New Diabetic

For now, listen to your doctor.
When you reduce calories you will reduce blood sugar.
The main point is to lose weight as that will reduce your A1C.

When it comes to calculating calories - you will need tools. Measuring cups, a kitchen scale are must haves. When you purchase lets say a "boneless chicken breast" you can put that into the search engine, and put in the amount based on what you weighed with the scale. Unfortunately without direct nutritional values on the foods, you will have to estimate, same as if you were at a restaurant that does not post the nutritional values on websites.

Do not deprive yourself, track your sugars. I would focus on your calories, and your sugars first and foremost. If you focus every meal to have proteins and veg with minimal carb (like... .5 of a cup amount) and then minimal fruits, dairy/yogurts and nuts for snacks.

Hey I was diagnosed a little over a year ago & after a whole lot of confusion, I found bloodsugar101.com.
It helped me to get everything under control and understand how it works.

At diagnosis, my casual BG was 260 mg/dl & fasting was regularly in the 270-300 range.

I lost 36 #'s by using this website to keep track of my calories and going on a 'no starch, no sugar, no fun diet'.
(heh, just kiddin' about the last part -_-)

You can google the nutritional value of any food & you'll have values to put into your food log. One thing I would strongly suggest, get a digital food scale.

When you weigh your food, you'll get a much more accurate picture vs. using volume like 'cups'. I weigh in grams, most serving sizes on labels will list servings in grams, so you can be sure about the amount.

As you lose weight, the law of large numbers will be on your side, your blood sugars will get better.

As far as exercise, you can get a 'fitbit zip' to help keep you motivated & it interacts with MFP, so it will help you to estimate your caloric burn. It came in handy for me when I first started too.

The guidelines I used was to google a BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculator & then google a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator. Eat between those numbers.

Good luck & as long as you keep to a reasonable caloric deficit, you will lose weight & your blood sugars will get better :drinker:

Like the others said listen to your doctor
I can tell you what I did
I was diagnosed type 2 at the start of Dec 2013
my doc wanted to put me on meds for that and blood pressure and cholesterol
I said I can't go on meds my autistic son would get into them and they would kill him

So I put myself on a strict diet and exercise regimen
well strict for me because I was a couch potato

1) remember that the info here is estimates but at the start knowing the exact numbers of calorie burn and intake are not that big of a deal you want close to it , mostly you want a great deal less than you eating before

2) sugars are important so if you eat sweets stop it , if you eat white bread white rice white noodles stop it find alternatives you will be able to go back to those eventually but for some type 2 diabetics carbs and sugars cause huge spikes

3) exercise walk ride a bike swim lift weights whatever YOU like to do but get up and move. I use a fitbit to track my steps and estimate calories burned there are lots of different types of trackers out there I know several people who prefer a heart rate monitor look into those types of things type in fitness tracker into google and you will find more information than you ever wanted. ask people for opinions and again you will get more than you ever wanted just keep moving

4) like others said stop eating takeout it is crap food full of salt and sugars and fat and little nutritional value you can cook better at home and still make things that are tasty

5) cut sodium my dietician said that the average person (Im guessing she means in our area here) eats 6000mg of sodium a day. I have found that if I eat more than 1500 mg of sodium I retain water and swell up

6) drink water lots of it and tea if you like it ask your doctor if you can use steevia I recommend using the actual leaves off the plant but that is MY thing and I spoke with my doc about it.

for the fresh foods you can use google to find out how much things are based on size most of the nutritional value of foods is worked out on the weight of the food so you need a kitchen scale I got one for $15 and I use it daily

yes this is a change from what you did before
yes it is overwhelming at first
it can be done
my A1c went from a 9.7 in December to a 6.0 my doctor said she did not want to see me till November my hope is to have it at a 5.0
I have so far lost 74lbs (I am 5'2" started out at 241lbs) I have about 30lbs to go before I get to what the charts say I should weight I would like at the end of summer to be 16lbs lighter (end of September)

At first you will see big changes IF you stick with it
You can do it
don't quit

Since there is no one diet for people with diabetes, as others have said it's up to each person working with your physician and diabetes educator/dietitian to figure out the best plan for you. All fast food restaurants have nutrition information available online, so you can look up what you usually order, and find healthier options so you know what to order before you get there. Of course, cooking more often at home is even better! Keep testing and making changes, and you'll develop a plan that fits your needs. ~Lynn /Glucerna