Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno

Latest Episodes:

113. T1D Q+A: Alcohol, Burnout, The Honeymoon Phase + Choosing a Pump Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

We got over 100 questions and I chose a few to chat about with Coach Jehan in today’s Q & A episode. Topics we cover range from burnout, to how to relearn diabetes, the honeymoon phase, the effects of alcohol and diabetes, choosing a pump, and more. Coach Jehan wraps us up with a roll call for our DCB Cohort starting in April.

Time Stamps:

(03:47) Meet Coach Jehan
(06:01) How to smartly handle burnout in community
(08:00) The 2 epitomes of burnout according to Lauren
(12:17) The growth path
(13:52) How to relearn diabetes
(17:36) The honeymoon phase and how to identify when it’s ending
(21:00) Alcohol and diabetes
(26:10) What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned since working at Risely?
(32:48) Choosing a pump + pumps and pregnancy
(38:42) The hardest mental shifts for a type one to go through
(44:02) Jehan on April’s DCB Cohort - roll call

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
The doors for the April Decide and Conquer Bootcamp - our signature group coaching program for women with T1D - are now open. Apply HERE.
Learn more about our 1:1 coaching programs HERE.

Disclaimer: Nothing you hear on the Reclaim your Rise podcast should be a substitute for personalized professional medical advice. Please always consult your physician or other medical professional before making any changes to your diet, insulin dosages, or healthcare plan.

112. The Law of Accumulation + 3 Questions to Combat Self Sabotage and Achieve Your Goals Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

This is a quick, pep-talk episode to get real with yourself and achieve your goals by looking at the Law of Accumulation. Self reflection is key in getting closer towards your goals, and in this week’s episode, I want you to think of one health related diabetes goal you always make but seem to struggle with yet you don’t know WHY. I’m breaking down 3 challenges so you can get clear on why that might be so you can STOP coming back to the same struggle and finally achieve your goal!

Time Stamps:

(02:32) Growth oriented human beings
(03:27) Outcome focused vs. the path to the outcome
(04:03) The Law of Accumulation
(05:05) Self sabotage
(07:02) Challenge # 1 - Labeling the Problem Wrong
(09:56) Challenge #2 - Too Many Barriers
(11:41) Challenge #3 - Change is Hard

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
The doors for the April Decide and Conquer Bootcamp - our signature group coaching program for women with T1D - are now open. Apply HERE.
Learn more about our 1:1 coaching programs HERE.

111. How To Radically Accept Diabetes, Train An Alert Dog, and Throw a Diaversary Party Mar 19, 2024

Show notes

From the get-go, today’s guest was not going to let type one diabetes stop her from moving forward with life. DCB graduate Sara Lerner and I sat down for a refreshing conversation about how she came to radically accept her diagnosis very early on. She shares practical advice along with the values that helped her do so and why she DOES let diabetes define her. We also chat about training her beloved diabetic alert dog Louie, why and how she celebrated her Diaversary, and the massive impact of community on her diabetes journey. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or still struggling to accept and feel empowered in your diagnosis, you need to listen to this conversation.

Time Stamps:

(05:00) How her diagnosis was the biggest growth of her life
(06:58) Grateful from day one
(08:28) The values that helped her quickly tackle diabetes with less fear
(10:11) Letting diabetes define her
(11:24) The importance of getting plugged in early to the diabetes community
(13:15) Releasing the fantasy of pre-diabetes life
(14:48) “I’m doing more now with Type 1”
(16:00) Her DCB experience and eating the thing that scares you
(18:50) Breaking your own limitations
(19:20) Letting go of control as a control freak
(23:39) How she ran a half marathon
(29:23) Louie her diabetic alert dog, the training process, and how he helps her
(36:30) Diaversary Parties
(41:30) The essential role of Community to integrate

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
The doors for the April Decide and Conquer Bootcamp - our signature group coaching program for women with T1D - are now open. Apply HERE.
Learn more about our 1:1 coaching programs HERE.
Sara’s recommendation for diabetic alert dog training and scholarships available HERE

