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: [email protected]   

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: [email protected]   

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: [email protected]   

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.

About a month ago, Lauren went through a two week stretch of crazy work hours, disrupted sleep, missed workouts, and a few sick days. Her time in range started slipping and she had to figure out how to navigate it in real time.

In this solo episode, she walks through exactly what happened, how she recognized her insulin sensitivity was changing, and the three options she always considers when life throws her off routine. Because waiting for perfect conditions to come back is never the answer.

WHAT WE COVER:

• The first sign Lauren noticed that told her her insulin sensitivity was dropping 
• The three options available when your insulin sensitivity changes
• How Lauren used a hybrid of all three approaches to get her time in range from 65% back up to 80% during a chaotic two week stretch
• The difference between temporary insulin resistance and a long term foundational shift in your sensitivity and how to know which one you are dealing with
• What factortends to creep up when you are out of your routine and how it impacts your insulin sensitivity more than most people realize
• How hormones, sleep, stress, illness, and exercise all play a role in shifting your sensitivity and what to do about each one
• What parents of children with T1D need to know about insulin sensitivity changes during puberty

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D.

🏋️ Join our upcoming free live workshop to discover smarter, more strategic way to work out with T1D, while staying in range. Two timessessions available on Tuesday, May 12th.

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

📧Join 20+ thousand 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 gave you a clearer way to think through what is happening with your blood sugars when life gets in the way, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

In this episode, Lauren walks through a recent day in Florida where a combination of late night pizza, an exhausting night with a newborn, a long tennis session without enough food, and a handful of chips sent her on a full day roller coaster that ended with a scary low at dinner.

Lauren shares the five things she always does to reset physically and mentally following a tough blood sugar day, and why how you respond matters just as much as what caused it in the first place.

WHAT WE COVER:

• First and foremost: EVERY T1D has bad blood sugar days, what matters is how you respond 
• How to get to a place where these days are more rare then they are normal   
• Lauren’s five steps for overcoming a bag blood sugar day 
• Why reflecting on these days is important & how to stop procrastinating it 
• Recognizing low TIR days as data to move forward *instead of* a reflection of failure 
• Why communicating with the people around you on bad blood sugar days matters and how to ask for what you actually need

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 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 20+ thousand 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 helped you feel less alone after a tough blood sugar day and gave you something to reach for the next time one happens, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

On April 3rd, in the middle of a regular workday, Lauren's CGM read 245 with double arrows up. She did not feel high. She bolused anyway. Twenty minutes later she was on her kitchen floor, chugging orange juice, with her blood sugar in the 30s, headed down fast. Her CGM had been over 100 points off.

In this solo episode, Lauren shares exactly what happened that day, why it scared her in a way that CGM issues never had before, and what she believes needs to change in the conversation around CGM accuracy. She also talks about how to hold gratitude for the technology that keeps us alive while still being honest about its limitations and why trusting your instincts and finger pricking more often might be the most important PSA she can share right now.

WHAT WE COVER:

• How Lauren’s CGM was recently over 100 points off, and why it led to one of the worst lows she has had in years
• The three issues she noticed immediately after switching to the Dexcom G7 last August and how they evolved over time
• Why she believes you can hold gratitude for diabetes technology in one hand and frustration in the other at the same time
• What she would do differently next time
• The PSA every person with T1D needs to hear about finger pricking and what happens when you override your own instincts

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 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 20+ thousand 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 made you feel less alone in the frustrating and sometimes scary reality of managing T1D with imperfect technology, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with this disease can find it.

Erin Provost was living a busy life as a wife and mom when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 30. In 2023, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and spent the better part of a year fighting her way through it. Just when she thought the hardest part was behind her, a routine eye appointment introduced her to one more word she never expected to hear: retinopathy.

In this episode, Erin sits down with Lauren to talk about what it looks like to manage T1D through a cancer diagnosis, radiation, a hysterectomy, and the complete loss of her ability to feel her lows and highs. She talks about the guilt, the burnout, the deep fear of insulin that took root after a terrifying low, and the moment the retinopathy diagnosis finally pushed her to get the support she had been needing. She shares how coaching helped her go from 50% to 75% time in range by taking it one small step at a time, and what it meant to finally stop being angry at herself and start forgiving herself for the years of hardship.

WHAT WE COVER:

• What it felt like to manage T1D while fighting breast cancer, how her A1C climbed to an 8.5 during treatment, and why she does not blame herself for it
• How accidentally doubling her metformin dose led to a terrifying low that created a lasting fear of insulin, affecting every bolusing decision she made from that point forward
• What it was like to lose the ability to feel both lows and highs after a hysterectomy, and how she learned to navigate T1D without any of the physical signals she had relied on
• The moment at her eye doctor appointment where she finally decided she could not keep going the way she had been and sought support
• How coaching helped her take one step at a time, starting with something as simple as eating breakfast, and how those small steps compounded into real momentum
• What it means to stop wallowing, forgive yourself for the hard years, and find your way back to yourself

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 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: [email protected]   

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

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If Erin's story helped you feel less alone in the weight of everything T1D can bring, subscribe and leave a review so more people navigating this disease can find it.

