Diabetics Doing Vegan Marathons with Amy McKinnon

[00:00:07] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast. We've been telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics all across the world since 2015, and we have over a thousand years of living with T1D on the podcast. The interviews range from incredible feats to everyday victories, and we celebrate them all just the same. Thanks for listening, and if you want to get involved even further, just send me an email at rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com. What's up, guys? Do I have a deal for you? Not only are you about to get some fresh diabetes podcast material, but I come bearing gifts. Today's episode is brought to you by Real Good Foods. That's Real Good Foods. Makers of the 4 gram net carb per serving pizza. That's right, ladies and germs, 4 grams of net carbs per serving of delicious, trust me, I eat it on the regs, pizza. P-I-Z-Z-A. It's available at Walmart, Kroger, and you can check if your local store has it online at realgoodfoods.com. But you can also order the pizza and other products online, which is super dope. But not just that. Listeners of this podcast, that's Diabetics Doing Things, the podcast you're listening to, will get 10% off their order plus free two-day shipping when you use code ROBHOW, that's me, all one word, ROBHOW, at checkout. out. Did I tell you I came bearing gifts or what? So hit up realgoodfoods.com today and get your pizza delivered before I release another episode of the pod. It's that simple. Also, Real Good Foods raised nearly $25,000 for Beyond Type 1 during National Diabetes Awareness Month, and they've committed even more than that over the next year. So support companies that support you. Be right back about to use my code to order some pizza and get that 10% off code later. What's up, everybody? Just wanted to say thank you for listening to this podcast. It's been an amazing journey thus far. And I have a lot of really great stuff coming up in the future. So I'm going to do something that I haven't asked before. If you're listening to this podcast, a I would love it if you would subscribe to the podcast just so you get the notifications whenever we publish new episodes, because if you've been listening for a while, you know, I don't always publish them consistently. Sometimes I'll publish five in a week. Sometimes it'll be only a couple in a month and you need to know when these episodes drop. So be sure to subscribe. And if you like the podcast, be sure to go to your preferred platform like iTunes and leave a review. I would love to boost my reviews and I've never asked you guys to do that before. So I figured you don't ASK, you don't G-E-T. I would love a review from you. So I want to hear from you there. Also, we are now available on Spotify. Turns out I was just submitting it to Spotify incorrectly, but I corrected that. So now we're on Spotify. So if that's your preferred listening platform, be sure to subscribe on there. Also, just want to let you know that in 2019, we have an awesome new program coming called Tools of Type 1s. It's going to be on this podcast, so you don't have to subscribe anywhere new, but it's going to be an entirely new form of programming with some of your favorite type 1 personalities. So they're going to be two a week starting January 8th. Be sure to tune in and I'm going to blast all the messaging I can all around. So be sure to listen to Tools of Type Ones launching January 8th. And thank you for continuing to listen to this podcast. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Diabetics Doing Things. We are telling the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics from all across the world. And my guest today has been around the world quite a bit recently and is also from the other side of the pond. But calling from Los Angeles, California today is Amy McKinnon. Amy, welcome to the show. Thanks, Rob. Thanks

[00:04:11] Amy McKinnon: for having me. I appreciate you letting me join you on the podcast today. Well, I'm extremely

[00:04:17] Rob Howe: excited to sit down and have a discussion with you. I know you and I have followed each other for a long time on social media. And earlier this year when you reached out, I thought it was a great time to just sit down and chat. And you recently have been traveling not only overseas in Australia, where you're from, your home of Australia, but also in Japan and India recently.

[00:04:41] Amy McKinnon: So I'm really excited to talk about that as well. Sounds good. Both trips are fun. So hopefully I can give you a bit of insight on being type 1 and traveling. Yeah, I would love to. I

[00:04:51] Rob Howe: think to start that off, though, let's start with just being type 1. Tell us a little bit how you join the type 1 family and give us a little insight on your diagnosis.

