Hi Brian and welcome
No need to apologise for giving plenty of information. The more the better. So pleased to read that you are up for the challenge and have a positive mental attitiude towards tackling this. It will stand you in good stead.
Quite surprised that your HbA1c is relatively low when you were having such significant symptoms. The frequent trips to the loo and subsequent severe thirst usually occurs at much higher levels. Combined with the episodes of feeling light headed etc, I wonder if your Blood Glucose (BG) levels have been fluctuating in both directions (Reactive Hypoglycaemia) which would result in a lower HbA1c reading than expected, but that is just a guess without you having the ability to check BG levels when you were feeling wobbly.
Going to tackle the exercise first as that is the easy bit.... walking is one of the best forms of exercise if you are able, to help lower your levels and not put too much strain on your body. Try to keep a brisk pace (power walk rather than stroll) which means you have to breath a bit more deeply and start with 20 mins a day if you can and slowly build on it. Once you get fitter, look at lengthening it and incorporating hills or flights of steps etc but maintain or increase the pace. Getting a bit sweaty and out of breath is a good thing. People find an exercise bike can be really good too, especially when the weather is less pleasant.
As regards diet, carbohydrates are the problem, not just sugar and sweet stuff. Our digestive systems break down all carbs into glucose which is absorbed into the blood stream but then, as diabetics, we aren't able to metabolize it efficiently, so it gets stuck in our blood stream, which over time can cause problems with out fine blood vessels and nerves, particularly the eyes and feet. This is why we get regular checks on our eyes and feet.
Reducing the amount of carbohydrate (starchy and sugary foods) means that less glucose is going into our blood stream and therefore our bodies have a better chance of coping with it. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas and is used to remove glucose from the blood stream into the cells where it is used for energy or stored as fat. With diabetes, the body either becomes resistant to that insulin and doesn't untilize it effectively or is unable to produce enough insulin to remove all the glucose and levels build up. The kidneys kick in when glucose levels reach a tipping point and start to work overtime to remove the glucose as a "fail safe" strategy which is why you need the loo and get thirsty, but if you are still putting the glucose into your blood stream by eating and drinking more carbs, it becomes a vicious cycle.
Not sure how much you know about nutrition but carbs are the starchy and sugary foods which are very easily broken down by the body.... All grain products are high in carbs, so bread, pasta, rice, couscous, breakfast cereals (including porridge) pastry and batter... basically anything made with grains/grain flour plus starchy and sweet root veg like potatoes, parsnips, sweet potato etc. Then of course the obvious sweet stuff with sugar in it but also syrup, honey and perhaps surprisingly fruit in all it's forms (fresh, frozen, dried or particularly juiced). Berries being the best choice of fruit as they are the lowest carb and try to limit the exotic fruits like bananas and pineapple and mango and be very careful of grapes as they can be very moreish.... small portions of just a few grapes if you are tempted.... so easy to eat a whole punnet of them without thinking!
Things which have no or very few carbs are meat, fish, eggs, cheese, full fat dairy, nuts, mushrooms, vegetables which grow at ground level like cabbage, kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, salad etc.
You are looking to reduce the amount of foods you eat in the first list and increase those in the second. Reducing portion sizes is key but doing it in a slow sustainable way is best.
The alternative is to go for something like the Newcastle/ Fast 800 diet which involves a very low calorie restricted diet for 8-12 weeks to force your body to burn off visceral fat particularly around your liver and pancreas and this has shown effectiveness at pushing diabetes into remission for some people too, but you then have to maintain the weight loss to maintain the benefit which can prove challenging for many people... I think a lot of people have spent their lives YoYo dieting, so it depends which approach you feel is best for the type of person you are. Both are known to be effective.
For me eating low carb is now something which I enjoy but there is a difficult period of readjustment as we have spend all our lives filling our plates up with carbs like bread and potatoes and pasta. I no longer miss those things and I really enjoy my food now but it was hard at first. That said, I would also find a very calorie restricted diet difficult and I know I would put the weight back on afterwards, so a low carbohydrate, higher fat way of eating works for me and I get my energy from fat instead of carbs. The great thing about fat is that it keeps you feeling full for longer, so no cravings or hunger pangs and provides steady slow release energy without putting glucose into your blood stream..... Not talking about eating lard but I have cream in my coffee on a morning and cheese whenever I fancy it and I cook my veggies with a knob of butter or cream cheese and I have full fat mayonnaise on my salads and fatty cuts of meat like lamb chops and belly pork and rib-eye steak.... but no chips or baked potatoes, just salad and a big dollop of cheese coleslaw or a big plate of veggies with them.
Anyway, I have waffled on far too much, but hopefully you get the picture. It helps to keep a brutally honest food and drink diary so that you can see where you can start shaving off a few carb rich foods here and there, so maybe one less Yorkshire pudding and one less roast potato on your plate but more veg and meat. Have a cooked breakfast with just half a slice of bread instead of toast or cereal for breakfast. Small sustainable changes are key. Finding low carb foods which you enjoy will help enormously.
If you wan to post the sort of things you currently eat and drink for breakfast lunch and evening meal, we could give suggestions for swaps/alternatives which would be more diabetes friendly.
