Welcome to Diabetes Confessions — a diabetes series where talk about my diabetes confessions and how I've learned to overcome the mental, physical, and emotional toll of living with diabetes.

(Episode 2): Pre-bolusing is one of the most important things you can do to keep your blood sugar stable after a meal. I've known that for a long time. And for a long stretch of my life with T1D — I wasn't doing it. Not consistently. Not correctly. And sometimes not at all.

In this episode I break down what pre-bolusing actually is, why synthetic insulin needs time to activate before food breaks down and rises your blood sugar, and why skipping this one step is often the reason blood sugars spike to 200+ after meals that should have been manageable. I also get honest about why I still don't pre-bolus every single time — and the specific situations where the math changes completely.

This one is practical, personal, and exactly the kind of conversation I wish someone had had with me when I was first diagnosed.

If you're consistently spiking after meals and can't figure out why — this episode is for you.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• What pre-bolusing actually is — and why most people have never been properly educated on it
• Why synthetic insulin has an activation window — and what happens when food beats it to the bloodstream
• How pre-bolusing is one of the top three most important habits for post-meal blood sugar stability
• Why Ken stopped pre-bolusing during his years of depression and denial — and what that cost him
• The specific situations where pre-bolusing timing needs to change — activity, blood sugar level, food type
• Why the 15-minute rule isn't always the right rule — and how to think about timing for your specific situation
• How giving yourself grace when decisions don't go perfectly is part of the process — not a sign of failure
• Why two types of lows exist — and how understanding both changes how you respond to them

Pre-bolusing gives your insulin time to do its job. When food beats insulin to your bloodstream every single time you eat, you're not managing diabetes — you're chasing it. Getting ahead of the spike is one of the simplest and most powerful things you can do.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

In today's episode, I asked Graham one question at the start of this episode — what are the two most important things that keep your blood sugar stable?

Two Type 1 diabetics. Fifty years of combined experience. Two answers that might completely change how you think about what actually keeps your blood sugar stable.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Why organizing your diabetes supplies isn't just practical — it removes panic from an unpredictable condition
• What it actually feels like to be down to your last vial of insulin — and what that teaches you
• Graham's two most impactful lessons after 30 years of living with Type 1 diabetes
• Why trial and error is the only real path to genuine self-trust in diabetes management
• How failing, learning, and adjusting builds what Graham calls a coat of armor over time
• Why small daily wins compound into real confidence faster than big milestone moments
• The difference between celebrating highlights and celebrating the little decisions that shape everything
• Why the bad moments in diabetes management matter just as much as the good ones

You can't get to a place of fully trusting your diabetes decisions without experimenting, failing, and learning. The small wins you forget to celebrate are the ones that are quietly building your confidence every single day. Start noticing them.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show

In today's episode, I sat down with Matt Schreiber — diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in March of 2025 with a blood sugar of 480 and an A1C of 13.1 — and walked away from this conversation genuinely inspired.

Matt spent months feeling exhausted, losing weight, constantly thirsty, and running out of steam ten minutes into a workout. It took his girlfriend finally saying enough is enough and dragging him to urgent care for everything to come to a head. He walked out of the ER with a Type 1 diagnosis, a crash course in insulin, and a choice to make about how he was going to live with this condition.

Eighteen months later, his A1C is 5.9. He's playing ice hockey. He completed his first 10K. And he's managing Type 1 with MDI and a CGM while continuing to train the way he always has — without letting diabetes set the boundaries for what he can and can't do.

We get into what his diagnosis actually looked like, why urgent care initially gave him metformin instead of insulin, how he navigated exercise and blood sugar management as a competitive athlete, what his experience with a GLP-1 medication was like, and the three pieces of advice he'd give every person with Type 1 diabetes right now — whether they were diagnosed last week or twenty years ago.

This episode is proof that you are bigger than Type 1 diabetes.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• What Matt's symptoms looked like before diagnosis — and why he kept pushing it off
• Why urgent care gave him metformin instead of insulin at first
• How he went from an A1C of 13.1 to 5.9 in eighteen months
• What managing blood sugar during ice hockey and weightlifting actually looks like
• Why his experience with a GLP-1 medication didn't work for him — and what he learned from it
• How he trained for and completed his first 10K with Type 1 diabetes
• The three pieces of advice Matt would give every diabetic right now
• Why celebrating small wins might be the most underrated tool in diabetes management
• Why over 60% of new Type 1 diagnoses are now happening in adults over 23

Don't let this disease limit you. You are bigger than Type 1 diabetes. It might take longer to get where you want to go — but you can still get there. Keep pushing.

Additional Resources

• Watch our LIVE episodes Mondays & Wednesdays @2pm EST — Tune in Here
• 🎯 5 Lessons You Can't Learn From Your Doctor — Free 5-Day Experience
• 🌐 Website: SimplifyingDiabetes.com
• 📚 The Diabetes Nutrition Master Course: Start Learning
• 💪 Work with me: More Than A1C — 1on1 Coaching
• 📞 Simplify Your Diabetes — Free Call: Book Now
• 🎙 Donate to the Podcast: Contribute Here

If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review — it helps more people living with diabetes discover the podcast.

Podcast Disclaimer: Nothing that you hear on The Healthy Diabetic Podcast should be considered medical advice or otherwise; please always consult your medical TEAM before making any changes to your Diabetes management.

Hey Diabuddy thank you for listening to show, send me some positive vibes with your favorite part of this episode.

Support the show