[00:05:03] Amy McKinnon: Sure. I was diagnosed when I was 12. I grew up in Sydney, Australia and I obviously was in my, I think, junior year of high school and it wasn't anything dramatic or exciting. I was really sick for a couple of weeks. I was losing weight rapidly. So my parents took me to my primary care physician and he tested my sugar level and I went straight to the children's hospital. I think my sugar level, I was lucky I didn't have DKA. I think it must have been caught quite quickly. My sugar level was only in the 400s. And I was in hospital for I think a week, because at that time, they kept you in hospital. And while you spoke to your diabetes educator and the endocrinologist, and they trained you on how to inject. And I was grateful in the sense that my diabetes management team and also my parents let me do everything myself from the beginning. So I would inject myself, I'd test my own sugar levels, and I kind of managed my diabetes with the support of my parents and healthcare team. But I did it all myself pretty much from day one, from what I can remember.

[00:06:27] Rob Howe: And I think for those of us who have been diagnosed in our teen years, and like you mentioned, your junior year of high school, so 16, 17 years old, at that time, you know, you're managing a lot of your life on your own anyway. So that typically you own most of the diagnosis responsibility. Did you find that was challenging at first or did your parents try to get more involved in your life afterwards or how did that play out?

[00:06:59] Amy McKinnon: They let me pretty much do things on my own. I do recall lying about my sugar levels a few times. I'm sure we've all gone through that. And at the time that I was diagnosed, it was like handwritten in like a diary, they called it, like a blood glucose diary. And I would write that I had these amazing sugar levels and they would go back and my endocrinologist would go back and check my meter. And that was slightly different. But I didn't rebel too much and I didn't, my parents weren't overpowering to me, like looking back and reflecting. in. I didn't feel like they were trying to control me. I was allowed to do what I wanted. And I had pretty good management as a teenager. And I always did my injections, always tested my blood glucose level. So I don't think that they had a negative or kind of like, from my perspective, I feel like they let me have the freedom I needed, but also provided me like a good balance of

[00:08:02] Rob Howe: support. And let's talk a little bit about changing the sugars and the mindset behind that too. because I think you're right. We all have been in that sort of mode where we're either frustrated or embarrassed by the number and want to avoid the difficult conversations as much as possible, especially when parents are concerned because they don't always understand the nuances, I think. And you mentioned you weren't rebelling though. So it was more of a, was it more of a, hey, I'm really trying and I don't want to have the awkward conversation or I don't want to get any grief from my parents or what was the mindset, if you remember?

[00:08:39] Amy McKinnon: Yeah, I think it was more I wanted the numbers that I wrote down or the numbers that I wanted to have and I didn't have them. So I think it was more me just trying to hide the fact that maybe I wasn't managing my diabetes as well as I wanted to and I didn't get in a lot of trouble from my parents. Like if I had high sugar levels, they'd obviously tell me, you've got to change your dose or you've got to try to do something to get your sugar levels closer to in range, but I never was disciplined based on my diabetes. So I think it was more of a personal, like, oh, I wish my sugar levels were 90 to 120 when they were probably 200. So I think it was more of a reflection of that.

[00:09:29] Rob Howe: And I think we all identify with that in our own way, right? And sometimes in other areas of life, right speaking things into existence has power right so tracking those blood sugars even if they're a little bit fibbing a little bit of fabrication there uh in the grand scheme of things sort of works for the better i imagine definitely it got me into a good habit and i think

[00:09:53] Amy McKinnon: also i learned lessons then to like don't lie about your sugar levels and then it also helped be more proactive in my management in the long term when I look back and reflect on, I guess, when I was first diagnosed. And now my behavior and patterns, I track everything. And I'm very proactive if I have high sugar levels or low sugar levels to change and adjust my doses. And I think that probably earlier stage of how I managed it when I was first diagnosed has helped me with my management today.

[00:10:29] Rob Howe: You mentioned habit building. What were some of the habits other than sort of writing down your sugars that allowed you to adjust and have contributed to your happy, sort of successful life living with type 1?

