Reclaim Your Rise
with Lauren Bongiorno

“I had no idea adults could get Type 1”. Sue May spent more than 20 years as a health coach supporting women through fertility, IVF, perimenopause, and menopause. But in her 50s, her own life took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after missing symptoms like extreme thirst, rapid weight loss, and exhaustion, eventually discovering her blood sugar was over 500. As someone who had spent her career helping others navigate major health transitions, Sue suddenly found herself overwhelmed, under-supported, and trying to make sense of a diagnosis she never saw coming. In this episode, Sue shares what it was really like to be diagnosed later in life, the emotional weight of learning to manage an entirely new condition, and how finding the right support completely changed her experience. She also opens up about the overlap between type 1 diabetes and perimenopause, why so many women are left without answers during hormonal shifts, and what it looks like to advocate for yourself through seasons of change. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of adult-onset type 1 diabetes, the impact hormones can have on blood sugars, and the reminder that even the most unexpected diagnosis can become an opportunity to reclaim your rise. WHAT WE COVER: How Sue navigated being diagnosed with T1D in her 50s Why adult-onset type 1 diabetes is far more common than most people realize, and early signs to watch for What it means to stay flexible when life, hormones, and diabetes are constantly evolving Sue’s reminder that women are not “crazy” when they notice midlife changes How Sue turned an unexpected diagnosis into a new purpose and a deeper way of serving others How finding community helped her stop feeling alone and start feeling empowered in her diabetes journey Why reclaiming your rise starts with putting yourself first and trusting your ability to adapt through every season WHAT’S NEXT: 📱 The Risely App is here! Get support for the 180+ decisions you make every day, so you can build confidence with T1D without your life revolving around it. 🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D. 💻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: hello@riseyhealth.com IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth YT: Reclaim Your Rise SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If Sue’s story helped you feel less alone in navigating a later-in-life diagnosis, subscribe and leave a review so more adults with T1D can find this support.

In this episode, Meg Bomley shares her T1D journey from being diagnosed at 18 years old and spending eight years on MDI without a CGM, to becoming someone who feels deeply empowered in her body and her diabetes. Meg first came on the podcast in 2022 after graduating from Risely coaching. At the time, she had just come out of a season of constant lows, burnout, and feeling completely overwhelmed after switching to a pump without the support she needed. Today, she’s back as a nationally board certified health coach, and 35 weeks pregnant with type 1 diabetes, one of Risely’s top coaches. The majority of this conversation is the reality of navigating pregnancy with T1D: the nausea, insulin resistance, fear of highs, changing carb ratios, and learning to trust yourself in this season. WHAT WE COVER: Why Meg resisted pumps and CGMs for nearly 8 years after diagnosis The “biggest disaster ever” that happened when she first switched to a pump What finally helped her stop feeling resistant, overwhelmed, and burnt out with diabetes How coaching helped her uncover mindset blocks that had nothing to do with insulin or carb counting The first sign Meg noticed that told her her insulin resistance was changing after getting pregnant How she managed nausea, vomiting, insulin on board, and eating mostly carbs during pregnancy The difference between taking 5 units for oatmeal pre-pregnancy vs. 16 units during pregnancy What it’s actually like mentally to watch yourself take “large amounts of insulin” every day WHAT’S NEXT: 📱 The Risely App is here! Get support for the 180+ decisions you make every day, so you can build confidence with T1D without your life revolving around it. 🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D. 💻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: hello@riseyhealth.com IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth YT: Reclaim Your Rise SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If this episode helped you feel less alone or more prepared for pregnancy with type 1 diabetes, subscribe and leave a review so more T1Ds can find this support.

Rafael Pepen was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 17, right in the middle of rehearsing for his very first musical in the Dominican Republic. Without access to a CGM or carb counting education, he learned to manage largely on instinct. Years later, he moved to the US, pursued his dream of performing professionally, and eventually landed at Disney, where he now performs five high cardio shows a day. In this episode, Rafael sits down with Lauren to talk about what it actually looks like to manage T1D in a life that never slows down. He shares the months of burnout, panic attacks around lows, and constant roller coaster blood sugars that led him to seek coaching, and what shifted on the other side of that. WHAT WE COVER: What it was like to be diagnosed at 17 in the Dominican Republic with limited access to education, CGMs, or carb counting guidance The unique challenge of managing T1D across five high cardio shows a day and why it is a completely different beast from a traditional performance schedule The moment things started to unravel at Disney and what five months of daily lows, panic attacks, and burnout actually felt like from the inside What shifted when Rafael started working with a Risely coach and the tools that made the biggest difference for his day to day management The emotional side of T1D that most people never talk about, including what it felt like to cry during a low and the moment that started to change What Rafael is still working toward and the one thing he wants most from his relationship with diabetes going forward WHAT’S NEXT: 📱 The Risely App is here! Get support for the 180+ decisions you make every day, so you can build confidence with T1D without your life revolving around it. 🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D. 📊 Diabetes burnout is real, and it can show up in ways you don’t always expect. Take the Diabetes Distress assessment and see where you score. 💻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: hello@riseyhealth.com IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth YT: Reclaim Your Rise SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If Rafael's story made you feel less alone in the harder seasons of T1D, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with this disease can find it.

In this solo episode, Lauren breaks down one of the most common and frustrating T1D scenarios: correcting and still running high. She starts by validating why it's so hard, and how it’s not necessarily because of the high itself, but because of the "boomerang decision" it creates. Lauren walks through the exact decision framework she uses with clients at Risely to think through this scenario clearly. From checking your insulin timing and ruling out a site issue to widening the lens on what else might be driving resistance. The goal isn't just to fix the high. It's to build the muscle of thinking through situations like this so they get easier every time. She also shares how the Risely app's Decision Domains feature brings this kind of framework to life, with voice notes and written breakdowns for the real scenarios T1Ds face every day. WHAT WE COVER: Why correcting and staying high feels so frustrating and why the gap between what you expected and what happened is the hardest part The urge to rage bolus, why it backfires, and what to do instead Checking the timing of your correction and understanding your insulin action window Why ruling out a pump site issue comes first, and how to know when changing your site is worth it even if you're not sure it's the problem Widening the lens to consider fat, protein, stress, illness, and sedentary days as hidden drivers of insulin resistance How to use movement to activate insulin on board before reaching for more When to look at your correction factors versus treating this as a one-time scenario How decision frameworks reduce the energy drain of T1D over time, and how the newly launched Risely app brings this to life through Decision Domains WHAT’S NEXT: 📱 The Risely app is here! Get support for the 180+ decisions you make every day, so you can build confidence with T1D without your life revolving around it. 🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D. 📊 Diabetes burnout is real, and it can show up in ways you don’t always expect. Take the Diabetes Distress assessment and see where you score. 💻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: hello@riseyhealth.com IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth YT: Reclaim Your Rise SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If this episode gave you a clearer way to think through the next time you're stuck high after a correction, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.