Host: John Pemberton, RD
Guest: Diabetes with Milly (Milly)

Episode page: Detailed show notes

In this episode, Milly joins John to explore how real community forms when people with type 1 diabetes feel safe enough to be vulnerable. Diagnosed during lockdown and thrown into DKA in the final year of her biology degree, Milly rebuilt her life through movement, self-experimenting with strength training, discovering yoga, and eventually travelling alone to India for formal practice in breathwork, mindset and nervous-system regulation.

What began as a personal diary on Instagram became Diabetes with Milly — a space where 10,000+ people find honesty, humour and connection, and where the Glucose Gals WhatsApp community now supports hundreds of women navigating type 1 diabetes, menstrual cycles, trauma echoes, and real-life blood glucose chaos.

This conversation sits firmly “Beyond the Numbers”: the human reality of diagnosis, burnout, highs that trigger old trauma, rebuilding confidence, and how movement and mindfulness can reshape the emotional experience of living with the condition.

Your community is not optional — it is protective infrastructure.

What This Episode Covers

Diagnosis in lockdown: DKA, isolation, and learning to manage T1D without real-world support
Sport to strength training: using exercise as both therapy and education
Yoga, India, breathwork and regulating the panic response during hypos
Trauma memory: why highs can trigger the emotional weight of diagnosis
Building an online presence through vulnerability, not perfection
Creating the Glucose Gals WhatsApp community (250+ women)
Women’s health, menstrual cycles and why female physiology in T1D is so understudied
Milly’s plans for a new master’s → PhD in women’s exercise physiology
The future: UK meet-ups, movement spaces, and combining strength + yoga for holistic T1D support

Key Insights

Vulnerability builds community.
People don’t gather around perfect numbers — they gather around honesty.

Movement changes glucose, but also mindset.
Strength tra

Disclaimer

This podcast is for education and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and is not a substitute for individualised care.

The Glucose Never Lies® is independent by design

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Enquiries

Collaboration: John Pemberton — john@theglucoseneverlies.com

Creatives: Anjanee Kohli — anj@theglucoseneverlies.com

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Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.