[00:10:44] Amy McKinnon: I tested my sugar levels a lot. I met some diabetics in India, and one of the girls said she tests her blood twice a day is good for her. And that shocked me. Even when I was younger and a teenager, I would test at least eight times a day as I became more knowledgeable and I wanted to know my sugar levels more often. I would test up to 20 times a day before I went on to the CGM and now the Freestyle Libre. So I think testing and knowing my sugar levels and then as I became more confident, I think even after a couple of years post-diagnosis when I was still in my teen years, I would change my doses proactively rather than wait for my endocrinologist or my diabetes educator to change them. So I think that helped. And then as things progressed, I got a better A1C, better blood glucose levels, better control. It's not always perfect, but you can improve. And I think that was an outcome and a result of that.

[00:11:51] Rob Howe: Yeah. And I think it's always interesting when you meet other type ones and the, because we all have our own set of problems, right? We all have our own struggles that we go through. And for me personally, I'm very fortunate that I've never struggled with not giving insulin or not testing my blood sugar. And I think the main reason is that I just associate good levels and time and range with feeling good and everything I do to try to feel good and try to manage it that way. But I know that that's not the case for many people and meeting those people face to face and just sometimes I struggle with what to say. But I think now as I've met more people, just trying to identify with, hey, you know, it's okay. And there are many things that go into living with type 1 and I think acceptance and just a pat on the back and saying, you know, I understand that you're going through a hard time and yes, it's hard for me too, goes a long way. How did the rest of the conversation with that woman in India go?

[00:13:02] Amy McKinnon: Yeah, sometimes I'm probably a little more forward than I should be, but I'm just very similar to you like I never had a rebellion stage I always tested my blood always gave my insulin I never had a real struggle with living with diabetes so when I speak to people like this young woman who I met I kind of reassured like the more you test the more you're gonna know your sugar levels and the better you're gonna management and like you said you feel better so the better control you have you feel better and I try to take that approach and reassure the reassert sorry that they should test their sugar levels and they should know more about their diabetes so that they can manage it better and they can feel better and I think that for most people once you do feel better and you have better control I think that's a big motivator to continue having tighter management of your diabetes. I think when we feel crap all the time, we think that's okay. And we get used to that. And I think that's not only with diabetes, but with nutrition and diet. When we don't know what it's like to feel better, it's hard to motivate ourselves to make a change.

[00:14:19] Rob Howe: Well, and I think too, you bring up a good point about almost anything. The longer that you stay in the net, you know, outside of the ideal range, right? Whether, whether we're talking about diabetes or whether we're talking about, uh, you know, keeping your apartment clean or doing your laundry or whatever the case is, the more those continue to pile up, the harder it is to get back to neutral, to get back to where you were before. Um, and so, you know, sometimes I'll talk to people or I'll hear stories specifically around type 2 diabetes sometimes where people have A1Cs in the 13 for years, you know, 13 A1C, you know, average blood sugar, like in the three to 400s. And I just think that for me, for someone with a in control A1C having an average blood sugar of 300, I feel like I would feel so bad. Oh, I need to, I don't know how people put up with that. And I think, you know, that that's the phrase that comes to mind. So I don't know how, and I think it's just a little bit incrementally every day of the bad stuff and I think that works in reverse too in the positive direction where just incremental progress a little bit better day after day after day and you look back six months or a year and you're like, wow, I've really made a lot of progress. So for you personally, how do you get onto that, whatever plan it is or whatever goal it is, how do you manage yourself to not be so hard on yourself in the grand scheme of things but say, hey, I've made progress today or I've managed myself today?

[00:15:58] Amy McKinnon: Sometimes it's easier and sometimes it's harder. I try, like you said, to remind myself in the scheme of things that, for example, my diabetes management, that's an easy one. So I have a really good A1C. It's been 5.7 for the past three years, but not every day are my sugar levels amazing. I had a really low sugar level in the middle of the night last night and I just got really frustrated at myself and I ended up crying while I'm trying to shove sugar in my mouth and I got really angry and then when your sugar levels come back into normal range, I reminded myself, okay, I obviously gave too much insulin and I need to be more conservative and not so aggressive when I have high sugar levels because then I'm going to crash. So I think for me it's trying to, in the moment I can get caught up but then upon reflection I like look back and say, okay, what are the practical steps that I can take so I can continue to have good management or if it's related to running, I do a lot of running, what can I do? I had a bad run today. hey, what can I do that's going to help improve my run next time? So I think reflecting upon what's happened that's maybe negative or something that you can then do to improve, I find that personally really helpful and puts things in perspective and it makes things not such a big deal or makes a negative. You can turn that into a positive quite easily.

