Hello
@Bakerboy and welcome to the forum
As
@Drummer says, although it is not totally necessary, many of us find that a meter is an extremely useful way to keep blood sugar levels under control and avoid hypers.
It will help you find out which foods cause your blood sugars to rise, and eventually arrive at a lists that lets you maintain good blood sugar levels, that you enjoy eating, and fits your lifestyle in terms of how much preparation and cooking you like and have time to do.
The idea is to test before and 2 hours after eating. (The aim is to have a rise of 2 or less) Also if you can keep a tally of the total number of carbs eaten in a day, your morning reading will guide you on working out how much you need to adjust your eating.
SD Gluco Navii is one of the cheaper options, but there are several others.
test-review-adjust will give you some more information on testing.
I'm not sure what eating plan you are following, there are several options but many of us find that we have a low carbohydrate tolerance and reducing carbs brings blood sugar levels down.
Maggie Davey's letter, gives some more ideas on this.
Another good source of information is to join the Learning Zone, and there is a Tab for this at the top of this site.
There is also a great deal of information available if you browse around the site.
Best Wishes and I hope you will keep posting and tell us how it is going and we will try to answer any questions you may have.