169. 'Can You Eat That?': Untangling Food Freedom After a Lifetime of Diet Culture and T1D

In this week’s episode, Lauren sits down with Alison Abate Black, a graduate of the DCB coaching program and a Type 1 diabetic of 25 years, for a deeply honest conversation about the fine line between grace and avoidance. Alison opens up about her journey from “winging it” with her diabetes to building real confidence with food—and how food freedom, while empowering at first, eventually started pulling her away from the goals that mattered most. Together, they explore what it means to give yourself too much grace, and how compassion without intention can become a quiet form of self-sabotage. As Alison prepares for pregnancy, she’s learning to redefine grace—not as permission to stay stuck, but as conscious, aligned choices that support her vision for long-term health. This episode is a powerful reminder that transformation isn’t a clean before-and-after—it’s a living, breathing process. If you’ve ever asked yourself whether the self-love you’re practicing is truly serving you, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

Quick Takeaways:

• Finding Balance: Weight, Health, and Happiness
• Navigating Emotional Eating and Food Freedom
• Hidden Forms of Self-Sabotage

Timestamps:

• [03:09] What inspired Lauren to have Alison on: “just because I can dose for it doesn't mean that's what I need all the time.”
• [04:11] The beginning of Alison’s T1D journey 
• [04:39] “I never had a deep sense of control…’
• [05:26] “I kind of was like a status quo diabetic, but it always felt like I wanted to be more than that.”
• [09:58] Emotional eating:  “So I would eat and that would make me feel better…”
• [11:50] What managing eating a challenging meal looks like NOW 
• [16:04] “... Really it's like the diabetes version of a diet trap, right?”
• [20:48] Relatability over advice 
• [21:55] What sustainable changes she made to lower her A1C in the low 6.0’s for the last year & a half 
• [23:38] The conversations around pregnancy that completely changed her perspective

What to do now: 

1. Follow me @lauren_bongiorno and @riselyhealth on Instagram to stay in the loop when new episodes drop.
2. Apply for coaching and talk to our team so you can reclaim the life you deserve.