[00:17:35] Rob Howe: And I think perspective can change so much, right? Taking a step back and looking at it a different way, of sort of reframing is a practice that I've tried to get into myself really in the past like year and a half as well.

[00:17:48] Amy McKinnon: Yeah, it definitely helps. It makes like it's such a small thing, but it makes such a big difference.

[00:17:55] Rob Howe: It really does. And I think like those, you know, continuing to find those things that make a difference, you know, and everyone and everyone is different. You know, what works for you may not work for me and on down the line. but you know the the more we search for those things that are going to work for each of us and and find joy in the search and find and looking and seeking it out i think the better

[00:18:19] Amy McKinnon: off we all are will be from that yeah definitely and like you said i've learned over the years that what works for me may not work for someone else but i think also we have to be open for like trial and error and to try things if what you're currently doing doesn't work and I've had that experience before myself then you've got to be open to trying something different and it may not work but at least you've tried it and you're like okay that didn't work for me whether it's diet whether it's a certain type of exercise might raise your sugar level or drop it too much but you've got to be open to trying and I think personally I've tried a lot of things and found what works for me and so I'm happy to stick with it but it may not work for someone else either as you said well

[00:19:09] Rob Howe: let's talk a little bit about that because I think the next thing that we can talk about with you is your career in nutrition and you know so I do want to hear those things that you have tried and those sort of trial and error those notes and those things that you've tracked over the years what are those things that come to mind when you think about your journey personally so I think with

[00:19:32] Amy McKinnon: nutrition so I changed my diet dramatically five years ago and I went vegan or plant-based and that not only affected my diabetes management in a positive way it just affected my life in a positive way I had more energy I lost a little bit of weight my running improved a lot and I felt better recovering from runs. And also as a result, I had better management of my diabetes and I could get my A1C. It was always between 7 and 7.5 and I could never get it below 7 and changing my diet really helped me lower that and I felt better too about my diabetes management. But even in these five years, I've changed, I guess, I've always continued to be vegan because I think for me that really works overall. But I've changed. I've been raw again for a few months and I'm currently doing that now. Just I feel better doing that only for short periods of time. I don't think for me it's sustainable long term. I've gone through stages where I ate vegan burgers and French fries and that was more kind of at the beginning. and so like some things work for me for a certain time of my life and sometimes before I was eating like a lot of brown rice and quinoa and grains and I wasn't my sugar levels would spike quite a lot after meals so I thought okay I need to change something in what I'm eating because my sugar levels aren't behaving the way that I want them to so it's like you still got to trial and error things and I think you don't have to keep with one thing if it's not working you've got to be open to change thing and I think I'm happy eating vegan and that's just for personal reasons but within that you can still mix things up and I'm open to doing that as well

[00:21:37] Rob Howe: well and I think you know you mentioned things like you cut out brown rice and you cut out quinoa which for most people I think would consider those to be a healthy carbohydrate. But for you, you had to learn a little bit about what was on the other side. So how did you talk about a little bit how you got into the plant-based diet and into your vegan lifestyle and the difference that it's made for you as a type 1 and also just as a person?

[00:22:04] Amy McKinnon: Yeah, so originally I had a friend who recommended watching the documentary forks over knives on netflix so i watched that and i'm a person of which i think comes with being type 1 diabetic but extreme so i'm like all or nothing so i watched that documentary and i was like okay i want to change my diet try try going vegan and it that's when i started yeah about five years ago and it really worked i had some dramatic positive results and then i started um it was the time that I moved to New York in 2013 and I started to do some self-study I did like an online course through Cornell University and then I read a lot of books a lot of literature and most of the data is on the plant-based diet in type 2 diabetes but I found I would get the same results personally for type 1 and I could see like the parallel that it worked for both types of diabetes um and then in my personal life so I think it yeah it's really helped in every aspect of my running I've been able to run faster and compete in a lot of marathons um I feel better and then obviously my diabetes management. And then from that, I thought, okay, if it's really helping me personally, I can share this and start online coaching and start my nutrition business, which I started about two years ago as a result of my personal experience and then along with my study of nutrition as well.

