The Healthy Diabetic

I've had Type 1 diabetes for almost 20 years. And for almost 20 years, every time I've gotten sick, my insulin needs have gone up — sometimes dramatically. Inflammation increases insulin resistance. That's just how it works. So when my symptoms hit hard this week and my blood sugars started running low instead of high, I had to stop and figure out what was actually going on.

In this episode I walk through exactly what happened over the last 24 to 48 hours — the lows I wasn't expecting, why I reduced my basal by four units a day, the Dexcom G7 that lost signal for over 12 hours, and why three and a half hours of basketball on Monday might be the reason my insulin sensitivity is still elevated four days later.

I also get honest about something that frustrates me — the Dexcom G7 accuracy issues I've been experiencing. Three out of five sensors have been off by 30 to 50 milligrams per deciliter or more. When you can't trust your CGM, decision making gets harder. And when decision making gets harder, everything else gets harder too.

This one is short, practical, and real. Exactly what diabetes management actually looks like when life doesn't follow the rules.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why sickness typically increases insulin resistance — and why Ken's experience this week was the opposite
• How inflammatory response during illness dramatically changes insulin needs for Type 1 diabetics
• Why exercise-induced insulin sensitivity can last 48 to 72 hours — and how that affected Ken's numbers while sick
• How Ken reduced his basal insulin by four units a day and stabilized his blood sugars
• The Dexcom G7 accuracy issues Ken has been experiencing — and why a backup meter is non-negotiable
• Why trusting your CGM data is essential — and what to do when you can't
• Why sickness is just another variable that requires flexibility in your management system
• Why 525,600 minutes a year means your doctor can't be your only source of diabetes support

Diabetes doesn't follow the rules. Just when you think you know exactly what your body is going to do in a given situation — it does something completely different. The goal isn't to predict everything. It's to recognize what's happening fast enough to respond.

Additional Resources

• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

Welcome back to Diabetes Confessions - a series where I press record and get honest about the things I've done with my diabetes that I'm not proud of.

I almost didn't record this one. Because what I'm about to confess goes against everything I talk about on this show. But that's exactly why it needs to be talked about.

The last couple of weeks I've been lazy with my diabetes. Really lazy. I haven't been pre-bolusing. I haven't been counting carbs. I haven't been micro dosing the way I know I should. I woke up this morning at 2:25 after going to bed running low and being too tired to get up and check. My three-day average — which I had gotten close to 117 — is now sitting at 138. And when I look at my CGM graph it's not a wave. It's a tsunami.

The most important part of this episode isn't the confession. It's what comes after it. Reflect. Figure out what you should have done differently. And then wipe your hands of it and walk away. Because that last part — walking away without carrying it — is the most powerful thing any of us can do.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why even experienced diabetics go through periods of laziness — and why that's okay
• How CGM distrust can spiral into broader diabetes management laziness
• What Ken's blood sugar pattern looked like when he stopped doing the little things
• Why the little things — pre-bolusing, micro dosing, carb awareness — matter more than people realize
• The three-step process for bouncing back — reflect, adjust, walk away
• Why giving yourself grace is not the same as making excuses
• Why waking up at 225 doesn't have to ruin your day or your mindset
• Why getting back on the horse immediately — not tomorrow, not Monday — is the only move

Diabetes Confessions Episode Guide:

• Part 2: Why I stopped Pre-Bolusing & What That Means For My Blood Sugar
• Part 1: I didn't Take Enough Insulin Because Of My Fear Of Lows: Now I Do This

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

After almost 20 years living with Type 1 diabetes, I've started to see a pattern that I can't unsee.

Almost every challenge I hear from clients, from listeners, from people reaching out on social media comes back to three or four specific things. And when those things click for you so many other problems start solving themselves without anyone having to try that hard.

Graham and I also get into the endocrinologist relationship and what it actually should look like. Both approaches are valid — but the question underneath both of them is the same one I want everyone listening to sit with.

There are 525,600 minutes in a year. Your doctor sees you for maybe sixty of them. What are you doing with the other 525,400 minutes you're not with them?

🔑 Key Takeaways

• The four things Ken believes fix the majority of diabetes management problems
• Why trusting your decisions is the foundation that every other habit is built on
• What a real pre-bolus looks like — and why five or seven minutes doesn't count
• What micro bolusing is and how Ken is using it differently now than he used to
• Why splitting a large dose across two smaller doses produces better outcomes
• Why bolusing for protein — especially at night — is the missing piece for most diabetics
• What the ideal endocrinologist relationship actually looks like — and why it's different for everyone
• Why there are 525,600 minutes in a year and your doctor sees you for maybe sixty of them

Episode Phrase:

There are 525,600 minutes in a year. Your doctor sees you for maybe sixty of them. What are you doing with the rest — and who is helping you? That question is the whole show. That question is everything.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

In this episode, I opened this episode with a concept that I don't think gets talked about honestly enough — rage bolusing.

It's what happens when your blood sugar won't come down, the frustration builds, and you just keep dumping insulin on top of insulin on top of insulin hoping something finally works. It feels like taking control. It isn't. It's one of the most emotionally driven and potentially dangerous patterns in Type 1 diabetes management — and almost all of us have been there at some point.

