The fact this whole challenge is built on: when you move today, your insulin works better tomorrow. For 24 to 48 hours after movement, the muscles you used stay more sensitive to insulin. One walk buys you a bonus that's still paying out tomorrow night, like a Costco membership for your pancreas.
And this year the receipts got enormous. A 2026 study in Diabetologia analyzed 428,058 real exercise sessions from 3,248 people with type 1 diabetes wearing CGMs. Every type of movement improved time in range over the next 24 hours: walking about 2 points, strength work almost 4. Neil also gives you the honest cost from the same study (time below range rose slightly on active days) and why that's exactly what the upcoming safety-net episode is for.
In this episode:

* The 24-to-48-hour insulin sensitivity window, explained simply
* 428,058 real T1D workouts: the biggest exercise dataset our community has ever had
* Walking vs cardio vs strength for next-day time in range
* The honest tradeoff nobody selling fitness plans will tell you

Your challenge: move ten easy minutes today, then pay attention tomorrow. A lot of people can feel the day-after difference once they know to look.
Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

The coolest piece of machinery you own, and nobody ever handed you the manual. Normally, sugar leaves your blood through a door that only insulin can unlock. That's type 1 diabetes in one sentence. But your muscles have a second door, a side door, and it opens when you move. No insulin required. It's the Home Alone house: the front door is booby-trapped and complicated, and the side door is just... open.
Neil breaks down GLUT4 (the worst-named best friend in diabetes), why a walk can pull a number down all by itself, and why this mechanism works identically in every human body, which is exactly why the movement research applies to those of us with T1D. This is the episode that explains everything that follows in the Keep It Moving challenge.
In this episode:

* How muscle contraction pulls glucose out of your blood without insulin
* GLUT4 explained in plain English, with appropriate mockery of the name
* Why a 10-minute walk can visibly bend your CGM line
* The great equalizer: why this science applies to every body, T1D included

Your challenge: use the door on purpose once. Walk easy for ten minutes after any meal, then peek at your CGM at the two-hour mark.
Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

It's Labor Day, college football is back, and Neil just sat through a noon kickoff and surfaced at midnight. Perfect timing to explain what a three-hour sit actually does inside a body with type 1 diabetes: your leg muscles clock out, sugar hangs around in your blood, insulin works alone, and that stubborn afternoon high parks itself on your CGM. You might not have eaten your way into it. You might have sat your way into it.
The hope: a 2012 Diabetes Care study found just two minutes of easy walking every 20 minutes meaningfully lowered blood sugar and insulin levels compared to sitting straight through. And the American Diabetes Association's 2025 Standards of Care now officially recommend breaking up sitting at least every 30 minutes. It's in the rulebook your endo reads.
In this episode:

* What happens to glucose and insulin during a long unbroken sit
* The 2012 study: two minutes of strolling every 20 minutes moved real numbers
* The ADA's new every-30-minutes guideline, explained in plain English
* Why football Saturdays are a blood sugar event of their own

Your challenge: one time this week, catch yourself mid-long-sit and just get up for two minutes. Consider it a test drive.
Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

How many steps do you actually take on a normal day? Not your best day, a regular Tuesday. Check your phone, and prepare to appeal the ruling. In this episode Neil breaks down the gap between how active we feel and what the step count says, and why being busy and actually moving are two different things for blood sugar.
Then two stats that change the whole conversation. Most adults with type 1 diabetes do not hit the recommended 150 minutes of weekly activity, and the number one reason in the research is fear of going low, not laziness. And that famous 10,000 steps goal? A 1960s Japanese pedometer slogan, not science. A 2022 Lancet Public Health study of about 47,000 adults found the big health benefits show up way before 10K.
In this episode:

* The real reason people with T1D move less, straight from the research
* Where 10,000 steps actually came from, and what the science says instead
* 47,000 adults, 40 to 50 percent lower mortality risk, no gym required
* How to find your true step baseline this weekend

Your challenge: two numbers at bedtime for a few days, your steps from your phone and your longest sit. That baseline is the only number you'll ever compete against here.
Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

Welcome to Keep It Moving, the new 8-week challenge for people with type 1 diabetes, and meet the villain: the chair. Nobody decides to sit for half a day. The chair decides for you, quietly, like a Netflix autoplay countdown, and your blood sugar pays the tax. Neil opens with his own confession: eight back-to-back Zoom meetings, a 4am run that turned into a fully sedentary day, and the insulin sensitivity drop he can feel by every afternoon.

This is not a fitness challenge. No gym, no gear, no 10,000 steps. The problem is long, unbroken sitting, and the fix is smaller than anyone has told you. Starting now, right before the fall slump steals everyone's movement, about 2,000 people with T1D are getting ahead of it together.

In this episode:

• Why sitting, not exercise, is the real blood sugar problem for most of us
• How long unbroken sitting quietly raises insulin needs through the day
• What the fall slump does to activity and A1C, and why we start in September
• The before picture: the one number to notice this week without changing anything

Your challenge this week: change nothing. Just notice your longest unbroken sit each day. No guilt, no fixing. We're taking the before picture.

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

Eight weeks ago, you were spiking after dinner and blaming yourself for it. This is the finale of The Head Start, and instead of another recap, Neil reads two listener stories that say what these eight weeks were really about, one from a woman who cried at her kitchen sink the first time she saw a flat 140, and one from a 31-year veteran whose time in range jumped from the low 60s to 81%.

Then Neil looks ahead. Starting in September, the next challenge is steps, just walking, and it's the perfect sequel to pre-bolusing. One walk can improve insulin sensitivity for 24 to 48 hours, a 10-minute walk after a meal lowers the spike, and breaking up sitting can cut the after-meal glucose rise by about 28%. We start in September and October, before the cold-weather slump, because A1C is at its lowest then and climbs through winter as we move less.

