Podcast Summary: Diabetes Connections | Type 1 Diabetes
Episode: "A new resource for exercise and T1D: DiabetesWise wants to help you move with confidence"
Host: Stacey Simms
Guests: Dr. Corey Hood (Professor & Psychologist, Stanford), Dr. Desi Zaharieva (Exercise Physiologist & Diabetes Educator, Stanford)
Date: October 21, 2025
Main Theme & Purpose
This episode dives into the challenges of managing Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) during exercise and highlights the new suite of exercise-focused resources on the DiabetesWise platform. Host Stacey Simms chats with Stanford's Dr. Corey Hood and Dr. Desi Zaharieva about their personal and professional experiences living with T1D, the practical tools now available for people who want to be more active, and the importance of making movement accessible—regardless of age, skill level, or device preference.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Introductions & DiabetesWise Background
- Dr. Corey Hood explains DiabetesWise originated as a neutral, unbiased resource to help people with diabetes understand and choose from available devices and tech. Over six years, it’s expanded to cover new areas—including exercise.
- Quote: “Each iteration of [DiabetesWise] has included some new things, but we’ve always been interested in giving people better understanding of the options for different devices and technologies.” — Corey Hood (07:19)
- Dr. Desi Zaharieva shares her experience as a T1D for 28+ years and working as an exercise physiologist, highlighting how personal challenges inspired her to build out the exercise section.
- Quote: “A lot of my passion stems from personal challenges growing up and doing exercise and seeing firsthand a lot of those difficulties of how to manage blood sugars around activity.” — Desi Zaharieva (07:54)
2. Why Exercise Is Especially Complex for People with T1D
- Every variable—type, intensity, duration, last meal, insulin dose, even stress—affects glucose response during exercise.
- Quote: “Each type, intensity and duration of exercise can cause different glucose responses ... even when you think you’ve accounted for them, sometimes just the way you’re feeling that day ... can change glucose responses day to day between or within people.” — Desi Zaharieva (08:59)
- Fear of hypoglycemia remains a leading barrier, both for children and adults.
3. Personal Experiences with Exercise & Diabetes
- Desi’s martial arts background: “My background is actually martial arts ... I’ve competed in mixed martial arts ... from taekwondo ... to wrestling, to kickboxing, to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, which I do now. One of the greatest challenges is not only the activity but the contact and just keeping devices on has always been a really big struggle.” — Desi Zaharieva (10:25)
- Corey’s experience: “What I do on a regular basis are kind of the high-intensity classes ... But I do running, skiing, occasionally in the water. ... Even just a walk around the city, you have to think about where to get Gatorade if needed. It should be simple, but it always becomes complicated.” — Corey Hood (11:06)
4. How DiabetesWise Integrates Exercise Resources
- The new section provides both evidence-based and community-sourced tips, including:
- How to keep devices secure during activity
- Device use considerations for various types of exercise, including swimming, martial arts, or even casual walks
- Tips for children, older adults, and people preferring injections
- Focus is both on device selection and helping users get the most out of devices they already own.
- Quote: “It’s both. And actually a third part is fear of hypoglycemia remains the leading barrier ... So part of this has also been if people are unsure what devices may work for them, maybe they've taken a break from technology...We try to just find strategies and ways to encourage physical activity for everyone, meeting people where they’re at.” — Desi Zaharieva (15:17)
5. Resource Philosophy: More Than Just ‘Best Numbers’
- Not about "perfect" blood sugars or the “best” device, but about making movement possible and enjoyable for all.
- Quote: “We're not focused on getting people in tighter time and range ... Our goal is to give people the best experience and to get people moving.” — Corey Hood (18:47)
- Quote: “We don’t like to say perfect blood sugars. That’s an unrealistic expectation ... We want to provide resources and support for all of these challenges to make sure that people can find some joy and some happiness in the activity that they’re doing.” — Desi Zaharieva (19:40)
6. Sources and Community Integration
- Resources are a blend of literature, personal expertise, and community input.
- For underserved groups (like young children or older adults), community input is invaluable due to limited published research.
