Reclaim Your Rise
with Lauren Bongiorno

The Jocelyn 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 the 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 her diabulimia put her in the hospital. This episode is raw and real, but 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.