Coach Lindsey has lived with Type 1 Diabetes for 19 years and has been coaching with Risely for over two years. Lindsay was already a health coach in her primary role when she came to Risely as a client. She came through our group coaching program, found her footing with her own diabetes management, and knew she wanted to bring that same support to others. After completing the program, she went on to earn her National Board Certification in coaching and trained under the Risely team before officially joining as a coach. She now works with clients through the exact challenges she once navigated herself, which makes her one of the most grounded voices on what it actually takes to move from reactive management to intentional decision-making with T1D.

In this episode, Lauren and Lindsey dig into the Tandem pump features that many T1D’s either don't know exist or don't know how to use to their full advantage. They cover the features most people are only using at surface level (Control IQ, sleep mode, exercise mode, temp basal, and extended bolus) and share the real-life context behind when and why to use each one. The conversation is honest about the fact that none of these are one-size-fits-all, and that getting to a place where these tools feel second nature takes time, pattern recognition, and a willingness to test and learn.

WHAT WE COVER:

• The biggest gaps we see when people are using pumps but not actually optimizing them
• How to think about your pump as a tool you can adjust, not something that controls you
• The difference between reacting to your numbers and making intentional decisions
• What Control IQ is actually doing in the background, including correction limits most Tandem users aren’t aware of
• How to use exercise mode and sleep mode beyond their intended use to help prevent highs and lows

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 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: [email protected]   
IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
If this episode gave you one tip you can take back and test this week, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

Many challenges with your blood sugars can be grouped into one of the two categories: habit or infrastructure. Until you know which one you're dealing with, you're likely doing patchwork (making changes that don't move the needle) and getting frustrated by nothing really changing.

In this solo episode, Lauren breaks down the foundational framework she uses with every coaching client to identify exactly where the leaks are coming from. She walks through what falls under each category, why most people are unknowingly mixing the two up, and why that's one of the most common reasons people struggle to improve their blood sugars. She also covers the three most important things to understand about how habits and infrastructure interact, why 98% of people who come into coaching are convinced their settings are fine until they actually test them, and the specific order Lauren recommends starting with, so you can build momentum and start making changes that actually move your numbers.

WHAT WE COVER:

• The ship leaks analogy…. why patching what you can see on the surface never works if you haven't found where the water is actually draining
• What falls under the habit category What falls under the infrastructure category Why the most common mistake is treating a habit issue with an infrastructure change (and vice versa) and the real-life examples that show why this keeps people stuck
• Why 98% of people who come into coaching are convinced their settings are fine and what they find when they actually test them
• How to tell whether what you're experiencing is situational or a broader sign that your foundation needs to be strengthened 

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 Discover Your T1D Archetype! Take the free quiz to understand the pattern behind how you think, respond, and make decisions with T1D.

🧡Ready to work through this framework on your own? Check out the A1C Shift Method and Insulin Sensitivity Course and get started today. 

💻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 made you stop and ask "is this a habit issue or an infrastructure issue?" for the first time, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

Megan O'Neill is a physician associate who spent years in clinical practice before finding her calling at the intersection of diabetes care and psychology. While working at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Megan discovered the work of leading diabetes psychology researchers and it changed her entire practice, her perspective, and her passion. That foundation eventually led her to Abbott Diabetes Care, where she has spent the last eight years advocating for the emotional and psychological side of living with diabetes to be treated with the same seriousness as the clinical data.

In this conversation, Lauren and Megan dig into what diabetes distress actually looks like day to day — the exhaustion, the isolation, the feeling of doing everything right and still not getting the results you hoped for. They talk about why it often goes unrecognized in clinical care, how it differs from depression, and why a good A1C doesn't always mean you're okay. They also explore how CGMs can both reduce and sometimes complicate our emotional relationship with diabetes and what it actually takes to move the needle when distress is high.

WHAT WE COVER:

• What diabetes distress really is, how it differs from depression, and why it is still significantly underutilized as a screening tool in clinical care
• Why people with an A1C under 7 can still score in the moderate to high range on the diabetes distress scale and what that actually means
• The unequal energy exchange of T1D: putting in the effort but not getting the results, and why that cycle is so defeating
• How CGMs have overwhelmingly helped reduce distress and the honest acknowledgment that alarms and constant data can also add to it for some people
• What the research actually says about what helps most when someone is not reaching their diabetes goals: it is not just education or medication management alone
• The one tangible step you can take in the next 24 hours if any of this conversation resonated with you

WHAT’S NEXT:

🧠 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: [email protected]   

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

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
If this conversation helped you put language to something you have been quietly carrying, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.

After coaching 2,500+ adults with T1D, Lauren discovered the T1D Archetypes. She notices there could be two people with the same A1C, and completely different remission experiences. The difference was never the numbers, it was the pattern underneath them.

In this episode, Lauren and Abby Cooper (Risely's Director of Coaching) unveil something 10 years in the making: the Risely T1D Archetype framework. If you've ever followed every prescription and still felt trapped by your diabetes, this episode will finally show you why.

WHAT WE COVER:

• Why people stay stuck with T1D (it’s never a discipline problem)
• The 5 T1D Archetypes: The Refiner, The Protector, The Reflector, The Devoted, and The Strategist
• How unconscious coping patterns quietly shape your relationship with diabetes
• Why you don't have to become someone you’re not to manage T1D well - you just need to understand your archetype

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

If this episode helped you feel seen - especially if you've been doing everything "right" and still feel stuck - subscribe and leave a review so more T1Ds can find their archetype.