The Simple Fix for Post-Meal Spikes in Type 1 Diabetes

The Simple Fix for Post-Meal Spikes in Type 1 Diabetes

SHOW NOTES: We’ve spent a week and a half in the problem, the spike, the loop, the fear. Today the sun comes out. Neil turns the corner to the fix, and it’s almost annoyingly simple: your food is fast and your insulin is slow, and when they start at the same time, the food wins the first hour. The fix isn’t more insulin or better carb counting. It’s timing. You give the insulin a small head start so it’s awake by the time the food arrives. Same dose, same dinner, different clock. That’s the whole name of the challenge, The Head Start. Neil keeps the science for next week and instead leaves you with hope: the early low you’ve been afraid of is a timing-and-preparation problem, and those can be solved. In this episode: * The one-sentence reason you spike after meals * Why the fix is timing, not more insulin or new gear * What “The Head Start” actually means for your dinner * Why the fear of the early low is a solvable problem This Week’s Challenge: Notice the GAP. How long between when you dose and your first actual bite at dinner? For a lot of us, it’s zero. Just clock it. Helpful resources and newsletter [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Connect with Neil: TikTok [https://tiktok.com/@the.betes] | Instagram [https://instagram.com/thebetes] | Facebook [https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse] | LinkedIn [https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912] | Website [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time [https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ] | Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories [https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1]

Every Reason You Don't Pre-Bolus (and why they're all valid)

SHOW NOTES: Here’s the quiet part said out loud: the reason you don’t pre-bolus is not that you’re lazy or that you don’t care. It’s that it scares you. Neil names the specific fear at the center of the whole challenge, the fear of going low before the food arrives, and tells you the truth, 34 years in, it still scares him too. This is the episode nobody put in the pamphlet. The pamphlet says “pre-bolus 15 minutes before your meal” and leaves you alone with the little spike of panic when the arrow turns down and the food isn’t ready. Neil validates that fear completely, because it’s not a character flaw, it’s your survival brain doing its job. And then he promises what’s coming: not pretending the fear away, but out-preparing it. In this episode: * The fear of hypoglycemia and why it stops us from pre-bolusing * Why that fear is normal, rational, and not a personal weakness * What the pamphlets never tell you about insulin timing * How we’re going to face the fear instead of ignoring it This Week’s Challenge: The next few times you decide NOT to pre-bolus, catch yourself and notice what you’re feeling. Fear? Forgetting? No time? Just get honest about it. Helpful resources and newsletter [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Connect with Neil: TikTok [https://tiktok.com/@the.betes] | Instagram [https://instagram.com/thebetes] | Facebook [https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse] | LinkedIn [https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912] | Website [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time [https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ] | Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories [https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1]

Fear of Going Low: The Real Reason You Don't Pre-Bolus

SHOW NOTES: Here’s the quiet part said out loud: the reason you don’t pre-bolus is not that you’re lazy or that you don’t care. It’s that it scares you. Neil names the specific fear at the center of the whole challenge, the fear of going low before the food arrives, and tells you the truth, 34 years in, it still scares him too. This is the episode nobody put in the pamphlet. The pamphlet says “pre-bolus 15 minutes before your meal” and leaves you alone with the little spike of panic when the arrow turns down and the food isn’t ready. Neil validates that fear completely, because it’s not a character flaw, it’s your survival brain doing its job. And then he promises what’s coming: not pretending the fear away, but out-preparing it. In this episode: * The fear of hypoglycemia and why it stops us from pre-bolusing * Why that fear is normal, rational, and not a personal weakness * What the pamphlets never tell you about insulin timing * How we’re going to face the fear instead of ignoring it This Week’s Challenge: The next few times you decide NOT to pre-bolus, catch yourself and notice what you’re feeling. Fear? Forgetting? No time? Just get honest about it. Helpful resources and newsletter [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Connect with Neil: TikTok [https://tiktok.com/@the.betes] | Instagram [https://instagram.com/thebetes] | Facebook [https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse] | LinkedIn [https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912] | Website [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time [https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ] | Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories [https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1]

The After-Dinner Blood Sugar Spike, Explained | T1D Pre-Bolus Challenge

SHOW NOTES: You counted the carbs. You took the right dose. Two hours later you’re 240, and you have no idea why. If that number breaks your heart a little, this episode is for you. Neil sits in the problem of the post-meal spike, the one that feels like a personal failing but almost never is. This is the roller coaster every person with type 1 diabetes knows: spike, correct, drift low, snack, climb again, and it’s 9pm and you’re stacking insulin and snacks in the dark. Neil makes the case that this whole loop usually traces back to one thing, the food got a head start and your insulin spent the first hour catching up. It’s not your discipline. It’s your timing. And timing is the most fixable variable in type 1. In this episode: * Why the after-dinner spike feels like your fault but usually isn’t * The correction-and-crash loop that wrecks your evening * Why the timing of your dinner bolus is the most fixable variable in T1D * What this challenge is really trying to give you back This Week’s Challenge: Keep noticing your blood sugar two hours after dinner. Peek at your number right before you eat, too. Two snapshots. Change nothing yet. Helpful resources and newsletter [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Connect with Neil: TikTok [https://tiktok.com/@the.betes] | Instagram [https://instagram.com/thebetes] | Facebook [https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse] | LinkedIn [https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912] | Website [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time [https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ] | Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories [https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1]

Why You Don't Pre-Bolus (you know you should)

SHOW NOTES: You already know you should pre-bolus. Your endocrinologist has told you. Every diabetes educator has told you. And you still dose with your first bite, same as the rest of us. Neil Greathouse, who has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1992, kicks off The Head Start, an eight-week challenge all about pre-bolusing your insulin, by admitting he doesn't do it perfectly either. Here is the reframe that changes everything: pre-bolusing is not a knowledge problem. Almost nobody with type 1 needs it explained. It's a fear problem, a forgetting problem, and a "the food came late one time" problem. Over the next eight weeks, we fix it gently, using dinner as our meal, with about 1,500 people doing this challenge worldwide. In this episode: * Why pre-bolusing is the most-ignored advice in type 1 diabetes * The real reason we don't do it, and why it isn't discipline * The one stat that proves you're not the only one (more than 1 in 4 meals gets a late or missed bolus) * Why we're building the whole challenge around dinner This Week's Challenge: Change nothing. Just notice your blood sugar two hours after dinner. We're taking a "before" picture before we change a thing. Helpful resources and newsletter: https://yourbestt1dyear.com [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Connect with Neil: TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@the.betes [https://tiktok.com/@the.betes] Instagram: https://instagram.com/thebetes [https://instagram.com/thebetes] Facebook: https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse [https://facebook.com/neilgreathouse] LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912 [https://linkedin.com/in/neil-greathouse-a607b912] Website: https://yourbestt1dyear.com [https://yourbestt1dyear.com] Books on Amazon: Type 1 Diabetes – One Day at a Time: https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ [https://a.co/d/6UHooWJ] Type 1 Diabetes – True Stories: https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1 [https://a.co/d/dfIlyI1]