110. The Stress Management Approach Your Diabetes Care is Missing Mar 12, 2024

Show notes

Today’s guest, Eddie Stern, is the founder of The Breathing App For Diabetes, the first app that helps people with diabetes lower their stress levels. With 35 years of experience in the yoga space, Eddie and I go deep in this conversation about a side of diabetes management that Western medicine is not suited to address: holistic stress management. We discuss consciousness, purpose, identity, the role of disharmony, and breathwork. Eddie helps us to ask big questions like “Who am I?” and address how to stop identifying with productivity and output. He even leads you in a 3 minute guided breathwork session to engage the parasympathetic “healing state.” Learn why 60,000 monthly app users are running to get his app and start changing the speed of your mind for better diabetes care!

Time Stamps:

(05:56) The pursuit of meaning and purpose
(09:37) The high school teacher that changed his life and the 3 questions she asked
(11:22) The unchanging nature of Consciousness and finding Awareness
(14:16) The Relative and Absolute “Who am I”
(16:30) Life is relationship and interconnectedness to all that is
(18:22) How to release identity to productivity & external accomplishment
(20:44) We as an expression of purposefulness in Nature
(21:55) The role of disharmony in Nature and Spirituality
(23:20) Lauren reflects on her yoga journey
(24:11) The key to freedom with diabetes: intuition & slowing down
(25:34) Stress = speed of the mind
(27:14) Eddie in India and being “woken up” in devotion
(30:54) Eastern and Western medicine approaches
(35:13) Diabetes, tress, and noncommunicable diseases from a yogic healing approach
(36:56) Parasympathetic Response as the Healing State
(39:30) 3 minute guided breathwork with Eddie
(43:44) What Lauren felt post breathwork
(44:25) What to Expect: The Breathing App for Diabetes
(49:00) Where to find Eddie’s app and books

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
The doors for the April Decide and Conquer Bootcamp - our signature group coaching program for women with T1D - are now open. Apply HERE.
Learn more about our 1:1 coaching programs HERE.
Check out The Breathing App for Diabetes in the app store

109. Pregnancy Challenges and IVF with Type One Diabetes Mar 05, 2024

Show notes

For today’s guest, Risely group coaching graduate KC Gurbuz, getting diagnosed with undiagnosed infertility was another major life challenge to navigate with T1D. On today’s episode, KC walks through her experience with the IVF process and how she managed her diabetes through it. We go into all of it: from what her numbers looked like, to the mental health challenge, to food journaling, and finally holding her sweet baby in her arms.

Time Stamps:

(03:14) Running a half marathon in range post DCB
(06:43) Moving from restrictive to less restrictive
(08:37) When they decided to have a baby and interviewing your doctors team
(09:56) Diabetes management and deciding when to conceive
(11:30) Her husband’s role
(14:09) The start of infertility treatments
(16:27) Mental health, infertility, & gratitude
(18:19) Rates of success and the process
(22:25) “Checking the box of challenge”
(25:13) Managing her numbers during treatments
(29:25) The “two week wait”
(30:45) Respecting her body and perspective
(31:45) What grounded her for pregnancy
(32:36) One of the first signs you're pregnant as a diabetic and ow pregnancy affects your numbers
(33:45) Food journaling while pregnant
(36:30) Is coaching better before or during pregnancy?
(38:00) The support of DCB community mamas
(39:00) IVF, Preeclampsia and Diabetes
(40:17) Her postpartum experience
(41:28) Gratitude and Grace
(44:03) KC’s advice for infertility & IVF

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
The doors for the April Decide and Conquer Bootcamp - our signature group coaching program for women with T1D - are now open. Apply HERE.
Learn more about our 1:1 coaching programs HERE.

108. Diabulimia: The Intersection of Diabetes and Eating Disorders with Erin Akers Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

The Joslin Diabetes Center suggests that 30% of diabetic women between the ages of 15 and 30 manipulate or omit their insulin in order to lose weight. For Eating Disorder Awareness Week, I want to talk about this lesser known yet devastating eating disorder. Today’s incredible guest is the founder and executive director of Diabulimia Helpline (DBH), Erin Akers. Erin shares the heart-wrenching story of how she flatlined and was resuscitated after diabulimia put her in the hospital. This episode is raw and real, but it is also a necessary conversation to shed light on the T1D tendency towards perfectionism and a disordered relationship to food.