In this episode:

• Two real listener stories on what pre-bolusing changed for them
• Why time in range is protecting your health for years to come
• A first look at the next challenge: steps and walking for T1D
• The science of walking, insulin sensitivity, and post-meal blood sugar

Final Challenge: Keep pre-bolusing your dinner, it's yours now. And if you're feeling good tonight, take a short walk after dinner, a little sneak preview of September.

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

Raquel Baron was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at five years old and left the hospital late to her own birthday party. Twenty-four years later, she's the founder and CEO of Type One Together, home of the T1D Babysitter List, now over 4,000 sitters nationwide who either live with type 1 or love someone who does. It started as one college student in Austin with 14 names written on a piece of paper. This week, Neil pulls up a chair at the kids table.

This one is for the T1D parents. Pre-bolusing is hard enough as an adult. Try doing it for a picky toddler who might eat all the mashed potatoes, none of them, or hit the trampoline right after dinner. Raquel breaks down why chasing one perfect dose is the trap, how to dose for the carbs you KNOW they'll eat, and why splitting the dose into little swings beats swinging for the fences. Then she gets honest about the part nobody says out loud: why telling kids to hope for a cure can quietly backfire, and what she wants every worried parent to hear from the kid who grew up on the other side of it.

In this episode:

• Why kids miss so many doses... research Neil shares shows more than 1 in 4 meals gets a late or missed bolus, and about half of snack boluses in kids never happen
• The stat that stops you cold: kids who get their boluses on time are about 24 times more likely to be in excellent control
• Raquel's "safe number" method: dose for the food you know they'll eat, keep an emergency treat in the pantry, and add insulin as the meal unfolds
• The pediatric guidelines that give parents permission to dose during or after meals for little ones... you are not failing if the 15-minute head start doesn't happen
• Handing off T1D responsibility in stages, from "press the button for me" at toddler age to the high schooler who wants the freedom
• CGM anxiety is real: why parents can't put the phone down, and the ten-minute timer trick from the Better Together community
• Diabuddies, the babysitter question every parent forgets to answer, "hope isn't a strategy," and a NEW Fastest Five Minutes world record (30 answers, sorry Natalie)

This Week's Challenge: Parents, pre-bolus for the safe number. Look at the plate, find the carbs your kid will absolutely eat, and get that insulin going. No bullseye required. Little swings win.

Learn more about Type One Together, the T1D Babysitter List, and the Better Together community: https://www.typeonetogether.com

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com
Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

Previously, on The Head Start: a man admitted he's had type 1 for 34 years and still sometimes doses with his mouth full, and an entire audience realized the after-dinner spike was never their fault. This is the greatest-hits recap, and this time it comes with the receipts.

Neil runs the whole arc, the fear, the junk drawer of reasons, why food beats insulin to the finish line, and then the science: 15 minutes early can cut your peak by about 50 points, the sweet spot is 15 to 20 minutes, and pre-bolusing did not raise lows. Plus the August numbers, 27% of meals get a late or missed bolus, a high-fat meal can need 42% more insulin, and even 20-year veterans miss carb counts by about 15 grams. Eight weeks, one real skill.

In this episode:

• The full eight-week arc, from fear to flat lines
• The headline studies and numbers behind pre-bolusing
• The August real-life lessons: restaurants, pizza, tech, and the kids' table
• Proof of how far you've come since Episode 216

This Week's Challenge: Pull up your two-hour numbers from week one next to now. Compare them side by side. That difference is your receipt. Keep it.

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

The challenge is almost over, so the real question is what happens next week, when Neil isn't in your ears three times a week. This episode is about making the pre-bolus habit last past the finish line, and it's grounded in habit science.

A study by Phillippa Lally found it takes about 66 days on average for a behavior to become automatic, but the range is huge, 18 to 254 days. So if pre-bolusing still takes effort, you're not failing, you're on a normal curve. The best finding: missing a single day did not break the habit. Neil also makes the timely case for locking it in now, heading into back-to-school season, so the new routine gets built while everything's already being rearranged.

In this episode:

• Why habits that last are the ones that got easy, not white-knuckled
• The Lally study: about 66 days to automatic, and one missed day is fine
• How to habit-stack your pre-bolus so it survives busy seasons
• Why back-to-school is the perfect time to lock it in

This Week's Challenge: Write down, somewhere you'll see it, the one reason YOU want to keep pre-bolusing. When motivation dips in a few weeks, that note is what carries you.

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1

Remember day one, when the after-dinner spike was just the rent you paid for eating? Now think about last week, when you pre-bolused, ate, and looked down at a flat, boring, beautiful CGM line. This episode is about that feeling, because that feeling is the whole point.

Neil shares what people describe when it clicks, not the number, but "I didn't have to correct," "I wasn't cranky all evening," "I forgot I had diabetes for a couple hours." And he grounds it in the science: a 2019 study by Beck found that every 10% you add to your time in range is roughly a 0.6% drop in your A1C, and a re-analysis of the DCCT linked higher time in range to lower rates of microvascular complications, your eyes and kidneys. That flat line isn't just a calmer evening, it's years.

In this episode:

• Why the first flat post-meal line feels so good
• What time in range actually buys you, day to day
• The Beck study: every 10% more time in range ~ 0.6% lower A1C
• How better time in range protects against long-term complications

This Week's Challenge: Catch one flat line and actually notice it. Don't scroll past your own CGM, look at it, and say, "I made that happen." Credit the win.

Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com

Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1