I'm in the same boat. I've done two things that have made my A1Cs drop significantly.

1. The sodas thing. Good job on that. I know that, for me, that was difficult.

2. Controlling the rest of my diet with the following:

I have an app now which I use to track calories. (I use Loose It! on Android. I've gone premium, and I started tracking what I eat.) Not only do I track the calories, but, using the logging on the app, I've started watching my macros. I had a medical DNA report done and the app uses that data to calculate how much fat, carbs, and protein I should be eating daily based on my genetic profile. It's given me a LOT of insight into how to adjust my diet so that I still feel full without blowing things. I've lost 35 so far and I've gone off the rails a few times. (*cough*TMEA*cough*)

Discipline is the main thing. Those cravings will keep coming, and sometimes you can ignore them, sometimes you can't. When you can't have something SMALL that won't blow the budget, or try to integrate it into something else. An example: I have starting drinking the Fairlife Protein shake when I need a chocolate fix. It's super good, and it'll increase protein consumption, which is where I'm usually lacking.

I wish you the best of luck on your journey. It's a HARD road which MANY abandon. Be disciplined, and, as we tell our kids, focus on the long-term goals and delayed gratification.