Time Stamps:

(06:25) The Recovery-Relapse Cycle
(07:14) January 2012: The Fall
(08:25) The Fear of Being Found Out
(09:25) The Time Erin Flat-lined
(10:22) A Mother’s Cry: A Call To Change
(12:28) Why the Second Time Was Harder to Ask For Help
(14:30) Her Diagnosis Journey
(16:40) When the Body Image Issues Began as a childt 9
(19:10) Comparison to Her Brother’s Diabetesic Journey
(22:00) Giving Up on Being a “Good Diabetic” at 14
(22:48) The Descent: Figuring Out How She Could Lose Weight
(25:40) Feeding the Hungry Heart: Our Relationship to Food
(26:40) Perfectionist Tendencies and Grace
(32:57) Context Collapse
(35:58) The Unique Pathology of Diabulimia
(37:54) The 2 Things
(38:53) What Recovery Looks Like
(39:55) Relationship to the Number
(40:55) A Perfectionist Exercise
(42:10) Journaling to Heal
(46:38) Recovery is Not Passive: You Have To Do the Work
(47:45) Diabulimia An Ignored Population
(49:41) Community
(52:35) The Helpline
(53:23) Why We Can’t Afford to NOT Talk About Diabuleima
(57:12) Erin’s Lifelong Complications
(59:01) Happy Recovery Stories
(01:02:25) Getting Your Dreams, Belief, and Hope Back

What to do now:
1. To Call the FREE Diabuleima Helpline: 1-425-985-3635
2. DBH Links:

INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/diabulimiahelpline/

DBH WEBSITE: www.DBH.org

DIABETES & EATING DISORDER FB SUPPORT GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiabulimiaSupport
3. Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
4. Learn more about our coaching programs HERE.

107. Blood Sugar + Cognitive Function, plus Creatively Communicating Your T1D Needs Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

There’s no doubt that our blood sugars affect our mood and cognitive function, and in this week’s episode, I’m joined by Brea Di Dato, a family and psychiatric nurse practitioner in Oregon, for a conversation that is chalk full of wisdom. Our conversation includes her story of being diagnosed at age 38, her experience with neuropathy, anxiety, and more. She paints a vision of how our joy can coexist with suffering and that the goal of life is NOT an end to suffering. Brea also shares her expertise on the role between blood sugar, cognitive function, mood, and how to effectively communicate your “grumpy space” needs to your partner.

Time Stamps:

(04:56) Weight Loss and Brain Fog: Her Diagnosis at 38 Years Old
(08:20) Her First 6 Months of Diagnosis
(10:05) Neuropathy
(12:05) How She Approaches Her Patients Now Post Diagnosis
(13:04) The Slippery Slope of Single Data Points
(14:53) Safety & Taking Control of Anxiety With a New Diagnosis
(17:43) Barriers to Living
(19:40) First Steps: Validate the Grief
(20:48) The Coexistence of Joy and Suffering
(22:42) A Dead Person Goal
(23:45) Growth, Change, and Discomfort
(26:22) Distress and Burnout
(30:15) Reaching Out for Help
(33:18) Diabetes, ADHD, Blood Sugar and Cognitive Function
(35:49) Blood Sugar and Mood
(38:41) Creative and Effective Communication of Your Needs
(42:32) I Don’t Need You to Fix This

What to do now:

For any person with Diabetes in Oregon who would like to talk to someone about their mental health, check out Brea’s business website https://www.pbh.health/
Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
Learn more about our coaching programs HERE.

