23M just found out my A1C is 11.9. Looking for guidance

Usually when it's that high, there are several excesses you can quit and your A1c immediately starts falling. Switching from sugar to artif sweetened sodas is worth 2-3 points on the A1c right there.

Diabetes is a disease of carbohydrate metabolism. Moderate your carbohydrate intake and you're 80% there.

I only have a minute and need to run. Was at over 14 5 years ago. Knew I had to make changes. New Dr and she inspired me. On meds of course but I also made changes, with her approval. Biggest one was doing 2 meals a day vs 3. Wasn't sure if I could do this but I did. Besisdes cutting way back on snacking I did the 2 meals a day and within a year I was down 50 lbs and my A1C is staying down around 6. Older man so not as active as I once was and some injuries and other health issues have limited my ability to exercise but I am still maintaining my numbers and weight.

For me, the simplest and most effective changes were to walk a lot (especially after meals) and increase protein/veggies while cutting bread, grains, pasta completely.

Magic Spoon cereal was a game changer. Yogurt with peanuts (and a few berries). Low fat mozz sticks. Nuts. Chia seed pudding (which I’m getting really good at making good). Big salad for lunch. Making sure there are extra veggies on the plate at dinner.

I eat a nearly vegetarian diet.  I find that eating a lot of fiber with my meals helps.

Also, I take a glp-1 (Mounjaro), which has made the biggest difference.  I’ve lost a ton of weight and my a1c is normal.

Most of the vegetarians I know, especially younger, eat tons of rice/potatoes. French fries as meals etc. You need to cut out all of the super starchy carbs (potato, rice, bread, pasta) for a while (or start by 1/3rd portions and work your way down) to see how your body does with and without them. Start tracking everything you eat for a while.

Meals should be 2/3rds green/fibrous vegetables. Beans aren't really protein, they're classified as carbs too but fiber filled ones. So if you have beans, that's your carbs (because most are 2:1 carb to protein). Eggs and tofu probably need to be upped? You haven't said what you eat so just guessing.

Everyone is different. What I did was try each food I regularly ate, waited an hour and tested to see what my blood sugar was doing.

One of the foods that spiked my levels was bananas, I never expected that. My point is, different foods affect people in different ways, spend the time, find out what is causing the high levels and eliminate them from your diet

You need to go on insulin for a few months. No pills will bring you down enough at this point. Your pancreas needs a break.

Just make some easy changes for now: cut out soda, no eating after 6 pm. No junk food in the house. Two meals a day.

I’ve been through this many times :) one persons journey is never the same for another but something that had a profound effect on my sugar was fasting 16/8. Don’t eat past 8pm and make lunch your first meal. To add to that Stop eating large portions.. you’ll be surprised with this one. Push through the hunger for a few days of smaller portioned meals and you will quickly find yourself full much more quickly. NO SNACKING! that’s the hardest part 😂 no sugar of course.. no soda! Give these a try and see how you react.. buy a Libre Sensor 2 or 3 off the internet and this is the best way to monitor what triggers your high sugar for 14 days. Good luck 👍🏻

You're right. Don't panic and don't try to do everything all at once. For some people, that does work, but for others, it leads to terrible cravings and binging.

Take a look at what you're eating. A lot of vegetarians rely on high carb foods such as grains including breads and pasta, rice, high carb veggies and sugar. Even legumes and a lot of fruits can cause problems for some.

Your main focus needs to look at proteins to make sure you get enough and lowering your carbs.

If I were you, I'd start by asking for a referral to see a registered dietician or diabetic nurse educator who can walk you through how to develop a new eating and movement plan and how to monitor what works best for you.

I would say, for your first step in eliminating foods would be sugar. Of any kind. That include

I hate to say this. But I would really contemplate with yourself, family, and other people on staying 100% vegetarian. Your options and control levers for this blow completely wide open if you choose to start eating at least one protein.even just eggs. Not saying it's not doable but would be way harder but in the end I would try to reframe that your body can't process carbs like anyone else with a dietary restriction or allergy. There are also a lot of low carb subs available now. They're not perfect but they def help keep this normal and sustained.

