Lauren Plunkett, RDN LD CDCES is a clinical Registered Dietitian, an accomplished author, a longtime indoor cycling fitness instructor, and a highly influential Certified Diabetes Educator who is known for shaking up the status quo in conventional diabetes education.  Her book "Type One Determination" has garnered extensive praise, earning a prestigious gold award from the Independent Book Publishers Association in the Best New Voice category, and six other awards.  She is the proprietor of LP Nutrition Consulting, LLC also drawing upon a professional background in pediatric endocrinology, performance nutrition and virtual primary care, and specializing in plant-based nutrition for prevention and improvement of chronic conditions.

Lauren is a fierce advocate for empowerment of persons living with any type of diabetes, and has been a driving force behind the Plant Based Nutrition Community of Interest at the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists, for which she is also a media spokesperson.   Having lived with type 1 diabetes for more than three decades, she credits physical activity and her vegan lifestyle of 15 years for her thriving health, and she offers knowledge from the perspectives both of the patient and the expert healthcare professional.  As a frequent public lecturer, she passionately shares culturally-sensitive, body-positive and stigma-smashing strategies for managing diabetes through lifestyle, with strong emphasis on plant-based nutrition and frequent physical activity.

The essence of Lauren's practice focuses on whole-person healing that connects emotions to the physical body, reaching below the surface and re-examining our relationship with food as the key to establishing long-term sustainable self-affirming nutrition habits.  Her philosophy simplifies food selection and empowers individuals, allowing plant-based nutrition to become an inclusive standard of nourishment for people across cultures and throughout the life-cycle.  With her characteristic feistiness, wit and verve, she challenges us by asking:  Who says you have to be defined by a type 1 diabetes diagnosis?  And who says your life can’t continue to be just as rich or fulfilling?  Showing empathy, a keen intellect and a radiant smile, she champions using healthy lifestyle practices to manifest everyone's best possible self despite possible chronic disease, as she exemplifies over many years living her own exceptional life with type 1 diabetes.