i'd like to move away from really restrictive diets. i know you are *right* but not being able to eat most foods i'd eaten my whole life just wasn't working.
You should view your Type 2 as a condition (or more bluntly, a type of sickness) that needs to be treated with a certain approach rather than something minor you try to work around. You do not need to eat low carb your entire life, just long enough to restore your insulin sensitivity. You largely got to this point by eating the foods you have your whole life in combination with your lifestyle. I don't see how you're going to gain meaningful traction with the diet outlined in the OP. Snacking all day, eating crackers and fruit. Depending on serving sizes you're also likely in a calorie deficit that's too large - your body will desperately cling to weight and ratchet down your metabolism to compensate.
Two things I'd recommend trying that are easy and should be quick wins: try to shrink the window in which you eat and only eat when necessary. By growing the total time you go without food gradually, you will lower your overall blood insulin level and begin to address the 'wall' your body is building internally. This can be as simple as pushing back breakfast an hour or two, or skipping your snacks, or eating dinner early.
I also wholeheartedly agree with everyone recommending you up your activity level and
introduce resistance training to go alongside your walking. Keep a little snack handy in case you feel faint, but otherwise go for it. Resistance training is a good stressor for the body that will help you feel better while also attacking the physiological factors that come with type 2 that are causing weight gain and ultimately your depression.
Logging your food intake and counting the calories is something you've already committed to, which is great. It could provide some answers and some more big wins, depending on what it reveals.
You can do this.
