Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno

What does it take to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a full marathon in one day while managing type 1 diabetes?

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Gwen Schroeder, a 23-year-old cardiac nurse and endurance athlete who has lived with T1D since she was four years old and recently completed a full Ironman in Switzerland.

Gwen shares how she prepared for the race, what it was like swimming for over an hour without access to her insulin pump or CGM readings, and how she managed fueling and blood sugars through more than seven hours of cycling. And despite completing one of the toughest endurance races in the world, Gwen admits she still struggles to get through a regular run without going low. She opens up about the days T1D has brought her to tears, the temptation to give up, and what's kept her going anyway.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How Gwen managed an 80-minute open-water swim without her insulin pump or access to her CGM readings
• Just how many carbs Gwen consumed during the 112-mile bike ride and what happened to her blood sugar (this will shock you!)
• The unexpected complication Gwen experienced the day AFTER her Ironman, despite staying in range throughout the race
• Why Gwen still struggles to get through a regular run without going low, despite completing a 140.6-mile Ironman
• The mindset that helped Gwen push through the days she wanted to give up on training because of T1D

WHAT’S NEXT:

🎟️ Join us at Rising Above T1D! Come together with the T1D community for two days of connection, inspiration, and conversations about living a fuller life with type 1 diabetes. Learn more and grab your ticket here.

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

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If Gwen’s story inspired you to think bigger about what’s possible with T1D, make sure to subscribe to Reclaim Your Rise and leave us a review! Your support helps us reach more people with T1D who need to hear stories like this. 

What does going through IVF look like when you’re also managing type 1 diabetes?

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Risely Coach Jenna Ciszon, who has lived with T1D for 36 years and went through a years-long journey of trying to start a family before eventually turning to IVF.

Jenna shares what it took to bring her A1C from 7.9 to 6.1 before starting IVF, what two weeks of hormone injections and an egg retrieval looked like with T1D, and the rare complication that left her hospitalized for five days. She also opens up about miscarriage, navigating embryo transfers, and the mental and physical toll of managing T1D through an already demanding fertility journey.

Now a mom of two and a Risely coach who works with women preparing for and navigating pregnancy, Jenna looks back on what she wishes she had known before starting the process and why having support from people who understood both T1D and pregnancy would have changed so much for her.

WHAT WE COVER:

• What it took for Jenna to bring her A1C from 7.9 to 6.1 before she could start IVF
• The rare complication after Jenna’s egg retrieval that led to five days in the hospital and nine abdominal drains
• What happened after Jenna’s first embryo transfer and how she prepared to try again
• What changed when Jenna started Risely coaching at 16 weeks pregnant after more than 30 years of managing T1D largely on her own
• What Jenna wishes she had done differently before trying to get pregnant with T1D
• The T1D skills Jenna now wants women to have BEFORE pregnancy instead of figuring them out once they’re already pregnant

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   
IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

IVF with type 1 diabetes can feel incredibly isolating. Subscribe and leave a review to help more people with T1D find honest conversations and stories that remind them they don’t have to navigate it alone.

What if the way we treat type 1 diabetes right after diagnosis could help someone keep producing their own insulin for longer?

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Samuel Reich, CEO of SAB Bio, to talk about SAB-142, an investigational therapy being studied to protect the insulin-producing cells someone still has when they’re diagnosed with T1D.

Sam breaks down why researchers are racing to protect the insulin your body still makes at diagnosis, what they’re studying both within the first 100 days and as far as two years after diagnosis, and how preserving that insulin could change life with T1D. He also shares his vision for a future where T1D is caught early enough that some people may never need insulin at all.

SAB-142 is still being studied, but this conversation offers an exciting look at how different a T1D diagnosis could become in the years ahead.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How to find out if your child may be eligible for the SAFEGUARD Study and what steps to take if they are
• Why you may still have functioning insulin-producing cells when you’re diagnosed with T1D and what could happen if we protect them
• Whether preserving your remaining beta cells could mean less insulin, a lower A1C, and more time in range
• What researchers saw in C-peptide levels just four months into the first SAB-142 study
• Why researchers are questioning whether time since diagnosis matters as much as how much insulin your body can still produce
• Why people up to two years past diagnosis are now being studied, even though most newly diagnosed T1D trials focus on a much shorter window
• How catching T1D before insulin is needed could completely change what a diagnosis looks like 10 to 15 years from now

WHAT’S NEXT:
👉If your child was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, go to SafeGuardStudy.com to learn more about the SAFEGUARD study and see if they may qualify.