Read the diabetes code. Changes my life. I was diagnosed at 7.5 and withing 3.mk that I dropped 25 lbs and my a1c was under 6. Never looked back.

Don’t bring it down too fast, it can damage your retinas.

quit carbs and sugary anything.

That was my case 1 year ago: I hoped being vegan for over 7 years gave me some sort of insurance but when my A1c was 11%, I knew I had to clean up my act.

I immediately became whole-food, plant based. Cut ultra processed foods and refined carbs. I avoid processed foods. Stuff like a huge opened bag of white rice I couldn't donate I still eat, but cut with brown rice or quinoa.

Bottom line: I focus on creating meals with low-to-medium glycemic load, followed by 15 minutes of light exercise. For lunch today I had dal with rice/quinoa and roasted pumpkin. Writing this before a 15 minute ride on the bike trainer. This will keep my blood glucose under my postprandial alarm level of 120.

Read Mastering Diabetes by Khambatta and Barbaro and Reversing Diabetes by Barnard for good understand

Cut out sugary drinks, period. No more sugar sodas (diets or zero from here on out), def more water overall (zero sugar drink flavor packets are a GOD send!).

Track your carbs/sugars/fiber. The amount of carbs/sugar (they are the same thing! Look at total carbs on the nutrition labels, it includes sugar) you can have a day really depends on the person, but anywhere between 100-150 is good to start out with (because you want something you can DO, and stick with)(I brought my 11.something down to 6.5 eating 130-150g of carbs a day).

I was told that fiber cancels out carbs. That's why you see with keto things, it'll be 15 grams of carbs, but 14g of fiber, so it's only 1 net carb. But also go easy on fiber, bc that makes you shit, start low with that (although if you eat a lot of fiber alrea

Whats your age, weight, and daily carb intake? I’m at 5.5 aic and I’m on dexcom. That gave me much better control before i was maybe 6-7. 11 is very high so I’m guessing you’re type II and your insulin to carb ratio is off. Or you have insulin resistance.

I was 10.7 and got it down to 6 in three months. I did it by eating 1800 calories a day and cutting out unhealthy carbs and adding more fiber.

The simplest amd easiest way to start is by focusing on what you can add to your meals rather than taking away.

Focus on adding a vegetable to every single meal and snack.

Make easy substitutions like diet pop for regular, whole wheat bread for regular, brown rice for white rice, add a bit of wild rice into there for extra fiber. Eat whole fruit instead of drinking juice.

Reduce junk food and take out food. Save it for special occasions or a once a month treat.

For rice and potatoes, cook them ahead of time and refrigerate them for 24hrs before eating. This creates resistant starch which acts more like a fiber than a starch. Freeze unused portions on the second day.

You did get here overnight and it you arent going to fix it overnight. Make small changes and build on them over time.

I found bread and rice shot my blood glucose levels way too high. I learned that by wearing a CGM, a continuous glucose monitor. The hardest diet change for me was cutting out rice. I tried brown rice, chilling and reheating rice -- nope, none of it worked. I had to stop eating rice. I do recommend a CGM, it really taught me how my body reacts to different foods and keeps me honest about my eating.

I had to drastically lower down my sugar and carb intake. Daily exercise, even just brisk walking for at least 40mins helps a lot for me.

Walking, fasting, protein, fibre, lots of water, 2 main meals a day, double veggie servings, don't replace meat with too many carbs. Do you eat eggs, cheese etc?

Get a cgm if you don’t already have one. See what’s spiking your blood sugars. It’s an eye opener. Exercise more. Even if it’s just walking after eating. Limit drinking soda, drink water, and eat less junk food. You don’t need to cut everything out, just consume less of it.