When I was first diagnosed, I went on diet and exercise only for about 9 months.
Here were my A1C’s
6.8
5.7
5.8
5.3
Immediately upon the 5.3 I went on insulin. I had a bad problem with rapid weight loss and couldn’t stop it. Insulin fixed that problem.
To control my spikes, I ate nearly an all meat diet with no more than 6-8g of carbs per meal.
I also drank 1/2 gallon of water with each meal, and another 1/2 gallon of water at bedtime.
After eating, I waited about 30-60 min then went for a brisk long walk for about 45min to an hour.
If my BS was still high I would drink more water and walk some more.
I was living to treat the disease to the exclusion of all else. This is not a life, it is an existence. Insulin gave me back most of my life, but I still have to watch the carbs vs exercise.
Oh, and lifting heavy bags of dirt and mulch, spreading it helps a lot. In the winter I prayed for a lot of heavy wet snow. I so much wanted to eat that Milky Way candy bar. I kept it in the freezer and it’s still there as of today. I never got the right kind of snow so I could work off the blood sugars by shoveling.
I keep it as a reminder of what I could have, if the weather was just right.
For thanksgiving and Christmas, I ate then waited exactly 30 min. I for on a treadmill at 3mph with an incline of 3. I did that for 45 min. I actually went hypo doing that due to the low carb intake.
Now, I don’t compromise. I eat anything I want, but with some smarts. I don’t eat large amounts of carbs unless I eat an even larger amount of fat & protein. And inject accordingly.
Fat and protein will slow down carb absorption and you will have lower spikes, but for a little longer period.