hi thanks for the replies. I was dx just before xmas so am waiting for appointment with practice nurse (18th jan) who I hope will give me meter and strips, if not I will buy them myself, so at the moment I'm making changes without being able to get such good feedback as testing would give.
I've been looking up online and other things suggested as a substitute for porridge are buckwheat, millet and quinoa but gain there is so much contradictory stuff (and of course the nhs high carb advice) that it is quite overwhelming and confusing. I'm going for a low carb high fat approach as that makes more sense to me than the nhs line.