I was advised to go on the Healthier You course, which I think may be aimed at prediabetics but the material is relevant to Type 2 issues. We’ve had 3 different course leaders so far due to logistics and they all have slightly different outlooks and interests. The general approach seems to be to present a whole host of information and encourage us to choose what suits us as individuals. For example one course leader, who’s a fitness trainer, finds that fewer, larger meals suit him and he doesn’t eat until the afternoon. He explained how the body has to present insulin every time you eat something, so grazing may tax some people - although it could depend on whether your body makes insufficient insulin, or stores an excess as to how this is or isn’t a problem for the individual person.
There was inclusion of the eat well plate but also new information on how saturated is no longer an issue re insulin - only in regard to cardio vascular concerns (no mention of literature like the great cholesterol con/myth books, though!)
They also got us thinking about proteins to up for and versions of carbs that were more problematic - with visual, plastic mock ups of foods. Quite helpful actually, as I think I know about those things (studied on the OU nutrition course and a local college course when I worked in the food and weight loss industries). But even I can forget sometimes that, eg, a small baked potato might be a better bet than a stack of mash! Although, these days, I tend to just avoid potatoes if possible (a little trickier with eating out and trying to keep away from carb foods).
We had 4 x weekly sessions and now I’m in the maintenance stage where you go about once a month. The monthly sessions do not have to be attended in order and I’ve rebooked some and missed a few months due to other commitments. But plan to cover them all, overall.
To be honest, in the 3 months I had to wait to get onto an available course locally, I had already devised a plan that I thought would suit me (and which worked to lose weight safely). And reading information on this forum helped me consider alternatives more closely. But I found it helpful to have something to focus on regularly when the course began and it was interesting to meet other people with varying problems - for example, several of us had had a frozen shoulder (not unusual for those with diabetes issues, I gather) and could not easily leap into typical exercise regimes. Some people had over eating issues and were very overweight. Others were naturally skinny but still had blood sugar problems - some of those were eating a lot of fruit and hadn’t known it was detrimental. Some were regular alcohol drinkers; some didn’t touch alcohol. It was interesting to see so many different issues represented.
They don’t encourage blood sugar testing at home; they seem to think it creates obsession. Nor do they recommend a low carb diet per se. They believe some carbs are needed or beneficial, but emphasise whole foods and smaller portions.
I think it’s worth gathering all the information in a course like that and then making up your own mind. But it can also be confusing having lots of different views etc. I had the impression that some of the older and more infirm people attending would have preferred to be given a straightforward set of guidelines to follow and be done with it. I think it was all a bit overwhelming for them, at least at first. And in some cases there aren’t really any immediate answers then and there - like for people who can’t exercise due to injury or an ongoing other health issue. That was a bit hard going, especially if that session was all about being active and getting fit. And done aspects of the course could have been better organised and cross referenced, in my opinion. But, in the grand scheme, I thought it was useful to have some information to consider, than be left in the dark to manage alone.