This is the very first episode of the BRAVEST podcast. This episode is a short one, but I thought it would make sense to start off by providing you with some personal background, and also spend some time sharing my hopes and my goals regarding the podcast as well as our new website.

Whether you’re an athlete or someone just getting started on the quest for health and well-being, BRAVEST is about living the healthiest life possible with diabetes, every day, despite any obstacles that might fall across our path. And there is no doubt obstacles WILL fall across our path. Ultimately, if you’re like me, you also want to figure out how to maximize the healthiest version of yourself to make your greatest contribution to the people around you.

In this episode I share details about my personal story of being diagnosed with type 1 almost 20 years ago. I found myself celebrating Thanksgiving in a NYC hospital bed that year after experiencing a sudden hearing loss, a leak under the retina of my left eye, losing 30 pounds in about a month, and hallucinating on the platform for the 6 train. I was admitted to the hospital that day severely dehydrated with a blood glucose level >800.

After almost two decades, I’m still one of those people who's always in search of relevant and credible information, motivation and insights to dial in my nutrition, fitness and mindset. But even before my diagnosis with type 1, I loved personal challenge, and I’ve always been obsessed with how I can do better today, than yesterday. Sometimes this mindset has worked against me, but I’m also a strong believer in learning through resistance and growing through the possibility of failure.

Over the years, my experience with type 1 has provided me with a never-ending stream of lessons about myself and the world around me. And as I’m sure some of you will understand, the amazing thing about type 1 is that, while there might be patterns in our health that we can observe in how nutrition and exercise interact with any number of other variables, it’s all really an ever-changing science experiment and just when you think you have it down, something jumps in your way and all of a sudden you feel as if you’re scrambling for control. 

So the launch of BRAVEST has been inspired by questions that I think about constantly. I’m really curious about the ever-surfacing choices we have to either view the obstacles we face as actual opportunities to make ourselves better, stronger, faster versus seeing the world covered with insurmountable barriers. Do we view diabetes as something that limits us, or do we see the countless opportunities for growth and contribution the disease offers us? And to take that idea further, once we’ve shifted to more of a growth mode, how do we dive in consistently to optimize our health so we are the best version of ourselves possible?

Starting with our mindset, nutrition and movement, let's explore how we take the bravest version of ourselves and make our mark on the world in the most effective way possible.

Social Media Links

Craig on Instagram @craigkasper

Music Credits for BRAVEST Episode 001

Intro music - Podington Bear, 'Sepia' & The Passion HiFi, 'Sweet Revenge'

Outtro music - Joakim Karud, 'That Day'