As HKC says baby steps.

I stayed off meds for 25 yrs after initial diagnoses. By walking everyday and cutting back on carbs. But than had to go the medication route. Loosing weight is key.

Hi warriors,
Diagnosed February 2021, A1C 13.5.

I control my diabetes with right eating, portion control, Japanese science and medicine, exercise if your doctors allow, attitude, and a compelling reason to do what is necessary. I sleep 6-7 hours nightly, 8 is better. I do 10-15 minutes self care daily. Baby steps.

I test at least 4-6 times daily.
1) upon waking- fasting blood glucose number, less than 7.0(126) is good.
2) 2 hours after eating my most carb laden meal, 7.8(140).
3) before exercising, looking for 6.7(120).
4) before bed, 5.7(103), if lower I adjust, I hate hypos 3.9(70).

I am half Japanese and a recovering rice-aholic, I ate rice 2-3 meals a day my whole life. Now I have 1 tablespoon 2x a month. Baby steps.

Most of my meals look like stir-fry, eggs, soup, salads, or some combination of the above. Baby steps.

The Japanese medical mindset says get to the source of the problem and correct it, don't just treat symptoms with medications. Baby steps.

I plate my food before eating on a 7 inch plate --- portion control. The Japanese say 1/2 plate of very low carb vegetables, 1/4 plate of protein, 1/4 plate 1 serving of high fiber whole grain carb or 1 serving of carb friendly whole fruit. Baby steps.

The Japanese say to eat in this specific order. First 2 bites vegetables, eat slowly and savor each bite. Next protein, next carb. Repeat this order till done. The Japanese surmise that your digestion rate is set by the first 2-3 bites it sees. So digestion is slower flattening the glucose spike. Baby steps.

The Japanese also say to walk 10-15 minutes immediately after eating, redirecting blood from digestion to muscles slowing digestion, flattening the glucose spike. Baby steps.

Glucose spikes are the enemy and lead to many complications associated with diabetes. Such as neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney disease, heart disease, blindness, brain damage, etc.

Some of my go to very low carb vegetables are cruciferous - cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok Choi, brussel sprouts, napa cabbage, Chinese cabbage, kale, etc. - and cucumbers, egg plant, zucchini, summer squash, some spaghetti squash, green beans, snow peas, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, parsnips, radishes, beets, turnips, rutabaga, asparagus, greens of all types including spinach, lettuces, collards, turnip greens, radish greens, poke weed, etc, young fiddlehead ferns, celery, green onions, leeks, chives, onions, garlic, parsley, mints, dandelion greens, endive, watercress, gourmet greens, ginger, cilantro, basil, some flower pedals like mints, pansies, chamomile and squash blossoms. I eat avocado too, it is 1 net carb per serving. Baby steps.

Beat down your diabetes monster one baby step at a time. I can do baby steps. I wish for you more good days than bad and have many exceptional days too.

Be the Samurai Warrior you never knew you were.
You got this.
Never give up, never surrender, never ever.

Thank you for your quick response. I’m overweight also and need to change my eating habits. Nighttime TV and eating have been my “friends for way too long. It’s got to stop!!!!

@A DiabetesTeam Member I also munch while watching tv in the evenings. One strategy I found is to substitute healthier high fiber snacks to munch on: cucumber spears, zucchini slices with hummus dip, popcorn (if you can handle the carbs), 1/2 green apple and almond butter, celery and peanut butter. You can google low fat, low carb snacks.

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Good question @A DiabetesTeam Member I also wondered the same when I reached the top of the pre-diabetic scale and wanted to turn things around. The VERY first impulse I had; was to change what I KNEW I was doing wrong. That would be eating with total abandon-bowl after bowl of ice cream, etc... pigging out on high fat, high carb comfort foods. That much I knew to do.

Since I was overweight, the next thing was to determine how many calories I should eat daily and after that what types of food I needed to avoid altogether (empty calorie snacks, starchy foods, highly processed foods, sweets, etc... ) Maybe your intuition can lead you to a good starting place also.

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