🏋️ Want to make exercise with T1D more predictable? Join our 8-week Exercise & Insulin Sensitivity Coaching Program to learn how to stay in range during movement, improve insulin sensitivity, and build strategies that work for YOUR body. Our next group starts October 20th and spots are limited.

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us:
Email us at: [email protected]   
IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
The more T1D research evolves, the more important it is that our community knows what’s possible. Subscribe and leave a review to help more people with T1D find conversations like this one.

Pregnancy with type 1 diabetes comes with tighter blood sugar targets, changing insulin needs, more appointments, and a whole new level of attention to your diabetes. But what does it actually look like to go through the entire experience?

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Risely Coach Katerina Harmon, who recently welcomed her daughter, Lydia, to talk through her experience from preparing for pregnancy all the way through labor, delivery, breastfeeding, and the first few months postpartum.

Katerina went into pregnancy feeling confident in her diabetes management, with an A1C of 5.9 and months of preparation behind her. But even with that foundation, there was plenty she had to figure out along the way, from insulin needs that changed dramatically throughout pregnancy to advocating for herself, preparing for labor and delivery, and finding a new rhythm with T1D once Lydia was here.

WHAT WE COVER:

• What Katerina did months before trying to conceive to prepare her blood sugars for pregnancy
• How her insulin needs changed throughout each trimester
• Why knowing how to recognize patterns and confidently adjust insulin became so important
• Katerina’s experience using manual mode during much of her pregnancy
• Advocating for yourself with your endocrinology, MFM, and OB teams
• How Katerina prepared her husband to help manage her T1D during labor
• Her 44-hour labor, induction, epidural, and four and a half hours of pushing
• What happened to her insulin needs after giving birth
• Breastfeeding with T1D and navigating postpartum lows
• What Katerina wishes women with T1D knew before beginning pregnancy prep

If pregnancy is something you’re thinking about in the next year or two, you’re actively preparing, or you’re already pregnant, this conversation gives you an honest look at what the experience can actually look like with type 1 diabetes.

WHAT’S NEXT:

🤰 Preparing for pregnancy with T1D?

On October 14th, Lauren is working with a small cohort of women with type 1 diabetes who are preparing to get pregnant in 2027/2028. The 12 week group coaching program is designed to help you get your blood sugars ready for pregnancy while building the skills, patterns, and confidence you’ll need to sustain tighter targets through the changes pregnancy can bring.

If you’re interested, apply through the Risely Health Coaching Application and note that you’re specifically interested in the high touch Pregnancy Prep Program.

Stay connected with us: 
📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
Pregnancy with T1D can come with a lot of “How am I ever going to do this?” If this episode made it feel a little more doable, subscribe and leave a review to help another T1D find it when she needs it.

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Dara Melnick, a licensed therapist who has lived with T1D for 38 years, to talk about the side of “good” diabetes management beyond the numbers.

Dara spent years trying to keep her numbers as perfect as possible. She tested her blood sugar up to 30 times a day before CGMs, developed strict rules around food, and eventually stopped eating breakfast to avoid the spike. Her A1C looked great, but managing T1D was exhausting. 

Through Risely coaching, Dara learned how to loosen those rules without sacrificing the blood sugars she had worked so hard for. Today, she has a 5.7 A1C while eating based on what her body is asking for, salmon and sourdough or Cheez-Its and pretzels.

