Hey @TravelingOn, it is GREAT to meet you on the forum! And, on top of that, as a friend of this->@Eric you are a friend of everyone on this forum already!
I am so glad that you are spending all that time reading up! This is what my wife, son and I have been doing every since my son my diagnosed 1.5 years ago. D is a tough nut to crack so there is SO MUCH to know and read! But it is amazing how much we can progress and improve through a thorough process of information and experimentation.
I am joining my voice to all the others – the medical advice is typically directed as the average user. A motivated PWD who reads, learns and experiments can do much better than the average user, and quickly moves past the regular advice from the medical profession. We all feel that the best advice we get is on this forum - after all, we already have more than 500 years of combined D experience here (don’t forget to add your Eric’s years into there 
)! And, in the same way, there is a wide variation in A1cs among people as well – the big elbow in the complication curve is in the mid 7s, as @Chris said, so there is no reason to feel defeated at all, on the contrary, since you are striving to do better.
Either way, here we thrive on knowledge and experimentation – so I think you will fit right in! Looking forward to your posts – your friend Michel