Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno

What does it take to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a full marathon in one day while managing type 1 diabetes?
In this episode, Lauren sits down with Gwen Schroeder, a 23-year-old cardiac nurse and endurance athlete who has lived with T1D since she was four years old and recently completed a full Ironman in Switzerland.
Gwen shares how she prepared for the race, what it was like swimming for over an hour without access to her insulin pump or CGM readings, and how she managed fueling and blood sugars through more than seven hours of cycling. And despite completing one of the toughest endurance races in the world, Gwen admits she still struggles to get through a regular run without going low. She opens up about the days T1D has brought her to tears, the temptation to give up, and what's kept her going anyway.

WHAT WE COVER:
How Gwen managed an 80-minute open-water swim without her insulin pump or access to her CGM readings
Just how many carbs Gwen consumed during the 112-mile bike ride and what happened to her blood sugar (this will shock you!)
The unexpected complication Gwen experienced the day AFTER her Ironman, despite staying in range throughout the race
Why Gwen still struggles to get through a regular run without going low, despite completing a 140.6-mile Ironman
The mindset that helped Gwen push through the days she wanted to give up on training because of T1D

WHAT’S NEXT:
🎟️ Join us at Rising Above T1D! Come together with the T1D community for two days of connection, inspiration, and conversations about living a fuller life with type 1 diabetes. Learn more and grab your ticket here.

💻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 Gwen’s story inspired you to think bigger about what’s possible with T1D, make sure to subscribe to Reclaim Your Rise and leave us a review! Your support helps us reach more people with T1D who need to hear stories like this.

What does going through IVF look like when you’re also managing type 1 diabetes?
In this episode, Lauren sits down with Risely Coach Jenna Ciszon, who has lived with T1D for 36 years and went through a years-long journey of trying to start a family before eventually turning to IVF.
Jenna shares what it took to bring her A1C from 7.9 to 6.1 before starting IVF, what two weeks of hormone injections and an egg retrieval looked like with T1D, and the rare complication that left her hospitalized for five days. She also opens up about miscarriage, navigating embryo transfers, and the mental and physical toll of managing T1D through an already demanding fertility journey.
Now a mom of two and a Risely coach who works with women preparing for and navigating pregnancy, Jenna looks back on what she wishes she had known before starting the process and why having support from people who understood both T1D and pregnancy would have changed so much for her.

WHAT WE COVER:
What it took for Jenna to bring her A1C from 7.9 to 6.1 before she could start IVF
The rare complication after Jenna’s egg retrieval that led to five days in the hospital and nine abdominal drains
What happened after Jenna’s first embryo transfer and how she prepared to try again
What changed when Jenna started Risely coaching at 16 weeks pregnant after more than 30 years of managing T1D largely on her own
What Jenna wishes she had done differently before trying to get pregnant with T1D
The T1D skills Jenna now wants women to have BEFORE pregnancy instead of figuring them out once they’re already pregnant

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: hello@riseyhealth.com   
IG: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
TikTok: @lauren_bongiorno | @riselyhealth
YT: Reclaim Your Rise 

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
IVF with type 1 diabetes can feel incredibly isolating. Subscribe and leave a review to help more people with T1D find honest conversations and stories that remind them they don’t have to navigate it alone.

What if the way we treat type 1 diabetes right after diagnosis could help someone keep producing their own insulin for longer?
In this episode, Lauren sits down with Samuel Reich, CEO of SAB Bio, to talk about SAB-142, an investigational therapy being studied to protect the insulin-producing cells someone still has when they’re diagnosed with T1D.
Sam breaks down why researchers are racing to protect the insulin your body still makes at diagnosis, what they’re studying both within the first 100 days and as far as two years after diagnosis, and how preserving that insulin could change life with T1D. He also shares his vision for a future where T1D is caught early enough that some people may never need insulin at all.
SAB-142 is still being studied, but this conversation offers an exciting look at how different a T1D diagnosis could become in the years ahead.

WHAT WE COVER:
How to find out if your child may be eligible for the SAFEGUARD Study and what steps to take if they are
Why you may still have functioning insulin-producing cells when you’re diagnosed with T1D and what could happen if we protect them
Whether preserving your remaining beta cells could mean less insulin, a lower A1C, and more time in range
What researchers saw in C-peptide levels just four months into the first SAB-142 study
Why researchers are questioning whether time since diagnosis matters as much as how much insulin your body can still produce
Why people up to two years past diagnosis are now being studied, even though most newly diagnosed T1D trials focus on a much shorter window
How catching T1D before insulin is needed could completely change what a diagnosis looks like 10 to 15 years from now

WHAT’S NEXT:
👉If your child was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, go to SafeGuardStudy.com to learn more about the SAFEGUARD study and see if they may qualify.
🏋️ Want to make exercise with T1D more predictable? Join our 8-week Exercise & Insulin Sensitivity Coaching Program to learn how to stay in range during movement, improve insulin sensitivity, and build strategies that work for YOUR body. Our next group starts October 20th and spots are limited.
💻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
The more T1D research evolves, the more important it is that our community knows what’s possible. Subscribe and leave a review to help more people with T1D find conversations like this one.