Graham and I break down what rage bolusing actually is, why it happens, what typically triggers it, and most importantly — what to do instead. Because the answer isn't more insulin. The answer is a checklist, a process, and the ability to take a breath and work through what's actually going on instead of reacting from a place of frustration.

From there the conversation takes an unexpected turn into surrender — not in a defeated way, but in the most powerful way. Why letting go of the emotional grip on your blood sugar numbers, your outcomes, and your frustration is one of the most transformative things you can do for your diabetes management and your mental health. And why if you can't get to that place of surrender, nothing else — not better insulin, not a new CGM, not a different protocol — is going to work the way you need it to.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• What rage bolusing actually is — and why it's different from stacking insulin
• Why frustration is the most dangerous emotional state in diabetes management
• What typically triggers a rage bolus — and the checklist to work through instead
• Why the outcome of rage bolusing is almost always a low you didn't see coming
• How the CGM can make rage bolusing worse by keeping you locked in tick-by-tick anxiety
• Why surrendering to your emotions isn't weakness — it's one of the most powerful things you can do
• Why Ken's lived experience with denial, depression, and burnout makes him a more effective coach than a textbook ever could
• Why being open to support — in whatever form that takes for you — is the non-negotiable first step

If you can get yourself to a place where you're able to take a step back, breathe, and surrender — so many positive things will happen. The dominoes will start falling. But you have to be open to it first. Because until you are, nothing else is going to work.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

In this episode, Graham and I get into something I find myself thinking about often - why is it so hard for people to eat well and live healthy lives? Not because they don't care. Not because they're lazy. But because the system is stacked against us. Ultra-processed foods are engineered to be addictive. Fast food is cheaper, faster, and more accessible than cooking a real meal after a ten-hour workday. And then the drive-through on the way home from that soccer tournament. This is how healthy choice becomes the hardest one.

We also get honest about health insurance, why I only see my endocrinologist once or twice a year.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why eating unhealthy isn't a willpower problem - it's an accessibility and system problem
• How ultra-processed foods are engineered to be addictive - and what that means for diabetics
• The three stages of health awareness - and why identifying your stage changes everything
• Why experience matters more than information when it comes to building healthy habits
• Why the decision to be healthy has to be real - not vague and someday-oriented
• How Ken's relationship with his endocrinologist evolved to once or twice a year appointments
• Why living a healthy lifestyle is a lifelong process - not a destination you arrive at
• How to stay on point with your health even when life makes the unhealthy choice the easy one

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

In today's episode Graham and I talk about why some people are successful in their diabetes management and others aren't. 

Routines and building the right consistent habits are one of the foundations to a great management system. We jump into why some people thrive on structure and schedules and logbooks, and why other people do just as well without any of that. We talk about the guilt that comes with being a grinder who can't turn their brain off even when they're supposed to be relaxing — and why that same relentless focus, when pointed at diabetes, can actually be one of your greatest assets.

We also dive into one phrase that I find myself saying often now. "It's a crazy time to be a diabetic." The decisions never stop. The variables never stop changing. And trying to do all of it while also building a life, a family, a career, or a business is  hard. This condition is all about being hyper focused on your decisions - without making yourself crazy at the same time. 

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why your personality type — grinder vs. go-with-the-flow — shapes how you manage diabetes
• How routines and schedules help some diabetics thrive — and why others do just as well without them
• Why logbooks work for some people and feel like prison to others — and both are valid
• The guilt that comes with being a grinder who can't turn their brain off — and why that focus is actually an asset
• Why it's a genuinely crazy time to be living with Type 1 diabetes — and what to do about it
• Why being hyper focused on your diabetes decisions doesn't mean making yourself crazy about them
• How to find a process that works for you — not the one that works for Ken or Graham
• Why the decision making never stops with diabetes — and how to make peace with that

Being hyper focused on your diabetes decisions is one of the most powerful things you can do. But there's a difference between being focused and making yourself crazy. You don't have to make the decisions more complicated than they are - you just have to make them.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

I sat down with Madi Cheever - registered dietitian, T1D, and founder of Type 1 Type Fun. Madi had an extraordinary year. She published a book, launched her podcast The Bad Diabetic Club, hosted a nearly 300-person diabetes conference, traveled to Japan, and served as dietitian at multiple diabetes camps across the country. From the outside it looked like everything was firing on all cylinders. Behind the scenes she was completely burned out - personally and professionally - and something had to give.

She shares what that burnout actually looked like, why she made the decision to step away from social media and her platforms, and what the process of moving across the country, rebuilding her personal life, and finding her way back to the work she loves actually taught her about rest, boundaries, and what it means to truly take care of yourself first.

Madi shows us that it doesn't matter what walk of life you come from or in what status your diabetes is functioning in, you can't pour from an empty cup. It will eventually catch up to you. 

