#ToolsofType1s - 020 - Marie Diaz

[00:00:01] Rob Howe: Tools to Type 1s Podcast, Episode 20. We got a really special one today for you from Marie Diaz. That's Nerds Can Fight if you use Instagram. Marie has become a good friend of mine. We often joke that she was the first super fan, first person to post about diabetics doing things on their own, volition, as in they weren't coerced by me in any way or promoting their own appearance on the show. Marie was the first fan. So it was awesome to, A, get to meet her over the last couple of years in and around Texas events and, you know, also see her impact nationwide, globally, even with type 1 diabetes and being a power advocate and just a person who really walks the walk and is an awesome resource and just a great supporter. We all need friends like Marie Diaz. Her episode today, super insightful, very short, right to the point, really takes on the questions and explores them with a lot of thought, a lot of grace. I am very happy to announce Marie Diaz, her tool, vulnerability. Big news on the Tools of Type 1 podcast. We have a sponsor. You've heard of them before. They've sponsored the podcast in the past, Real Good Foods. Real Good Foods at Real Good Foods on Instagram, realgoodfoods.com. You can actually order Real Good Foods products online and using code ROBHOW, that's me, ROBHOW, R-O-B-H-O-W-E, at checkout. You can save 10% and get free shipping. And I believe the shipping is the biggest piece there because it can be quite costly at times to ship frozen products, but you get free shipping when you use code ROBHOW. So don't forget that. one thing that's really important to me are companies like real good foods who are designing products that they don't know necessarily are perfect for people with type 1 diabetes but then they discover and they get really involved and they kind of dive in with both feet and real good foods has done that during national diabetes awareness month they donated a ton of money to beyond type 1 they design products that are great for our lifestyle and also taste great so pizza is obviously one of many guilty pleasures that I have. But also, I know a lot of people in the type 1 community have anxiety about eating pizza because it can be really tough. You know, high spikes, you know, the fat and the crust, difficult to count the carbs correctly and for the fat as well. Especially if you're eating it at night, it can be very difficult. So Real Good Foods pizza, 4 grams of carbs per serving. That's crazy. so i believe in one of their pizzas it's three servings in a single pizza guys that's 12 carbs and you know what counting those carbs injecting for that pizza it's right my levels stay flat and it's it's really cool to just have that sense of well-being and confidence when you're eating a product so highly recommend that you try it also very good when i was on vacation with my girlfriend over christmas we ran out of food in our airbnb we're like well we got to go to the store we got get some food. I'm craving pizza. Lucky enough in the frozen food aisle, Kroger, Walmart, your general grocery stores, check online if your local grocery store has them. But we're easily able to find the pizzas that we liked. And they also have these poppers that are made with chicken. They have jalapeno and they have pizza flavored, pepperoni pizza flavored. And they changed the recipe on those. I pop them in the air fryer. They're delicious. So if you want to try a low carb, low glycemic index, easy to manage with diabetes, delicious food. Check out Real Good Foods. They're in your frozen food section in your local store. And if you do try them, let me know. Give me a tag on Instagram. We'll chat about it. Okay, guys. I hope you guys are enjoying Tools

[00:03:51] Marie Diaz: of Type 1s. Let's get back to the episode. Hey, I'm Marie. I live in Texas. I was diagnosed when I was four years old. So this February will be 19 years with type 1. I run, study, and I want to be a dentist. I'm pretty involved in the type 1 Instagram world. And I just ran the New York City marathon with beyond type 1, which was super awesome. And I'm Rob's biggest fan. What is your

[00:04:19] Rob Howe: tool of type ones? And what's the one thing that a person living with T1D could learn from you

[00:04:25] Marie Diaz: or your experience. I think my tool is vulnerability within the community. Sometimes that means using your platform to vent and I think that has a place and it can foster deeper connections and relationships with people but I hope my account resounds with hope and resilience. I don't know anything but life with type 1 and one time I heard Robin Arzón say that type 1 is just an added layer in your recipe for greatness. I really took that to heart. Like, I love that. Sometimes I think we give type 1 too much power. So hopefully people see my tool of vulnerability as a means of empowerment.

[00:05:12] Rob Howe: What is the simplest thing you've done that has helped you with the management of your type 1 diabetes? Where did you learn it or who showed it to you?

