You Sir are, perhaps unknowingly, on the Keto diet, based on your eating habits...nice.Bro, seriously? Tree fiddy? PLEASE get that under control and STOP smoking! I came danger close to being a three buck Chuck myself about ten years ago.
I took my doctor's advice (at the time of diagnosis in 2015) and went to the American Diabetics Assn website and reviewed their dietary guidelines, then immediately discarded them as poisonous and designed to make me med dependent the rest of my life.
This is anecdotal but what has worked for me (at least a little) is cutting out nearly anything with HFCS, refined sugars, and most fried foods. I avoid white starchy stuff like bread, crackers, rice (especially refined white), pasta and potatoes. Stopped using any type of margarine (IDC what it is made of) and started using regular butter (unsalted for cooking at high temp), olive or coconut oil for sauté.
Add in green vegetables (green beans, broccoli, leafy plants like spinach, turnips, collards, lettuce), cauliflower (cooked, riced, creamed, etc. as a substitute for potatoes), very low fruit intake, and you will settle on a diet that works to lower your body fat and increases your body's ability to burn calories (especially with moderate exercise). You may have to develop a palate for foods you previously disliked and reserve the starchy/fried stuff for a treat or reward at milestones. Eventually you'll find the risk/reward for eating the bad stuff just isn't worth it. As an example, about once per month I travel to the NC coast and allow myself to have ONE visit to Bella's NY Pizza shop in Calabash for a two slice lunch special. Afterwards I feel what a whore must feel like in church on Sunday, but man that's good pizza. LOL.
Not being preachy and I'm sure you know most of this but it's a lifestyle change. I went from an A1C of 11.7 to 5.3. I have a bit to go but my goal is to get off the Metformin and Glipizide eventually.