Calorie help!

Flawfill3d
Flawfill3d Posts: 8 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I know how to stay under my calorie goals but I have a hard time staying under my sodium, fat, and sugar goals, etc. I always go over. Do I need to worry about that? Should I just focus on my calories? Do I need to balance the two? How do I do that without complicating the other? I'm very picky eater.

Replies

  • fi_b
    fi_b Posts: 121 Member
    Hey lovely :)

    It's hard to really say without being able to see your diary, but if I had to guess do you eat a lot of processed/pre-packaged food? What are your macros set at? I would be a little worried sodium if it's way over each day. As for sugar you can argue that carbs are carbs but if you're eating mostly simple carbs (like sugar) then you probably also get sugar spikes and lows which can make you feel lethargic and reaching for a quick fix - stereotypically chocolate or highly salty/fatty snacks. As you the fat calories, it does come down to what kinds of fats you're consuming and the ratio you have of protein-fats-carbs and what you're trying to achieve.

    Sorry this isn't a quick answer, feel free to send me a message if you like!

    Fi
  • Flawfill3d
    Flawfill3d Posts: 8 Member
    Yea I do eat a lot of processed foods. I'm a picky eater and I can't cook so I trying to Change what and how I eat little by little. I'm a diabetic too. I can't really afford healthy or organic foods so I'm trying to use what's accessible to me.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited October 2015
    If your diabetic, then you should probably see a dietitian for help (ask your doctor for a referral). A dietitian will be able to help you create balanced meals and will probably suggest going low carb.**
    Sodium is only a real concern if you have high blood pressure. That said, the more packaged foods you eat the harder it will be to keep this down. Canned foods seem to be the worst (it's one of the reason I buy frozen veggies and not canned).


    **I'm guessing at this based on my experience when I had GD while pregnant with my first. The dietitian I saw had me watching carbs closely.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Flawfill3d wrote: »
    Yea I do eat a lot of processed foods. I'm a picky eater and I can't cook so I trying to Change what and how I eat little by little. I'm a diabetic too. I can't really afford healthy or organic foods so I'm trying to use what's accessible to me.

    Do you live near an Aldi's or Save-A-Lot? Or any other budget grocery store. Budget grocery stores like these are great when you don't have a lot to spend on groceries. An example: 1 gallon of milk is currently $1.30 cheaper at my local Aldi's than it is at Walmart.

    I wouldn't worry about food being "organic" or not.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    In terms of sodium, even if you did have high blood pressure, weight loss typically gives you significantly more improvement of your blood pressure compared to keeping the weight on and eating a low sodium diet. Obviously, both together give the most benefit of all, but if you've got to focus on one, focus on calories first.

    Since you're diabetic, focusing on calories and carbohydrates is probably the way to go for now, and worry about other pieces of diet later.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Yep - low carb for you, for sure!
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