Reclaim Your Rise: Type 1 Diabetes with Lauren Bongiorno

This episode is in honor of Kylee Breann Whitley, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and a friend living with type 1 diabetes. 

In this deeply emotional conversation, Dr. Joren Whitley opens up about the life and loss of his sister, Kylee-a bright, adventurous young woman who lived with type 1 diabetes and battled diabulimia, an often-misunderstood eating disorder. This is not just about loss, it is a call to action for families, friend...

Today's guest is a dear friend of mine who I've shared many meals with, a few stages before, Kyle Banks. In the middle of living out his dreams, performing on Broadway and working with some of the biggest names in the music industry, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis changed everything. In this episode, Kyle shares his journey from the bright lights of Broadway to starting up Kyler Cares and how that work has grown from helping...

If you've been afraid of carbs or you were told that eating fewer carbs is the only way to manage blood sugars, today's episode is for you. We’re breaking down everything that people with T1D need to know to make empowered choices with food and have a healthy relationship with it. To help us understand why we need carbs and officially debunk these myths, is Bridget Wood– Registered and Licensed Dietitian, Certified Diabet...

Have you ever wondered: What if, in those early days after diagnosis, there was something you could do to help protect the insulin your body still makes? In this episode, we’re exploring exactly that. I'm joined by Ulf Hannelius, CEO of Diamyd Medical, to talk about a therapy that could be a game-changer for people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It's called GAD therapy, and it's currently being studied in the ...

Parenting kids with type 1, especially if you're in the thick of the middle school years, is already a roller coaster for so many reasons. Add a chronic illness like T1D into the mix and the emotional and developmental tension for both parent and child can feel like a lot. As someone who is going through this stage of T1D parenting right now, Abby is taking over today’s episode, to lead a conversation for parents of kids with ...

Today’s episode was inspired by a powerful conversation…. What I’m talking about today is something everyone with T1D or if you have a child with T1D can benefit from hearing. Even those who may have heard it before, will benefit from being reminded again, too.  

Quick Takeaways:

• Learning your patterns: Where to spend more of your time vs where you’re wasting your time 
• The truth about how I bolus for restaurant meals and mor...

In this episode, I’m joined by Carly Piehl, a 35-year-old mom and wife who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in late 2024 while in DKA, with no family history and no warning signs. Carley opens up about what those first overwhelming months were really like, from being sent home from the ER with a 13 A1C to navigating both the emotional and blood sugar rollercoaster. Despite early progress, she still felt stuck and frustrated until...

Today I’m joined by Dr. Juan Domínguez-Bendala, someone I know we’ll all be hearing a lot more about in the T1D world. He’s the Director of the Pancreatic Regeneration and Stem Cell Laboratory at the Diabetes Research Institute in Miami. His team just made headlines with a huge breakthrough: using a small peptide called THR-123 to regenerate insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This could be an entirely new approach to tre...

In this episode of Reclaim Your Rise, I’m joined by Risely’s Director of Coaching and fellow T1D parent, Abby Cooper, for a conversation we’ve both been looking forward to. We’re unpacking fresh insights from two major events: the NYU Coaching and Technology Summit and the American Diabetes Association Conference. Like so many of you, I’ve been deep in learning mode with AI this year–asking questions, listening, and exploring how i...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by our incredible lead coach, Jehan, who has guided hundreds of women through deep transformation in our signature group coaching program. Together, we unpack the most common patterns we see in women with type 1 diabetes, from fear of lows and all-or-nothing food habits to feeling overwhelmed by the daily unpredictability of blood sugars. Jehan shares her personal story and some of the exact tools we ...

Today’s episode is going to be a bit of a deep dive into something that comes up so often in coaching conversations, in my DMs, and honestly in my own personal T1D journey—and that is: all the sneaky little things that might be sabotaging your Time in Range…without you even realizing it. If you’ve been working really hard on your diabetes management but your CGM is still looking like a rollercoaster…or you just feel stuck and frust...

In this week’s episode, Lauren is joined by Debbie Lehr, a recent graduate of the DCB coaching program and a type 1 diabetic of 30 years. Though Debbie had always felt in control of her diabetes, a cross-country move and the onset of menopause left her feeling stuck, isolated, and overwhelmed- resulting in her highest A1C ever. After hearing about Risely through her daughter’s best friend, Debbie took a leap and joined the program,...

We're diving into a topic that’s generating a lot of buzz in the T1D community: GLP-1s. To break down what these medications actually do, what the research says, and how they might benefit people with type 1 diabetes, we're joined by pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Justin Gregory. We explore what GLP-1s are, how they work in the body, and why they’re attracting so much attention in T1D care. Dr. Gregory shares insights on t...

Six months postpartum, I’m finally starting to feel like myself again, and in this episode, I’m opening up about what it took to get here. This season has been full of challenges, healing, and unexpected lessons. I’m sharing the honest truth about what I’ve learned, what I wish I had known, and how I’ve been navigating this transition. I’ll also walk you through the top five things I believe every new mom and her support team shoul...

Is it normal to grieve the life you imagined before T1D? In today’s episode, we’re joined by registered psychotherapist, founder of her own private practice, and fellow T1D, Kirsten Davidson, to explore just that. Together, we unpack the emotional layers of type 1 diabetes that often go unspoken. From the quiet grief of “what could’ve been,” to how blood sugars impact our emotional state, to the ways avoidance can quietly shape our...

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Joelle Cavagnaro for a powerful conversation on what’s really going on with weight loss, insulin sensitivity, PCOS, and GLP-1s, especially for women living with T1D. We dive into the science behind smarter workouts, why more cardio isn’t always better, and how strength training plays a key role in improving blood sugar and hormone balance. With a Master's in Exercise Physiology and a passion f...

In today’s powerful episode, I’m joined by Steph Hauser—writer, ultrarunner, and NICU mom of four—whose son Zev was born at just 23 weeks with only a 1% chance of survival. Steph opens up about what it was like to spend 147 days in the NICU, how she turned that pain into purpose through her nonprofit 4Those, and the healing journey that led her to run 147 miles—one for each day her son fought to live. We talk about the emotional to...

In this episode of Reclaim Your Rise, I sit down with the legendary Dr. Jay Skyler, whose six decades of work have profoundly shaped the world of type 1 diabetes care. From challenging outdated pregnancy guidelines in the 1970s to pioneering immune intervention and islet transplantation trials, Dr. Skyler’s story is a living blueprint of how far we’ve come. We discuss the early days of research, the development of insulin dosing al...

In this heartfelt episode, I sit down with someone who’s been here since day 1 and one of my biggest sources of love and strength—my Grandma Jane. We talk about what it was like for her when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age seven, and how she and my grandpa stepped in with so much courage and care, despite not knowing anything about T1D at first. Grandma shares the moments that shaped her experience—learning to give me s...