Hi Matt,
If you read the many threads on the forum around diet and carbohydrates, you will see a common theme - the out-of-date information that is still being given out by some health professionals verges on the criminal. Those people who try to follow the "eat plenty of starchy carbs" advice (or rather mis-advice) inevitably find their weight increases, their blood sugar increases, their medications have to be continually increased and they have absolutely no chance of gaining any kind of control over their diabetes. These are the people who, a few years down the line, suffer the sort of horrific complications that you were so alarmed at reading about. Have a read of the Success Stories thread and you will see what I mean.
When you look at what diabetes is - an inability to be able to process blood sugar - the solution to the problem is very logical. The carbohydrates in the food that we eat are converted to sugar by our digestive systems and are stored in the blood. These include what most of us would regard as good and essential carbs - those found in fruit and vegetables. These contain vitamins, minerals and fibre as well as the carbs. Against this are what are often referred to as "empty carbs" - these are sugar and the starchy foods like cereals, bread, pasta, potatoes and rice, that contain just carbs and very little else.
So, armed with that knowledge, when your body can't cope with the sugar in your blood, does it make any sense to eat foods that will simply create yet more blood sugar? The answer doesn't lie with health foods but with healthy foods - there is a big difference. You have already started to make changes by replacing the fizzy (and high sugar) pop with fizzy water. I wouldn't suggest that you simply cut out all the starchy foods from your diet, but try to reduce the portions and make up the difference with vegetables that are better for you. When you next buy bread, get a Nimble or Weightwatchers loaf instead of your normal one. These have half the carbs per slice that normal breads have, so without changing your bread consumption you can halve the carbs that you get from the bread.
You have already invested in some gym equipment but can I suggest that an even better investment for you is the "Diabetes Solution" book by Dr Richard Bernstein. This is generally regarded as the diabetic's bible. It does contain a lot of very low carb meal recommendations and this may be too low a level of carbs than you need - we are all different and each of us has a different level at which we are able to maintain control over our condition. To begin with I would ignore the recipes - they're only a small part of the book - of more value to you is the information that the author gives about the different types of diabetes and their treatment.
Just read the book and you will soon gain the understanding of your condition that you need in order to control it rather than it controlling you.
If you have any doubts or questions then please keep firing away and we will do all we can to help you. Good luck.
