Eating with Diabetes

When I was first diagnosed, my doctor (Certified Diabetes Educator) told me to start out slow. Start by cutting down on carbs without counting them. I did things like make my sandwiches on one slice of bread instead of 2, only have half an English muffin with my breakfast egg, cut out all fruit juices, cut way down on carb snacks like chips or crackers but keep high fiber ones like popcorn, eliminating the bread with dinner, eat larger portions of the vegetable sides with dinner and smaller portions of the starchy sides like rice, pasta, and potatoes.

After 4 weeks of just being conscious of what foods contain carbs and finding ways to cut them down, she had me actually start counting carbs. She also told me to forget about sugar entirely since sugars are already included in carb counts. I was already down to about 180 g of carbs daily and she wanted me to get to 150 g or under, spread out over 4-6 meals and snacks.

Doing this without actually counting at the beginning made me more aware of what foods I could substitute and what foods I really didn't need. I was concentrating on the foods rather than the numbers. It has been really easy ever since. I got my A1c down to 5.3 within 9 months after diagnosis and it has stayed in the normal range ever since.

Not all people respond the same way to all foods. The advice by @earlnabby is excellent--probably some of the best I've seen. Learning how to log food accurately is going to go a long, long way toward success in becoming healthier. As a diabetic, you'll want to test your blood sugar regularly. When your eating is relatively consistent, I've found success in taking measurements every hour and keeping careful track of what foods were eaten at what time to determine what foods cause my blood sugar to spike the most. Too many doctors and even some dietitians will blanketly say, "eat fewer carbs." I'm not saying your overall carb intake isn't likely to decrease, but it's more about making better choices for YOUR body on foods that you know are problematic for you. White foods are likely culprits, and for me, I restrict white flour and white rice, but white potatoes work for me in reasonable quantities.

Best of luck to you!