to share my positive approach and not let diabetes stand in the way of enjoying my life.

• It's amazing how good getting up and moving makes you feel.
• I'll keep peace at all cost, even if I choke to death on my tongue.
• You don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don't want to make a steady diet of fried chicken.
• Of course, I will continue to share my favorite Southern recipes, just like my mama, grandmother and family shared with me over the years. And now, I'll be adding a little bit of a lighter touch to some of these wonderful dishes.
• I have my new food line in the works - I think it's over 200 items. Hopefully I can make a difference it's delicious food that's just so easy. I think it'll help people enjoy their lives... it's good!
• There's not one food that causes diabetes.What causes Type II diabetes is being overweight... I've just come to grips, over the past four or five months, with my diabetes.
• I don't want to spend my life not having good food going into my pie hole. That hole was made for pies.
• I wake up every morning happy for where I am in life. It's not all about the cooking, but the fact that I can contribute by using my influence to help people all over the country. In the last two years, my partners and I have fed more than 10 million hungry people by bringing meat to food banks.
• I will never use a substitute for butter. Margarine is one molecule away from eating plastic. If I'm going to eat that type of food, it's going to be the real deal.
• I don't care what the haters and naysayers say. If they make jokes about me, I'll laugh because they'll probably be funny.