[00:05:21] Marie Diaz: yeah so the simplest thing I ever did was change my Dexcom high alert like the value of it I used to have it set at like 180 or even 200 and I gradually dropped it down to 150 sometimes 140 it really depends um and I was able to prevent high blood sugars so much more easily um yeah you just you catch them quickly. I learned this tip on Instagram actually from someone who documented their pregnancy with type 1 so that was really awesome. What failures or apparent

[00:05:55] Rob Howe: failures with T1D have made you better at living the rest of your life or made you more well-rounded

[00:06:00] Marie Diaz: as a person? Yeah so I lived the majority of my life thinking that my blood sugars were just a roller coaster and there wasn't much I could do about it. Even my pediatric endo sort of confirmed that when my mom would ask her questions. And I don't see this as a failure, but I think things drastically changed for the better when I left my pediatric endo, even though she's amazing. And I started seeing my current endo. He has type 1 also, so it was insane to realize the different ways I could change my lifestyle to take control of my blood sugars like I know there's a lot of talk about lifestyle especially with our disease but yeah just learning different things about foods and exercise and getting more knowledge from people with more experience or more years with type 1 just yeah completely changed my life and yeah turned that around what unusual or absurd opinion or approach do you have regarding your diabetes. Yeah, so there's a number of people in this community that worked for about a decade or more to create this thing called Loop. And it's essentially a do-it-yourself artificial pancreas. So my insulin delivery is automated and it's all free. Like the code is online, the instructions are online and there are probably about 1,000 or so people looping. Yeah, so I bought an old Medtronic 723 and some supplies and spent about two hours setting it up and it's been the craziest and best thing I have ever done. I can bolus from my phone and my Apple Watch. My blood sugar target is 90 and it's truly the best thing I've ever invested my time in and I've slept through the night almost every day since I started this in April. What's your favorite thing? What gets you to smile or laugh almost every time? If you start talking about the Jonas Brothers, I'm already hyped on a new level and I hope I never outgrow that. Like I was their biggest fan in middle school and through their like most famous years. And it's honestly just a coincidence that Nick has type 1. Yeah, also big smiles for coffee dates, soccer, running, and recently super into this podcast called Wrongful Conviction. So those are my favorite things. In the last five years,

[00:08:44] Rob Howe: what new adjustment to your lifestyle has improved your life with diabetes the most?

[00:08:50] Marie Diaz: I adopted a fully plant-based vegan diet after I returned from my time studying abroad in Australia um it was sort of like a trial I was kind of like okay well let's see if this actually has benefits um that I'm hearing about and yeah I was shocked by like insulin sensitivity and the fact that I was able to eat fruit and and carbs um and control my blood sugar And so I also like recover very, very quickly after exercise now. And so changing my diet and becoming vegan has completely changed my relationship with foods. My A1C remains in the low sixes. And I think now I'm actually like comfortable in my own body, which is something that I never thought would happen. So I feel in control and it has empowered me dramatically.

[00:09:46] Rob Howe: What challenges related to T1D did you encounter or have to overcome while you were doing your thing?

[00:09:53] Marie Diaz: Yeah, so the final years of college can be tough. And I especially found like a lot of stress and anxiety surrounding graduation and just that transition period. And I think it began when I came back from study abroad, which was midway through my junior year. Yeah, my best friend left to go abroad and my roommate went to study abroad as well. And I think that support system was very much needed. And this was a challenge like related to type 1 because it affected my blood sugars and I had never really experienced that like connection to my emotions. And I also wasn't sure like what to share or how much to share with the type 1 world. and I didn't know how much of that was like burnout. Yeah, it was a difficult time. It was a balancing act like how do I make sure I'm not fake on Instagram but also like truly document points of healing while also understanding that like healing is not linear and also like does anyone even care, you know? Yeah, but I think in like a specifically rough time I finally got to meet Erik Douds, part of the type 1 community as well, and host him for a week in Austin. And like my soul just like needed that. And I'm so thankful for that bond that he and I have, like after years of just interacting online, like so cool to now have a friendship. So yeah, I think I'm still learning so much about like mental health and how my blood sugars can affect my moods and vice versa. But I know that I have gotten better with practice, like at acknowledging those moments where I'm angry because I'm high or if I can't concentrate because I'm low. And that's just, yeah, that's been something that's so different. And yeah, something that I've sort of overcome now that I'm looking back.

