11/20/2025
November Member Spotlight!!!
This National Diabetes Awareness Month, we're celebrating a true champion who embodies the spirit of never giving up - our extraordinary member Brittany Palacios!
Brittany has shown us what unstoppable looks like with an absolutely mind-blowing 343 classes attended since July,2024! But numbers don't tell the whole story - it's the heart behind those numbers that takes our breath away.
Every morning at 5am, while the world sleeps, Brittany rises. She's become the soul of our dawn warriors - that special group of people who understand that greatness isn't found in comfort zones, but in those quiet moments before sunrise when you choose to wake up and grind.
Living with diabetes brings daily battles that most of us will never fully understand. But Brittany? She's transformed every challenge into fuel for her fire. She's proven that our greatest struggles often become our greatest strengths, and that the power to rewrite our story lives within each of us.
Watching Brittany's journey unfold has been a masterclass in resilience, determination, and the incredible things that happen when you refuse to let circumstances define your limits. She doesn't just show up - she shows UP, bringing light, energy, and inspiration to everyone around her.
Brittany, you are proof that warriors aren't born - they're forged through perseverance, one sunrise workout at a time. We're honored to witness your incredible transformation!
Get ready to be inspired by her powerful story...
Everyone with diabetes remembers the day their life changed—the moment the word diabetic became more than a diagnosis and became a turning point. For me, that day was July 4, 2015. It was the day everything stopped, the day that would go on to define the rest of my life. For months before that day, I knew something was wrong. I was tired in a way that didn’t feel normal—sick in a way I couldn’t explain. Some days I could barely get out of bed. Other days I pushed through, convincing myself it was stress, or exhaustion, or anything but something serious. I ignored the signs, telling myself I was fine, until my body made it impossible to pretend anymore. One day I could barely stand, and I knew it was time to go to the ER. When the doctor walked in with my results, he didn’t sugarcoat a thing.�He looked at me and said, “I don’t know how the f*** you even walked in here, but welcome to the world of diabetes. It’s going to be rough from here on out.” Not knowing then that I was in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis ) and diabetes had already almost taken my life. I had no idea my life was about to split into a “before” and an “after.”
In honor of November being Diabetes awareness month, I wanted to share some information. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, leading to a lack of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that regulates your blood sugar by moving glucose from the bloodstream into cells for energy. Resulting in being responsible to act as my own pancreas, giving insulin from an outside source. Most people who have not been exposed to type 1 diabetes commonly assume it’s just taking insulin and eating better. It’s much more. Your blood sugar is affected by over 42 factors, including stress, sleep, and hormones just to name a few. Managing blood sugars 24/7 and the mental and physical toll the roller coaster of blood sugar levels is exhausting. Waking up in the middle of the night to a severe low blood sugar, fighting for your life while you eat a snack and wait for your levels to rise. Hoping you don't pass out as there is a risk you may not wake up. Insulin is a life support medication, not a treatment you can skip. 1 in 20 people with type 1 diabetes will die from severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). 3 in 4 people with type 1 diabetes suffer from depression. 95% of diabetics experience diabetes burnout. 50% of diabetics have an anxiety disorder. A person with type 1 can make up to 150-300 health decisions per day just to stay alive. 24% of teenagers with type 1 have an eating disorder. The disease also intensifies any type of other diagnosis, sickness or feeling such as a simple cold can become 3 times worse or a small cut on your finger can turn into a bad infection. Always a risk of turning a small situation into a scary one. The financial burden is also crucial as people with type 1 diabetes spend 2-3 times more on healthcare than a person without it and can spend $300-$600 out of pocket per month, for the supplies that is required to keep them alive, even with insurance. This is only a portion of the knowledge I can share. The harsh reality is our natural state is that we are actively dying and we are manually keeping ourselves alive 24/7.
After my diagnosis, it was a very hard time for me. My health was collapsing around me. It hit every part of me—physically, spiritually, mentally. My A1C (Average blood sugar over a 3-month span) was 13+ for a solid 7 years, a non-diabetic's regular A1C is a 5.7.
Toward the end of 2022 beginning of 2023 my health was atrocious and spiraling out of control. Diabetes almost took my life 3 more times from going into DKA, having to be in the ICU for days each time. My doctor told me for a couple of years if I don’t actually put forth effort and make some changes I will start having severe complications that will lead to the point of no return by my early 40s. My mindset was a dark place and I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. I finally got accepted for a new insulin pump which helped start to slowly lower my A1C but I knew the problem is how I managed it. The pump and sensor can only do so much. I’m the type of person who suffers in silence, but the suffering just became too loud to keep silenced. It demanded to be heard, to be faced, to be changed. That’s where my real journey began.
In early 2024, a good friend of mine, Izzy started his fitness journey with Crossfit. Diabetes is a burden we both share and he encouraged me over a couple months and finally convinced me to try it out. He found Natus Vincere in July 2024. Being in a gym setting and just being vulnerable around people is extremely out of my comfort zone. I honestly think if it was a different gym or class I would have not lasted. The first few months were difficult for me but I pushed through only because of the amazing people I workout with everyday. It took me about 6 months to actually open up, talk and be myself but they respected me and let me move at my own pace. They let me work through my anxious habits and awkwardness breaking through my shell over time. Of course never without encouraging me to just keep showing up. Learning how to survive the disease and manage all of the obstacles that come along with it, often makes me feel very alone. Going to my 5am class everyday to genuinely good people who support me has made a pivotal impact in my life. Having a coach and people who encourages me to keep pushing myself through 100 I cant's and to actually care enough to want to help me learn how to manage my blood sugars, while doing things I’ve never thought I can do before, has been significant to my progress. Starting my day by going to the gym makes me feel good and that is not a feeling I have often. I am extremely grateful of the 5am class and all of the friendships I have gained throughout the entire gym. Their support has reminded me that sometimes the people who weren’t part of your past can become one of the most important parts of your future. Even though I mainly attend the 5am class and keep to myself, the other coaches and people still consider me and try to keep me included . All of the coaches have so much knowledge to share and have shown me the same respect the rest of my class does. Anybody I’ve met from the gym has only been super supportive, inspiring and kind.
Crossfit in general has highly improved my abilities in managing my blood sugars and helps regulate my sugar levels throughout each day. Especially the weightlifting aspect. I’m rarely kind to myself but all of the progress I’ve made is hard not to notice. It has helped me in finally building confidence in myself which I desperately needed. It has also initiated a snowball effect for me in taking care of the other parts of my health that I have been neglecting. May 2024 I could not even walk up a flight of stairs without not being able to breath and my blood sugar dropping. This past May, I hiked 10+ miles in a day through the mountains in Oregon while keeping my blood sugars in range the entire time. When I first started the gym I was 230 lbs. and today I am down to 160 lbs. My A1C has been at a 7.9, which is the lowest since I’ve been diagnosed in 2015. My journey to improve myself has just started and there is no end in sight for me. If there is one thing being a type 1 diabetic has made me, it is resilient. It has taught me that when life hits you hard, you can still rise, still fight, and still rewrite the story you were handed.
