As far as I am concerned, diabetes is a condition where my body cannot metabolize carbohydrates correctly. If I eat too much carbohydrate, my blood glucose levels go up, and if I continuously eat too much carbohydrate for my system to handle, my BG levels stay up! It therefore seems logical to me to avoid carbohydrates much of the time, though I do sometimes have treats!
Also I put weight on with carbs - in my pre-diabetic days, I tried to follow the NHS "balanced diet" advice, and just got fatter and fatter. My pancreas still produces insulin, and as I have insulin resistance in my muscle cells, the insulin stores the extra glucose from too much carbohydrate as fat.
We are all different; I am happy on a very-low-carb (less than 50g daily) diet - the one I use is a Sticky Thread on the Low-carb diet section of the forum - Viv's Modified Atkins Diet. Other people can control their blood glucose very well by eating about 130g - 150g carb a day. Some people, like me, deliberately avoid carbohydrate foods. Others, eg Sid Bonkers, have excellent BG levels through portion control, eating only small amounts of carb-foods and trying to go for Low Glycaemic Index foods.
I have a personal theory that many Health Care Professionals get taught most about Type 1 diabetes and very little about Type 2. With Type 1s, who don't produce any insulin themselves, the balance is between how much carbohydrate they eat and how much insulin they inject. Too much insulin and not enough carbs can send their BG levels dangerously low - hypoglycaemia - which can be fatal. This is where the idea that all diabetics must have a steady intake of carbohydrate comes from, I think. But for Type 2s, at least those who still have insulin production and have insulin resistance, there is no need to eat a lot of carbohydrate. Our bodies can manage very well on a small amount.
Have a look at my diet (as above). I am not suggesting you go as low-carb as me, but it's a good basic low-carb diet, and you can add carbs into it eg by eating extra low-ish carb vegetables, and fruits eg berries, apricots and plums (but not too much fruit). Also pulses, in small quantities. Pick the amount of carb you want to eat each day, and get a carb counter book (available eg on Amazon - Collins Gem series do one) to help you choose which foods to eat. If you use any processed foods, always read the labels - it's "total carbs" you need to look at, not "of which sugars".