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why even the most passionate and knowledgeable people in the diabetes space can hit a wall of burnout
• What Madi's burnout actually looked like - and the moment she knew something had to change
• Why you cannot pour from an empty cup - and what it actually means to fill yours first
• The importance of choosing people in your life who understand and support your diabetes
• How to identify whether you're in a season of thriving or a season of surviving
• Why nutrition for Type 1 is never about restriction - it's about fueling well and building sustainable habits
• What Madi learned from attending the TCOYD conference and why community is irreplaceable
• Why Madi and Ken are teaming up for a future episode specifically on GLP-1 medications and nutrition

Madi's Last Podcast Episode:

Madi's Book: You Have Permission: Eat Sugar, Fire Your Doctor, and Rewrite the Rules of Type 1 Diabetes

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

Once I understood the difference between insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity, everything clicked. Not just about diabetes - about why chronic disease is exploding, why autoimmune conditions are rising, and why the food systems most of us rely on are working against us instead of for us.

Graham and I dig into what insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity actually mean, how they affect blood sugar management on a daily basis, and why understanding the difference between the two is one of the most important things any person with T1D can do for their long-term health.

From there the conversation shifts into one of our most spirited debates yet - the pursuit of perfection in diabetes. Graham believes striving for perfection breeds confidence and control. I believe it's one of the fastest roads to diabetes burnout. We're both right. And we're both wrong. And the conversation that happens in between is one of the most honest and useful things we've talked about in a long time.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• What insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity actually are — and why the difference matters
• Why understanding these two concepts unlocks a clearer picture of chronic disease and autoimmune conditions
• Why our food systems are contributing to rising insulin resistance across the population
• Ken and Graham's spirited debate — is chasing perfection in diabetes helpful or harmful?
• Why the pursuit of perfection can quietly become the fastest road to diabetes burnout
• The difference between perfection and confidence — and which one actually sustains long-term management
• Why trusting your decisions matters more than always getting the outcome right
• How to think about the days that don't go the way you planned — without letting them derail everything

Perfection in diabetes is an illusion - and chasing it is one of the fastest roads to diabetes fatigue and diabetes burnout. What you're actually after is confidence and trust. The ability to make a decision, stand behind it, and move forward - even when the outcome isn't what you wanted. 

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review - it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Drop a comment and tell us - are you someone who thrives on the pursuit of perfection, or does it burn you out? We genuinely want to know.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

Diabetes doesn't hold me back, but it used to...

In today's episode, we talked about what it takes to manage diabetes as a caregiver and how making decisions for yourself is essential for building your confidence. 

What does it actually means to make yourself the priority - not in a selfish way, but in the way that every parent, spouse, coach, and person living with a chronic condition needs to hear. Because if you're taking care of yourself for everyone else's sake instead of your own, it's only a matter of time before that falls apart.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• The finger-pricking technique most diabetics have never been taught - and why it matters
• Why making yourself the number one priority isn't selfish - it's essential
• How making decisions for other people instead of yourself quietly erodes your mental health
• The connection between personal identity and diabetes management
• Why Graham's childhood experiences with diabetes as a kid in the nineties still resonate today
• How caregivers and parents of diabetics can better understand what their kids actually need
• Why Ken gets passionately triggered when someone says diabetes is holding them back

For most of my life I made decisions for other people. When I finally started making them for myself — everything changed. My mental state, my diabetes management, my confidence. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You have to be the priority first.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

Welcome to Diabetes Confessions — a diabetes series where talk about my diabetes confessions and how I've learned to overcome the mental, physical, and emotional toll of living with diabetes. 

(Episode 2): Pre-bolusing is one of the most important things you can do to keep your blood sugar stable after a meal. I've known that for a long time. And for a long stretch of my life with T1D — I wasn't doing it. Not consistently. Not correctly. And sometimes not at all.

In this episode I break down what pre-bolusing actually is, why synthetic insulin needs time to activate before food breaks down and rises your blood sugar, and why skipping this one step is often the reason blood sugars spike to 200+ after meals that should have been manageable. I also get honest about why I still don't pre-bolus every single time — and the specific situations where the math changes completely.

This one is practical, personal, and exactly the kind of conversation I wish someone had had with me when I was first diagnosed.

If you're consistently spiking after meals and can't figure out why — this episode is for you.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• What pre-bolusing actually is — and why most people have never been properly educated on it
• Why synthetic insulin has an activation window — and what happens when food beats it to the bloodstream
• How pre-bolusing is one of the top three most important habits for post-meal blood sugar stability
• Why Ken stopped pre-bolusing during his years of depression and denial — and what that cost him
• The specific situations where pre-bolusing timing needs to change — activity, blood sugar level, food type
• Why the 15-minute rule isn't always the right rule — and how to think about timing for your specific situation
• How giving yourself grace when decisions don't go perfectly is part of the process — not a sign of failure
• Why two types of lows exist — and how understanding both changes how you respond to them

Pre-bolusing gives your insulin time to do its job. When food beats insulin to your bloodstream every single time you eat, you're not managing diabetes — you're chasing it. Getting ahead of the spike is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do.

Diabetes Confessions Episode Guide:

• Part 1: I didn't Take Enough Insulin Because Of My Fear Of Lows: Now I Do This

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show