106. Holistic Endocrinology: Wisdom on Meditation, Patient Relationships, and AI in Medicine with Dr. Allen Sussman Feb 13, 2024

Show notes

He’s an endocrinologist who has met the Dalai Lama three times! In this episode, I get to talk with Dr. Allen Sussman about why he sees endocrinology as a holistic field, the root of burnout in medicine, and how he thinks the healthcare system can be changed. He shares stories of meeting with the Dalai Lama, what he has seen work and not work when supporting patients in making changes to their T1D health, and more. He also highlights the vital significance of community and connection to our health and discusses the limitations of AI in medicine with its lack of mind-body connection which is unique to humans. Dr. Sussman also shares his top four habits for a healthy life. This is a truly unique conversation to have with an endocrinologist, and I hope you appreciate his unique perspective as much as I do!

Time Stamps:

(03:53) Becoming a Freudian in High School
(6:00) His Turning Point in Holistic Health & Meditation
(08:05) What His Family Thought of This in the 60’s
(9:30) Meditation and Connection to the Dalai Lama
(14:40) The Importance of Slowing Down
(17:18) Medical School & Endocrinology as Holistic
(20:55) Developing Relationships with Patients
(27:05) Changing the Healthcare System
(29:00) The Role of Community & Connection and Your Health
(34:32) The Third Place and Limitations of AI in Medicine
(40:32) The Importance of Mind-Body Connection & Meaning in Life
(42:30) “T.I.P.” and How Can We Increase the Placebo Effect and Why?
(46:38) Diabetes as a Blessing
(47:20) His Top Four Habits for a Healthy Life

What to do now:

Check out Dr. Sussman’s book and website Saving the Art of Medicine HERE.
Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
Learn more about our coaching programs HERE.

105. I Accidentally Gave Myself 10x the Insulin That I Needed - Here’s How That Played Out Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

23 years with T1D and I have never done this before! I’m telling you all about my recent experience of accidentally giving myself 10x the units of insulin I needed for breakfast. After sharing this story on Instagram in real time and getting tons of feedback from folks saying, “This happened to me too,” I knew I needed to share more about how it all played out.

Time Stamps:

(02:46) The Story: How I Accidentally Gave Myself 10 Units of Insulin
(05:30) The Click: The Moment I Realized What I’d Done
(07:40) My First Step to Course Correct
(10:45) The Food I Ate to Course Correct
(11:45) Have Glucagon As a Backup
(12:34) My Blood Sugar Results
(13:44) The Emotional Drain
(14:18) First Takeaway: I Didn’t Need the Carbs I Thought
(14:36) Second Takeaway: Max Bulose Feature
(16:28) Third Takeaway: You Have the Knowledge Within You
(17:45) Fourth Takeaway: This Happens to So Many of Us
(19:09) Fifth Takeaway: Slow Down

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
Learn more about our coaching programs HERE.

104. Unleash the power of gut health and intuitive eating with type one diabetes with Elisabeth DiDonato Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Risely’s new coach and dietitian Elisabeth DiDonato. After being a vegan for years and battling her own health issues, Elisabeth learned a lot about gut health, finding the right foods for your body, and the importance of holistic health. We cover so many of your FAQ’s in this episode from probiotics, intuitive eating, intermittent fasting, juicing with T1D and so much more!

Time Stamps:

(05:50) Releasing T1D Embarrassment and Wearing Your Device
(8:04) Diabetes and Relationship to Food
(13:02) What She Learned in Going Vegan
(16:17) Eating the Rainbow for a Healthy Gut
(16:50) Listening to What Your Body Needs vs. Boxing Yourself Into a Diet Label
(21:11) Why We Take a Holistic Health Approach
(22:30) The Gut: Our Second Brain and Eating the Rainbow
(25:00) How to Juice Safely as a Diabetic
(29:04) Imbalanced Gut Health and Autoimmune Issues
(31:38) Stress and Insulin Resistance
(34:20) How to Properly Fuel Your Body to Workout in the AM
(37:18) Intermittent Fasting
(40:48) Probiotics and Prebiotics
(42:24) Can You Eat Intuitively as a Diabetic?
(46:55) How Do You Snack With Diabetes?
(51:13) What She’s Most Excited About Sharing as Risely’s Dietitian

What to do now:

Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop for when new episodes drop.
Learn more about our coaching programs HERE.

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