[00:11:57] Rob Howe: What bad advice regarding diabetes do you see or hear that you'd like to address?

[00:12:02] Marie Diaz: Ooh, so I think this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think there's this mentality pretty prevalent, especially on the online community, that people with diabetes should avoid carbs. And I think that's pretty dangerous. Like, we already have a challenging relationship with food, counting every carb we eat, and we have higher rates of eating disorders within our community. um like don't get me wrong I'll make low carb meals for dinner pretty often and I mean for a while before I went vegan I did like this pretty low carb life but it like didn't really help me like I was more focused on every detail of my blood sugar at every minute even though it did make like my blood sugars like more of a flat line I know we see that and that's popular so anyway yeah like I have a new freedom eating fruits and grains and different veggies and like lower fat content um that I really just never thought I could have with controlled blood sugars like I never thought that that was possible I also believed that carbs were the enemy so I just want to put it out there that they're not and yeah that different things work for different

[00:13:23] Rob Howe: people. So what priority are you focusing on in your own life currently? This can be diabetes

[00:13:30] Marie Diaz: related or not. Yeah. So now that I finished my first marathon successfully, I'm sort of prioritizing like holistic health. I'm incorporating weight training, which I've been scared of for a long time, like since high school soccer. That's the last time I've really like dove into weight training. And I'm also like working to limit the amount of processed foods that I consume because I've noticed that they will spike my blood sugars. I'll have post-meal highs, just like not fun stuff that, you know, I could easily avoid.

[00:14:10] Rob Howe: Who is someone that you look up to and what have they taught you? How do you apply that to your life?

[00:14:17] Marie Diaz: yeah this is easy amy mckinnon um she's a fellow type 1 runner but she's like a million times more badass than anyone i know she was one of the first people i followed on instagram and she would post on runs from australia and trips about like nutrition and fueling and long story short like i went studied abroad in australia went vegan overnight and then just ran a marathon so she definitely like leads by example and just encourages me probably more than

[00:14:49] Rob Howe: she even realizes what are you most hopeful for this can be diabetes related or not

[00:14:58] Marie Diaz: wow yeah so i am so hopeful about the future for type ones in general like the fact that this dexcom cgm and other ones don't require finger sticks anymore like like that means kids getting diagnosed or anybody getting diagnosed like won't have to check their blood sugars by stabbing their little fingers anymore like isn't that crazy um like the past 18 years of my life that's that's like the face of diabetes is like poking your finger you know and so the fact that that's changing just like it does give me a lot of hope and I think there's so much hope to be gained from advocacy as well um it brings me so much joy that we get to be in this era where we can help people accept this disease and take on new challenges. So yeah, like basically it brings me hope that we can bring hope to other people. It's all so surreal.

[00:15:53] Rob Howe: What advice would you give someone who has T1D and is trying to pursue a career in your line of work?

[00:16:00] Marie Diaz: Yeah, so I mentioned I want to be a dentist and I actually hopped into the dental world because of type 1, the link between oral health and both types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, is fascinating. And I think largely unknown. I had never heard about like the relationship between your blood sugars and your oral health. Yeah, but I think I can definitely speak more to college in type 1 since I just graduated. Like seriously, if you're about to go to college and you want to move away, like, please do it. And if you're thinking about studying abroad, like, find resources, reach out to me, reach out to like, a bunch of other people that have lived abroad with type 1, do it, like, please do it. And I think like, in college, like, finding out how to like, properly fuel yourself, you know, like go for runs or whatever workouts you love and you enjoy. Go to counseling. That was like revolutionary for me during a specifically hard time. Yeah, and just prioritize yourself. Like that's the best advice I can give you for college.

[00:17:15] Rob Howe: What's the one facet or trait that you think makes you uniquely you? Explain why.

[00:17:23] Marie Diaz: this is hard so rob and other influencers in this space like to joke that i know everyone and everyone knows me and all that um and i'll roll my eyes but really like i love that like i love supporting people fully and giving any single glimmer of hope to people around the world um and i hope that that makes my little instagram account that mixes my life with type 1 life and vulnerability and running and ridiculousness and silly Jonas Brothers posts. Like, I hope that just makes a difference somehow in some way. And I don't know if that makes, I don't know if that's something that's unique to me, but I love it.

