One thing I would recommend is to do the vast majority of your grocery shopping on the outer walls of the grocery store. In other words, avoid the inside aisles whenever possible. That's where most of the processed foods are.

My personal diet is now keto, verging on a carnivore diet. I have also had A1C values that were close to 13 in the past. After way too many years, I have finally realized that I can't be on a "diet" anymore. This is simply the way that I eat and will continue to eat going forward. My last A1C was 5.8%. Not quite into normal range yet, but that includes some holiday cheating.

I believe that keto is the best plan for diabetics, and those wishing to avoid diabetes (in other words, pretty much everyone). But the bigger picture is to avoid foods that are either loaded with sugar (pretty much anything with "low-fat" in the name). In other words, avoid processed foods. That includes many, if not most, foods with "keto" in the name. If you check the ingredients, most of them are keto in name only.

If you follow keto, there are tons of good resources in the form of youtube videos made by content creators who specialize in creating and/or sharing keto-friendly foods. I really like Serious Keto (https://www.youtube.com/c/SeriousKeto) and Keto Twins (https://www.youtube.com/c/ketotwins), but again, there are many great ideas out there.

As a side note, I also switched my blood sugar monitoring to use a continuous glucose monitor (https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/home.html), instead of a traditional finger-prick monitor with test strips. A CGM system can be more expensive, but it allows you to test as often as you like with no additional cost. It also shows you what your blood sugar has been between tests. If you want to get your A1C under control, you have to micromanage what your blood sugar is on a regular daily basis. It is a whole lot easier to do this if you aren't worried about running through your supply of test strips. Also, you don't have to have a monitor for the freestyle libre 14-day monitor. You simply attach the sensor (it does have a needle, but I can't really feel it going in). Then bring your cell phone near it and it transfers data to the phone automatically. So much more convenient! Here is another link to a great intro to the Freestyle Libre system:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9srFmY2Uirc&ab_channel=SugarHigh).

Actually, as a diabetic the Sugar High channel is a great resource in general. It is more focused on treating diabetes with medications and I'm personally trying to get off of meds to control my diabetes. But he still has great information and presents it in a non-boring way.

Finally, I highly recommend watching the movie "Fat Head" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evcNPfZlrZs It is highly entertaining (for a diet movie anyway), and it has great information.

kelly4191996 wrote: »

My name is Kelly and I'm 25. I want to get my diabetes under control and im looking for someone with a healthy a1c to help me figure it all out. My a1c was 7.1 before pregnancy and now it's 11.3 2 years later. I need someone to bounce meal plans off of and help me build a routine. Thanks in advance! Any tips would help. I'm also vegetarian so changes the meal plan a bit.

Just checking in to see how things are going...