Well...basically what I did when I was first diagnosed was an Atkins induction diet. I did this to get my blood sugar where it needed to be. Then once blood sugar was ok, I started introducing some carbs. Grazing is a good way for a diabetic to eat. It's recommended that diabetics eat 6 small meals a day. What's important to remember is the "small" part. Half an apple, two slices of cheese and a handful of nuts is a "meal". Try to include protein in every meal. If you have a carb, include fat also...low fat diets are not the best in this situation, unless you are not eating carbs at all. Fat slows down the absorption of sugar. Another thing you can do is check out the about.com diabetes community. There are a lot of resources there...including a large support/information forum...here's the link to get you started there... http://diabetes.about.com/ Once you have registered there is an option to get their diabetes education course emailed to you, over a period of a couple weeks. I found this very helpful. What is really nice about it, is that you can take your time with it (not an hour with an educator) and any questions you have, you can ask on the forum and get lots of answers...the "guide" (moderator...who is a nurse) also replies to stuff on the forum.

As for the exercise...it's important to start slow...especially if you haven't been exercising in a while. And I mean REALLY slow! A half hour stroll is a perfectly fine start to exercising for a diabetic. Here's why...if you jump in and do a serious workout, while that may be just fine as far as how you feel goes...your liver will dump sugar into your blood to "fuel" the exercise...and you end up with a dramatic INCREASE in blood sugar instead of the lowering you are trying to get. You can slowly increase your exercise and this won't happen as much because your body has gotten used to the idea and the fact that the sugar is already there. I did nothing but walking the first month. I slowly increased my distance and speed; now I can go out and play two hours of tennis without a problem...provided it's after a meal. Always exercise after a meal...for the same reason as starting out slowly. If you haven't eaten then your brain tells your liver there is no fuel...increase in blood sugar. If your doctor has put you on meds, be careful also. Glucophage/metformin (brand name/generic name) will not cause any problems, but there is a class of drugs called sulfonylurias (glucotrol is one such drug) that can cause low blood sugar. If you are taking one of the latter, make sure you check your sugar right after exercise and again an hour later. If it's going low (under 70), eat something right away...but make it something small...a slice of cheese, a piece of bread, half of a granola bar...or you could use a diabetes specific thing, like Glucerna snack bars. You may also notice that as your blood sugar gets to where it needs to be, you may feel like it's too low...it's normal to feel this way for a little while because your body is used to being too high. Just remember...70-100 is normal...it is still ok to eat something if you are at 83 and feel like you are going to pass-out though...your body will get used to being in the normal range and that feeling will go away in time (meaning in a few weeks, not the first time it happens)...so go ahead and eat something if you feel low at a normal reading...just make sure it is no more than 15 carbs, so you don't get a spike and start yo-yoing your blood sugar.