Oh well done. What a brilliant turn around!
Since you are needle phobic, I strongly recommend the Freestyle Libre. It is a great tool and would give you a vastly improved understanding of how what you are eating impacts on your body. I wonder if you could make a case to get it from your doc? Not sure about that, although I know it is being trialed in some nhs clinics. I self fund it, and am convinced that it is the best thing for my blood glucose control.
Re the spicy food... I love it too, and I eat under 20 g carbs most days, so it is very possible.
I mainly use Patak's curry pastes (the sauces are higher carb, so stick with the pastes). And if you are missing rice, the Konjac or cauliflower rice make acceptable alternatives. We also eat out sometimes. I just make sensible low carb menu choices (no rice or bread or poppadoms, no sweet sauces, and choose a drier, savoury, high veg + meat curry with a veg side dish instead of rice. Nearly every time I go someone says 'oooh that looks great, I'm having that next time!')
Have you found the recipes in
www.dietdoctor.com yet?
Well worth checking out their 2 week challenge. The food is delicious.