People living with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are constantly proving that there is no limit to what they can achieve. From traveling the world with a backpack full of pump supplies to running a marathon while checking a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), people with T1D don’t let their disease interfere with their dreams.  It can often be hard to take good care of your T1D when doing out of the ordinary physical activities, but for some people high amounts of physical activity is a daily routine.

The more than half a million adults living with T1D in the U.S. have a wide variety of occupations, and a fast-paced, high-stress job can complicate a T1D treatment plan. Anyone with a physically strenuous job or pastime can benefit greatly from discussing how to best manage their carbohydrate intake and insulin dosing with their T1D care team.

Will Pericak has an extremely physically active career as a center for the Seattle Seahawks, but he doesn’t let T1D slow him down in life or on the field. “Life is full of adversity. It’s not what happens to you but how you react to it. I never let diabetes hold me back from achieving my dreams and neither should you,” says Will. Listen to Will and MLS player Jordan Morris of the Seattle Sounders share their stories with Craig Stubing, host of the “Beta Cell” podcast below.

You don’t have to be a professional athlete to understand the stress a highly physical job can add to life with T1D. “I wait tables, and when I was first diagnosed with T1D two years ago it was a huge struggle. I would go low from doing too much physical activity, but then I’d go super high from overcorrecting. Eventually I figured out the best basal rates for when I’m working, but it took a lot of patience, and I still don’t always get it right,” says 23-year-old Joanne Taylor. “I have good days and bad days, but luckily most are pretty good.”

It can be difficult to focus on your goals when you are focused on taking good care of yourself, but with practice, help from your supporters and the drive to overcome your obstacles, you can do anything you put your mind to.

We think all people living with T1D are true champions, and we want to celebrate that with you. That’s why we now have No Limits t-shirts for sale at shop.jdrf.org. Show us how you live with No Limits on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep being a T1D hero!