Pregnancy with type 1 diabetes comes with tighter blood sugar targets, changing insulin needs, more appointments, and a whole new level of attention to your diabetes. But what does it actually look like to go through the entire experience?
In this episode, Lauren sits down with Risely Coach Katerina Harmon, who recently welcomed her daughter, Lydia, to talk through her experience from preparing for pregnancy all the way through labor, delivery, breastfeeding, and the first few months postpartum.
Katerina went into pregnancy feeling confident in her diabetes management, with an A1C of 5.9 and months of preparation behind her. But even with that foundation, there was plenty she had to figure out along the way, from insulin needs that changed dramatically throughout pregnancy to advocating for herself, preparing for labor and delivery, and finding a new rhythm with T1D once Lydia was here.

WHAT WE COVER:
What Katerina did months before trying to conceive to prepare her blood sugars for pregnancy
How her insulin needs changed throughout each trimester
Why knowing how to recognize patterns and confidently adjust insulin became so important
Katerina’s experience using manual mode during much of her pregnancy
Advocating for yourself with your endocrinology, MFM, and OB teams
How Katerina prepared her husband to help manage her T1D during labor
Her 44-hour labor, induction, epidural, and four and a half hours of pushing
What happened to her insulin needs after giving birth
Breastfeeding with T1D and navigating postpartum lows
What Katerina wishes women with T1D knew before beginning pregnancy prep

If pregnancy is something you’re thinking about in the next year or two, you’re actively preparing, or you’re already pregnant, this conversation gives you an honest look at what the experience can actually look like with type 1 diabetes.

WHAT’S NEXT:
🤰 Preparing for pregnancy with T1D?
On October 14th, Lauren is working with a small cohort of women with type 1 diabetes who are preparing to get pregnant in 2027/2028. The 12 week group coaching program is designed to help you get your blood sugars ready for pregnancy while building the skills, patterns, and confidence you’ll need to sustain tighter targets through the changes pregnancy can bring.
If you’re interested, apply through the Risely Health Coaching Application and note that you’re specifically interested in the high touch Pregnancy Prep Program.

Stay connected with us: 
📧Join thousands of T1Ds reading our newsletter every Tuesday: T1D tips and encouragement, straight to your inbox.
Email us at: hello@riseyhealth.com   

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

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW
Pregnancy with T1D can come with a lot of “How am I ever going to do this?” If this episode made it feel a little more doable, subscribe and leave a review to help another T1D find it when she needs it.

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Dara Melnick, a licensed therapist who has lived with T1D for 38 years, to talk about the side of “good” diabetes management beyond the numbers.
Dara spent years trying to keep her numbers as perfect as possible. She tested her blood sugar up to 30 times a day before CGMs, developed strict rules around food, and eventually stopped eating breakfast to avoid the spike. Her A1C looked great, but managing T1D was exhausting. 
Through Risely coaching, Dara learned how to loosen those rules without sacrificing the blood sugars she had worked so hard for. Today, she has a 5.7 A1C while eating based on what her body is asking for, salmon and sourdough or Cheez-Its and pretzels.
Lauren and Dara also get into what 38 years with T1D has taught Dara as a therapist, a mom, and a woman, from using the “power of the pause” when diabetes goes sideways to why asking for help can be one of the most powerful things you do for yourself.

WHAT WE COVER:
How trying to keep her blood sugar “perfect” led Dara to a 6.1 A1C, testing up to 30 times a day, and eventually skipping breakfast altogether
The Risely secrets that helped Dara go from strict food rules to a 5.7 A1C while eating what she craved, when she craved it
When “good” diabetes management crosses the line into diabetes controlling your life
What led Dara to ask for help even though she’s a licensed therapist who’d managed T1D for decades
The “power of the pause” and how Dara uses it to respond instead of react to CGM readings
What T1D has taught Dara about raising her 10 and 13-year-old kids, including the lesson they learned when she suddenly went low on a family hike

WHAT’S NEXT:

💻Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve with T1D.
🛒Use code RiselyHealth15 for 15% off discount at Lakanto!
📧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 Dara’s story made you realize you can have great blood sugars without letting T1D dictate when, what, and how you eat, subscribe and leave a review so more people living with T1D can find it.