- Quote: “We try to create more lay language around these guidelines ... and we do reach out to the community and we find out what kind of challenges and what advice do people have.” — Desi Zaharieva (16:28)
- Feedback-driven: Site content grows in response to community needs.
7. Practical Takeaways and Community Stories
- Personal learnings: Corey started carrying glucagon, providing a mental safety net:
- Quote: “It serves two things. One is a little bit of a safety net, but it helps with this worry about ... hypoglycemia ... it allows me to be a little bit more present and enjoy some of the activities that I’m doing.” — Corey Hood (21:09)
- Desi’s ongoing learning: The community constantly teaches her new tips—like which tapes or adhesives actually work during sweaty, contact-heavy sports.
- Quote: “Every day is a new day to learn something from the community ... I get to talk about different topics related to exercise ... I’m always learning about how people use maybe different low snacks or ... 3d printouts to protect your continuous glucose monitoring system.” — Desi Zaharieva (22:11)
- Practical tip: Get free samples of adhesives (e.g., Skin Grip) by reaching out to companies before buying in bulk. (23:43)
8. Making Exercise Accessible to All
- Designed for parents of young kids, older adults starting new activities, and everyone in between.
- Emphasizes both planned routines and impulsive activity, with tips for each mindset/personality type.
- Quote: “We also provide some guidance on if you’re not a pre-planner and you’re sort of a spontaneous type of exerciser ... we do try to provide guidance for different personalities as well.” — Desi Zaharieva (26:18)
- Quote: “It’s okay if your blood sugar is a little bit in this kind of range during this spontaneous activity ... if you’re going to do something last minute, you have to be okay with some blood sugar swings. Here are things you want to do after so that you can bring your numbers back into range.” — Corey Hood (27:02)
9. Future Directions & Community Requests
- No current high school/college sports section, but open to adding based on community need.
- Resource plans underway for coaches and teachers, especially on the topic of stigma in sport.
- Quote: “One thing we are working on right now is actually building out some resources for coaches and teachers on stigma and sport.” — Desi Zaharieva (29:09)
- The platform is continuously evolving, with new materials added as analytics and user feedback guide.
Notable Memorable Moments & Quotes
- Corey on the vision: “We don’t care what you do, we just want you to have a better experience. Support from Helmsley has allowed us to do that—and to create this kind of website in that way without feeling tethered to certain manufacturers or companies.” (29:27)
- Closing thoughts: “This is the most exciting part of my daily job. So it’s great working on this.” — Corey Hood, on six years with DiabetesWise (30:14)
- Desi on ongoing excitement: “For me, I knew about DiabetesWise before Corey and I started working together ... and just selfishly to put in a little plug—every time we’re adding new content, there is often an uptick in the amount of people that visit the website.” (30:19)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [07:19] Introduction of guests and backgrounds
- [08:59] Key challenges of exercise with T1D
- [10:25] Desi’s martial arts experience and device struggles
- [12:24] How DiabetesWise now includes exercise-specific resources
- [15:17] Purpose: Overcoming fear, device selection and maximizing activity
- [16:28] Where info comes from: community, research, feedback
- [18:47] DiabetesWise’ philosophical focus: Not about “best numbers”
- [21:09] Guest learnings: glucagon as a mental safety net
- [22:11] How the community shapes the resource
- [23:43] Practical tip: Free samples of adhesives
- [26:18] Spontaneous vs planned exercise tips
- [29:09] Upcoming resource for coaches/teachers on stigma
- [30:14] Why the DiabetesWise project is still exciting
Additional Links & Resources
- DiabetesWise website: https://www.diabeteswise.org/
- Community forum (DiabetesWiser): Monthly events and peer learning
- Contact/feedback channel: Feedback crucial to ongoing improvements
Tone & Approach
The conversation is warm, practical, and highly relatable, blending personal stories with expert science and concrete suggestions. Stacey, Corey, and Desi emphasize inclusion, empowerment, and the value of real-world tips, humorously acknowledging the day-to-day realities (and frustrations) of living actively with T1D.