Lauren and Dara also get into what 38 years with T1D has taught Dara as a therapist, a mom, and a woman, from using the “power of the pause” when diabetes goes sideways to why asking for help can be one of the most powerful things you do for yourself.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How trying to keep her blood sugar “perfect” led Dara to a 6.1 A1C, testing up to 30 times a day, and eventually skipping breakfast altogether
• The Risely secrets that helped Dara go from strict food rules to a 5.7 A1C while eating what she craved, when she craved it
• When “good” diabetes management crosses the line into diabetes controlling your life
• What led Dara to ask for help even though she’s a licensed therapist who’d managed T1D for decades
• The “power of the pause” and how Dara uses it to respond instead of react to CGM readings
• What T1D has taught Dara about raising her 10 and 13-year-old kids, including the lesson they learned when she suddenly went low on a family hike

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
If Dara’s story made you realize you can have great blood sugars without letting T1D dictate when, what, and how you eat, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

In this episode of Reclaim Your Rise, Lauren sits down with Kelsey Lynn Stokes and Francesca Spinello, co-founders of Calycanthus Lingerie, a company creating feminine, functional insulin pump holders for women who wear tubed pumps.

Kelsey’s story with Risely started years before Calycanthus existed. After living with T1D since age 13, she came to Risely at one of her lowest points with diabetes. Through 1:1 coaching, she brought her A1C from 8.1% to 6.3% and began changing her relationship with T1D.

Now, she’s taking an insecurity she remembers having as a 22-year-old woman starting on an insulin pump and turning it into something that gives other women more choice in how they dress, date, celebrate, and express themselves.

Plus, Kelsey takes us behind the scenes of her career in film and television as a script supervisor, and how living with T1D has given her a unique perspective on diabetes representation on screen.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How Kelsey went from an 8.1 A1C and nearly in tears asking for help to a 6.3 and building a company for the T1D community
• The heartbreaking question Kelsey asked the night before getting her first insulin pump at 22
• How losing a dress on a train in Italy eventually led to a patented product for women with T1D
• Why Kelsey once wondered, “Who’s going to love me if I have this on?” and the emotional side of wearing an insulin pump while dating and being intimate
• The difference between hiding your diabetes and simply not wanting it to be the first thing people see
• What TV gets painfully wrong about T1D, from someone who works behind the scenes
• Why Kelsey says her 13-year-old self would have been “less scared” if she could see her life now

CONNECT WITH KELSEY + CALYCANTHUS:
Kelsey Lynn Stokes(founder): @thewanderingdiabetic
Calicanthus Lingerie: @calycanthuslingerie

Shop Products

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If Kelsey’s story made you want to stop letting T1D call the shots, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

Jasmine Jones was five months into treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer when she ended up in the ICU with DKA and heard another life-changing diagnosis: Type 1 diabetes.

As a CrossFit athlete, coach, and military veteran who had always built so much of her identity around health and strength, Jasmine suddenly found herself learning how to manage insulin while she was still going through chemotherapy.

In this episode, Jasmine sits down with Lauren to talk about navigating two life-changing diagnoses in less than a year, from being discharged from the hospital scared to give herself insulin and seeing blood sugars in the 300s, to eventually going from 52% time in range to consistently reaching 85–90%. 

She also opens up about rebuilding her relationship to food, , her identity, and how she went  from thinking, “This can’t be life,” to feeling like she was back in the driver’s seat.

This is one of our favorite conversations of the year. Enjoy.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How Jasmine was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes just five months after her breast cancer diagnosis, while still undergoing chemotherapy and immunotherapy
• What it was like to leave the ICU with a new T1D diagnosis, a sliding scale, and very little understanding of how to actually manage insulin
• How Jasmine went from an 8.4 A1C and 52% time in range to 85% consistently, all while still recovering from cancer
• The exact mindset shift that took Jasmine from terrified to give herself insulin to confidently adjusting her own settings
• What she did to rebuild her confidence with food after a diagnosis sent her relationship with food into a tailspin
• Why this lifelong athlete had to completely rethink what “strength” meant after cancer and T1D changed what her body could do
• Why Jasmine believes finding people who understand T1D changed the trajectory of her first year with diabetes

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If Jasmine's resilience reminded you that you're capable of getting through anything, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

Every pump user knows they should have a backup plan. But how prepared are you actually if your pump stops working tonight?

Lauren found out the hard way when one task she’d been putting off left her without a working pump and scrambling to switch back to injections before bed. What seemed manageable quickly turned into a middle-of-the-night diabetes disaster and a reminder that having backup insulin isn’t the same thing as being prepared to use it.

