Almost seven years ago, I was diagnosed as being diabetic. My (not) "helpful" doctor at the time just looked at me with impatience and said "lose weight". (last time I saw him.
I saw a nutritionist and took a class and started doing my own research.
For one thing, weight gain may be a symptom of diabetes, not the cause. I was in a very high stress job and found out that a lot of stress can raise blood sugar. And I found out that Magnesium can regulate blood sugar. Plus good fats (not vegetable oils) can slow down the absorption of carbohydrates in the stomach.
The enemy is NOT sugar, it is carbs (and sugar turns into carbs). The trick is to cut back on carbs AND find a way that the carbs you do eat are absorbed more slowly.
So I did the following:
1) I 1eft that toxic job (actually got a higher paying one that wasn't a circus)
2) I started walking more as in several miles a a time
3) If I have milk or ice cream, it is NOT low fat. And I do not use any other products advertised as "low fat" either (you will see that they have more carbs per serving)
4) If I have carbohydrates in a meal, I eat some protein first
5) My breakfast is high protein - no cereals, pancakes, and toast very rarely
6) I look for ways to ADD fat to my diet - extra butter on a roll, a lot of fat when I cook eggs, etc. My fats include butter (going towards grass fed only), lard, chicken fat, pure olive oil (that is NOT cut with other oils), and avocado oil.
7) I take a Magnesium supplement called "Natural Calm" every day
8) I drink about 3 liters of water a day (I live at high altitude)
9) I learned that nuts in a candy bar slow down the absorption of sugars (natural fats) so they are NOT good if your blood sugar is low
9) I have small sleeves of glucose tablets that I take with me hiking, stage by my bed, and keep one in the car. If I need it, I can get a quick acting bit of sugar and each tablet is no more than 20 calories (I take one, wait a while, and then take another if needed - never have needed more than 3)
10) I have not had pasta in quite a while. But if I did, it would either be a side dish or have a sauce with a lot of fat (cream, not tomato base). I occasionally have rice but try to "cut it" with Quinoa and/or cauliflower rice. Pancakes are a rare treat and I eat them with LOTS of butter and some powdered sugar (a LOT less sugar than syrup). I make my own full fat Greek yogurt too. I prefer mayonnaise on a sandwich instead of ketchup or mustard.
The result? Within weeks, I was no longer in the diabetic range. Seven years later, I am still in the low pre-diabetic range (although there are a few days a year that are not good). I really upped my walking last year (as in over 2,000 miles) and my LDL cholesterol dropped 60 points at my last appointment last November. I'll be interested to see how much lower it has gone. My blood sugar rarely goes above 120.