[00:18:06] Rob Howe: Plug yourself. Tell us where we can find you in the Diabetes Online community.

[00:18:13] Marie Diaz: um i'm still running honestly looking towards the triathlon now so message me if you've done that i'm super interested um and instagramming working at my favorite place in the world right now at a dental office my boss is like my favorite person and one of my inspirations in life um yeah but you can follow me on instagram my handle is nerds can fight

[00:18:41] Rob Howe: where do you get plugged into the t1d community the most

[00:18:47] Marie Diaz: so i think i got a head start to being plugged in when my mom put me in a type 1 camp when i was seven when we moved and for the next 13 years you know i attended that camp and i saw those friends every summer and that was my community and that was what I needed. Um, so I definitely recommend that. Like if you can volunteer at a local camp or even a camp far away, you know, and if you're an adult, like Connected in Motion has camps for adults, you know, um, I think that's super important and has a lot of tools for people. Um, and I think my other advice is like get on Instagram like find your people find someone older that you can relate to and look up to and who leads a life that like you would want yours to look like like it's so important to have like role models and I think getting involved locally even hosting meetups or going to them like I don't know there's so much people can do just find what you like I think it's going to require making that first step and being vulnerable, but it's definitely worth it. I promise.

[00:20:04] Rob Howe: Thank you for listening to the Tools of Type 1's podcast on diabetics doing things. I'm Rob Howe, and every Tuesday and Thursday in 2019, we are posting the next Tools of Type 1 episode. So follow us on Instagram, hashtag tools of type 1s, or just on diabetics doing things. We will post these regularly every Tuesday, every Thursday, my favorite type ones are answering the questions I want to know the answers to. And hopefully you'll learn a few things as well. If you like this episode, be sure to review us on iTunes. And if you didn't like it, go ahead and let me know that too. I want to know. All the feedback is good to me. Thanks again for your time. I value that more than anything you could possibly give me. Thanks so much. Bye-bye. big news on the tools of type 1 podcast we have a sponsor you've heard of them before they've sponsored the podcast in the past real good foods real good foods at real good foods on instagram real good foods.com you can actually order real good foods products online and using code rob how that's me rob how r-o-b-h-o-w-e at checkout you can save 10 and get free shipping and i believe the shipping is the biggest piece there because it can be quite costly at times to ship frozen products, but you get free shipping when you use code ROBHOWE. So don't forget that. One thing that's really important to me are companies like Real Good Foods who are designing products that they don't know necessarily are perfect for people with type 1 diabetes, but then they discover and they get really involved and they kind of dive in with both feet. And Real Good Foods has done that. During National Diabetes Awareness Month, they donated a ton of money to Beyond Type 1. They design products that are great for our lifestyle and also taste great. So pizza is obviously one of many guilty pleasures that I have. But also, I know a lot of people in the Type 1 community have anxiety about eating pizza because it can be really tough. You know, high spikes, you know, the fat and the crust, difficult to count the carbs correctly and for the fat as well. Especially if you're eating it at night, it can be very difficult. So Real Good Foods Pizza, 4 grams of carbs per serving. That's crazy. So I believe in one of their pizzas, it's 3 servings in a single pizza. Guys, that's 12 carbs. And you know what? Counting those carbs, injecting for that pizza, it's right. My levels stay flat. And it's really cool to just have that sense of well-being and confidence when you're eating a product. So highly recommend that you try it. Also, very good. When I was on vacation with my girlfriend over Christmas, we ran out of food in our Airbnb. We're like, well, we got to go to the store. We got to get some food. I'm craving pizza. Lucky enough in the frozen food aisle, Kroger, Walmart, your general grocery stores, check online if your local grocery store has them. But we were easily able to find the pizzas that we liked. And they also have these poppers that are made with chicken. They have jalapeno and they have pizza flavor, pepperoni pizza flavor. And they changed the recipe on those. I pop them in the air fryer. They're delicious. So if you want to try a low carb, low glycemic index, easy to manage with diabetes, delicious food, check out Real Good Foods. They're in your frozen food section in your local store. And if you do try them, let me know. Give me a tag on Instagram. We'll chat about it.