In this solo episode, Lauren shares what went wrong, what she wishes she had done differently, and the simple backup plan every pump user should have ready before they actually need it. She also gets into the aftermath of a really rough diabetes night and how she moves forward after riding the rollercoaster.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How a supply pickup Lauren kept putting off snowballed into a sleepless night fighting blood sugars in the 300s
• The small mistake that left Lauren without a working pump at the worst possible time
• How a seemingly simple switch back to injections turned into blood sugars nearing 400 overnight
• The backup-plan mistake Lauren didn’t realize she’d made until 3 a.m.
• The 4 things every pump user should have ready before something goes wrong
• How Lauren handles the physical and mental “blood sugar hangover” after a really rough diabetes day

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
If Lauren's rough night made you feel less alone in your own messy diabetes days, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find these conversations.

Elizabeth Elder knows what it means to carry a lot as a mother. Her two oldest children were born with a rare genetic condition, and in 2021, she lost her daughter Annabelle to complications of that condition at just eleven years old. About a year later, her son Clark, her third child, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age five. For Elizabeth, who had already spent years navigating the world of medically complex parenting and had even founded a nonprofit to support other moms walking similar roads, the diagnosis felt like one more heavy thing to hold.

In this episode, Elizabeth sits down with Risely's Director of Coaching, Abby Cooper, to talk honestly about T1D motherhood: the mom guilt, the pressure to get everything right, and the quiet weight of feeling like your child's numbers are a reflection of you. She shares what shifted when she joined our T1D Mom Coaching Program, from learning that you can't get an A in diabetes, to letting herself receive support for once instead of being the one who always gives it, to the community of moms who are still showing up for each other long after the program ended. It's a moving conversation about grief, grace, and finding a way to carry T1D that leaves room for you to actually live.

WHAT WE COVER:

• Why a stomach bug with no fever was the clue that led to Clark's T1D diagnosis at 5, almost exactly one year after Elizabeth lost her daughter
• What her 5-year-old said to comfort her in the hospital, in the middle of the scariest moment of her year
• The number 1 belief that helped to reduce mom guilt
• Why you can't get an A in diabetes, and the reframe that finally freed Elizabeth from treating every A1C like a report card
• How "time in happiness" became just as important as time in range, and the pediatric psychologist who introduced her to it
• Being the mom who holds everyone else together, and what it took for her to finally let herself be the one supported
• Clark's first-ever sleepover 3.5 years after diagnosis, the exact blood sugars Elizabeth watched from home, and how she let him go anyway

WHAT’S NEXT:

👩‍👧 Our 8-week T1D Mom Coaching Program is back, starting September 9th. It's live group coaching with Lauren and Abby, built for moms raising kids with Type 1 who are ready to trade the overwhelm for real confidence. Learn more and apply here.

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
If Elizabeth's story made you feel less alone in the weight of T1D motherhood, subscribe and leave a review so more moms can find their way here.

Drew Mendelow was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 13 and left the hospital overwhelmed by how much he was suddenly expected to learn and calculate on his own. So he built the tool he wished he’d had: T1D1, a free app that takes the mental math out of insulin dosing for people who are newly diagnosed or managing with injections.

Now a student at Georgia Tech, Drew joins Lauren to talk about what’s actually next in diabetes tech, from AI and continuous ketone monitoring to smarter pump algorithms and the apps making daily life with T1D easier, while asking an important question: as diabetes technology gets smarter, how do we make sure people with T1D still feel informed and in control of their own management?

WHAT WE COVER:

• Why Drew built T1D1 after being diagnosed at 13
• The diabetes tech Drew thinks could change T1D next
• Why continuous ketone monitoring matters, even when blood sugar is in range
• Lauren’s scariest low in 25 years with T1D and what caused it
• The diabetes app Drew recommended that Lauren immediately wanted to download
• Where AI and smarter pump algorithms could help, and where they could take away too much control

WHAT’S NEXT:

🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.

📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.

Stay connected with us: 

Email us at: [email protected]   

IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode got you excited about where T1D tech is headed, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with diabetes can find these conversations.