It's National Diabetes Month! Meet These Amazing T1D warriors, Lukas and Amanda.
November is National Diabetes Month, a time when communities across America come together to bring attention and awareness to diabetes. For the millions of people living with diabetes, it’s a chance for them to share their stories and give others an insight into what life with diabetes is really like and the 24/7 work it takes to effectively manage this chronic illness.
We are humbled and honored to introduce you to Amanda and Lukas. We are in awe of these two heroes. Diabetes impacts everything in their lives, every decision they make as a family. The strength, fortitude, and tenacity it takes to be a parent of a T1 kido is astounding. We absolutely LOVE this family and know you will too.
A little bit about Amanda & Lukas
I am Amanda, Lukas’ mom. Lukas is 2 years old and has type one diabetes. Type one diabetes, an autoimmune disease, means that Lukas’ pancreas does not produce insulin, a vital hormone in the functioning of our body. We use an insulin pump to delivery insulin to Lukas for the carbs that he eats and to correct higher than normal blood sugars. Most people think diabetes is as simple as checking your blood sugar and injecting insulin for the carbs they eat, but there are over 50 things that can affect your blood sugar levels. On average diabetics make an additional 180 decisions per day than non-diabetics. My goal is for Lukas to grow up with as few diabetes related complications as possible. For us that means doing our very best to keep his blood sugar in a healthy range.
Why did you start sharing your journey with others?
After Lukas’ diagnosis we turned to social media mostly to find a community. And boy did we find one!! There are so many incredible T1 people representing and inspiring every day. I want Lukas to have this platform and this group of people to lean on for support when he is old enough to need that. For now, I’m using our platform to raise awareness, speak about change, share Lukas’ story, and provide whatever support I can for other parents and families of newly diagnosed kiddos.
Why do you choose Real Phat Foods for Lukas and your family?
I want everyone to truly understand why we choose this product every day. When we were discharged from the hospital Lukas was 13 months old and put on a 150-180 carb per day diet. Not only did we find it nearly impossible to get him to eat that much, but that amount of carbs wreaked havoc on his blood sugar. Over long periods of time, elevated blood sugar can lead to eye sight loss, loss of limbs, neuropathy, and so many other issues. There had to be a better way to feed my boy, and to help prevent these complications in his future. That’s when we found the low carb lifestyle and we have not looked back since. We have an amazing friend who took the time to teach us about low carb and how it works so well for her T1 daughter. We jumped right in.
When we have to give large amounts of insulin for something with higher carbs, (let’s say a slice of regular pumpkin bread, which has roughly 63 carbs and 39 grams of sugar per slice) we run the risk of him not finishing that food. In that case, we would have to make up those carbs that we gave insulin for in another way, or risk low blood sugar, which if not treated, can be deadly.
With Real Phat Foods, the carbs are so low that we don’t have to give any insulin. This is awesome for two reasons. Not only do we not have to worry about him not finishing and having too much insulin, but we also don’t have to worry about high blood sugars if he wants more (which he always does 🤣).
What’s your favorite Real Phat Foods product?
I am personally obsessed with the crackers, but Lukas eats the pumpkin or banana bread basically every single day. I typically heat it up and put on a little butter and pumpkin pie spice on it for him. The next thing I want to try is to make bread pudding!
If you could decide the next Phat Product what would it be?
We were so so excited for the banana-free banana bread because banana is such a high carb fruit, it was something that Lukas would likely never really know the flavor of. We’d love to see a lemon bread or a cinnamon raisin style bread next.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Phat Fam?
I am so grateful to this company for creating delicious products that are healthy, low carb, and that are picky toddler approved. Trust me when I say Lukas would not even look at it if it didn’t taste great. Thank you Real Phat Foods for your products and for letting me share our story ♥️
You can find us at
Instagram @lukaskellog