[00:23:51] Rob Howe: and you know i think the biggest thing when i hear someone who deals with people online and online coaching is i always want to know what their favorite story is maybe a client success story or you know the time where they realized that what they were doing was really making an

[00:24:07] Amy McKinnon: impact what comes to mind when you think about that so i have a favorite client she was actually a friend we met through social media um she lives in north america as well and she was really she's younger she's i think she's 18 now and she was really struggling a couple of years ago with her control and trying to eat food and manage her diabetes and it just wasn't working she tried low carbohydrate that didn't work and she really got burnt out and stressed out and it was really just heading downhill for her and so she reached out to me and wanted to change her diet and she hadn't eaten broccoli she hated bananas she didn't like oats eating oats and she was really adverse to eating lots of the foods that I would eat on a plant-based diet but she came to me and she said I really I'm going to give it a go I'm going to try eating plant-based I need to do something to change my diabetes because nothing that I'm doing now is working so she did and she I did some meal plans for her and we she tracked her sugar level she was on a CGM and she shared that data with me so we worked with that and it took maybe two or three weeks and she totally ate plant-based low-fat high carbohydrates and the results that she got were incredible and it wasn't to me like the results are great it would improve at a1c better control management but she was so happy she said oh my god i love bananas now i can eat so many bananas and she just changed from being like a really depressed person and really struggling and she kind of couldn't see the light in the tunnel now she's training for her first half marathon at the end of May and she's feeling a lot better so much more healthy and energy and I think to me when someone changes from a negative to a positive mindset and they can really feel good about themselves and feel like diabetes is not the end of the world and I can actually manage this disease and it doesn't take over my life and I think a lot of especially young adults getting that mindset when they're diagnosed or when they're struggling. So I think to me, that's really rewarding just to see someone know that they can manage their diabetes and it doesn't

[00:26:39] Rob Howe: have to control their lives. Well, and I want to focus on one thing. First of all, that's, I think the feeling behind helping someone is, I can't find, there's no better drug to me in the world than than that and i think that's what makes me you know really the driving force behind diabetics doing things is you know at its very core is helping people and connecting with people but let's talk a little bit about what you mentioned earlier about young people and it's it's easy to forget sometimes how much we sweat the small stuff when we're young because it makes up to us is so important and so vitally important especially when you get diagnosed i think as a teen, how do you, how do you have those conversations with clients or maybe with other people, with young people where you say, you know, in the grand scheme of things, what seems like a big deal today is not the end of the world, right? Whether that's a personal issue, like a, you know, a breakup. I feel like I, I remember having friends in high school who would just have, their emotions would swing so far on the pendulum, you know, based on their relationships or the day-to-day interactions, you know, that life would throw them. And, you know, looking back, it's easy to say, hey, hindsight's 20-20. It's like, oh, it wasn't that big of a deal. But how

[00:28:00] Amy McKinnon: do you approach those with your clients? I try to always get them to look at something and then have a practical step so if they're experiencing something that's negative they need to then look at it from the perspective okay this i don't i'm not happy with this i don't like this what's the practical step that i can take to improve it and i think especially for young girls so one of my clients the same client that i mentioned earlier so she has high sugar levels and they're really stubborn she's studying for an exam and she's really stressed and that just shoots her sugar levels really high and then to get them down she needs huge amounts of insulin so I'll say to her okay you're stressed you've got exams maybe you need to get a bit more sleep are you drinking enough water are you doing small things that you can do to improve your sugar levels and I said like your exams tomorrow it's over your sugar levels will come back in range we know what's going to happen as soon as your exam finishes so I think reinforcing that it's only temporary and what are some practical steps that you can take to improve your outcome or your result or your eating habits your diabetes management to me I think that makes the problem seem like oh okay it's achievable I can do something and I can fix it and I can make it better rather than oh my sugar levels are 400 and I can't get them down and it's the end of the world I think if we know what we can do to improve it either now or next time the situation happens I think that makes it a little bit more easy to overcome or see the positive

[00:29:51] Rob Howe: I couldn't agree more and I think you know seeing the positive is a skill and it's learned over time. I remember somebody asked me the other day about, you know, what my mindset is, what I believe in certain situations. And I remember when I was in college, so this was probably 2009, so eight or nine years ago, I saw a tweet from John Calipari, who's the coach of the University of Kentucky basketball team. And he said part of what they stress every day is relentless positivity. and I really took that to heart because at the time I was going through a struggle with my own basketball journey and I was, you know, young and learning to deal with obstacles. And I think every day since then I have sort of almost as a joke, become an optimist so hard now because I just think of, okay, well, if that didn't work out well, the next thing will, or how can we look at this a different way to where it doesn't seem so devastating? and at this time it almost seems like i'm aloof but i've just practiced it so much that i can just be okay well we're gonna find the good in the situation we're gonna dive in and try to find it and you know that's just who i am now and i think you know if the quicker we can attach ourselves to that type of mindset you can avoid a lot of beating yourself up and i think that's where a lot of our own damage comes from in our lives is by beating ourselves up rather than you know being trying to force ourselves to see the good in every situation.

[00:31:30] Amy McKinnon: I agree. I think that's a great skill to have. But I, like you said, I think it's something that you've got to learn over time and develop as a habit. And it's not always, like you said, like you become a really optimistic and positive person. And I try to do that as well. And I really, I think day to day, I am really positive sometimes in certain situations, situations especially with my diabetes I can quickly flick the switch and I get really negative or frustrated at myself for doing something that caused a low or caused a high but I think if we the more we practice and the more we try to be optimistic and see the positive in a negative situation it becomes a learned habit and like you said it's now it comes naturally to you. And I think we can all get to that stage if we keep trying. I agree. I think we can all

[00:32:29] Rob Howe: and build each other up as well. You know, that's a big part of it. Definitely. I want to, I want to focus really quick on, on back on you for a second. You personally, what are you most hopeful for in the next few years? Or as you look at your life with type 1, what gives you hope about the

[00:32:49] Amy McKinnon: future? I think for me personally, I think continuing to improve management and control. So I think for me, I'm open to like trying new devices and technology as it comes around to improve my management. I'm not crazy, like crazy in a good way, but crazy. Like some people out there like Erik Douds and Marie Diaz, some of the people in the social media community who are like using the closed loop system like I'm not quite there yet because I feel like I can get control by using a CGM and my insulin pump and not having to have that consistent level of management but for me I all I really want personally for me is to continue to stay healthy have good control of my diabetes and just continue to live my life and not let diabetes stop me from doing anything I think looking for a cure or having that hope to me is not practical and it doesn't help me now and I think focusing on being in the present and looking at my life now and in the short-term future is more practical and sets realistic goals for myself rather than looking too far ahead 10, 15 years where I don't know what diabetes management is going to be like then.

[00:34:23] Rob Howe: Sometimes the hardest thing is staying present and kind of being where your feet are.

[00:34:27] Amy McKinnon: Yes, it's hard for me even to do, but I try.

[00:34:31] Rob Howe: I do want to talk a little bit about your trips as well, about your recent journeys. I think people are always curious about travel with type 1. And so for you, obviously you're from Australia, So normally it's not as far to go to Tokyo and to India, but it sounds like you've been to India multiple times. And that's me making an assumption. I could be totally wrong. But talk a little bit about how you prepare for travel with type 1 and then also just tell us about your trips.

[00:35:03] Amy McKinnon: Yeah, so first time to India. But I've been – I've traveled a lot. I've traveled, been to Asia because Australia. We're close to Asia. um I've been to South America I traveled there for eight months by myself and recently like you said in January I went to Japan and then I got back from India two days ago I was there for a work colleague's wedding which was incredible but I always struggle with diabetes management while I'm traveling like that's the biggest challenge you have no routine you're not eating your usual food your exercise routine is off your sleep routine is off everything is not how it is normally and I attribute my diabetes management a lot to my routine and consistency with exercise the food that I eat carb counting or sleeping well so all the above helps me with my diabetes management and when you're on vacation all of that goes out the windows so I always tell myself before I go on holidays your management's not going to be as tight or as good as it normally is it's only temporary you have to be okay with that so I'll just touch upon India quickly so I was there and the food there is 70 vegetarian which is great for me so I didn't have any problem in finding food that I could eat but it's cooked in oil they eat a lot of bread the food is really heavy it's not what I'm used to eating so I carb counting is not easy to do when you're eating a dish with lentils and potato and naan so it's like you just have to go in and do your best so I would spike after meals and then I'd have to bring them down with a bit of extra insulin I wasn't running a lot it's really hard to run in certain areas of India so I wasn't training on a daily basis I think I only ran three times in 10 days so it's just managing your diabetes a little closer so a little bit more micromanaging and I think also being a little bit more lenient on myself is what I find like works best and creates less stress I've been on holidays before where I've gotten really frustrated with it because my diabetes control isn't as good and it doesn't help. You don't enjoy the holidays much or the vacation, so there's no benefit to doing that. So I find you've got to be a little bit more flexible when you're traveling.

[00:37:50] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think that's the hardest part, especially when I look at people who travel as part of their job as a living. And, you know, they're often up earlier than the rest of us and they still are managing to get their exercise or go for a run or whatever the case is. And I think with every, as with everything, you have to define what's important to you and, you know, what your priorities are. And if your priority is rest, relaxation, and exploration, then make that a priority and don't beat yourself up for not making it to a run or whatever the case is or eating a little bit differently than you normally would. What do you think was your favorite part of these last trips? What's up, everybody? I just wanted to say thank you for listening to this podcast. It's been an amazing journey thus far, and I have a lot of really great stuff coming up in the future. so I'm going to do something that I haven't asked before if you're listening to this podcast a I would love it if you would subscribe to the podcast just so you get the notifications whenever we publish new episodes because if you've been listening for a while you know I don't always publish them consistently sometimes I'll publish five in a week sometimes it'll be only a couple in a month and you need to know when these episodes drop so be sure to subscribe and if you like the podcast, be sure to go to your preferred platform like iTunes and leave a review. I would love to boost my reviews and I've never asked you guys to do that before. So I figured you don't ASK, you don't G E T. I would love a review from you. So I want to hear from you there. Also, we are now available on Spotify. Turns out I was just submitting it to Spotify incorrectly, but I corrected that. So now we're on Spotify. So if that's your preferred listening platform, be sure to subscribe on there. Also just want to let you know that in 2019, we have an awesome new program coming called Tools of Type 1s. It's going to be on this podcast, so you don't have to subscribe anywhere new, but it's going to be an entirely new form of programming with some of your favorite Type 1 personalities. So they're going to be two a week starting January 8th. Be sure to tune in and I'm going to blast all the messaging I can all around. So be sure to listen to Tools of Type 1s launching January 8th, and thank you for continuing to listen to this podcast. What's up, guys? Do I have a deal for you? Not only are you about to get some fresh diabetes podcast material, but I come bearing gifts. Today's episode is brought to you by Real Good Foods. That's Real Good Foods. Makers of the 4-gram net carb per serving pizza. That's right. Ladies and germs, four grams of net carbs per serving of delicious, trust me, I eat it on the regs, pizza, P-I-Z-Z-A. It's available at Walmart, Kroger, and you can check if your local store has it online at realgoodfoods.com. But you can also order the pizza and other products online, which is super dope. But not just that, listeners of this podcast, that's Diabetics Doing Things, the podcast you're listening to, will get 10% off their order plus free two-day shipping when you use code ROBHOW, that's me, all one word, ROBHOW, at checkout. Did I tell you I came bearing gifts or what? So hit up realgoodfoods.com today and get your pizza delivered before I release another episode of the pod. It's that simple. Also, Real Good Foods raised nearly $25,000 for beyond type 1 during National Diabetes Awareness Month, and they've committed even more than that over the next year. So, support companies that support you. Be right back, about to use my code to order some pizza and get that 10% off code. Later!