Trying to ease into lower sugar and carbs

I don't eat any snack that has more than 10 grams of sugar in it. Ex: Fiber One bars are ok, since the sugar total is only 9 grams.
You'll make your own rules are you go along. The important part is that you are aware.
I don't watch carbs since I like things like plain sweet potatoes and plain oatmeal with a banana too much.

Adding more fat to my macros and meeting RDA miniumuns for salt, for me are a WOE that prevents starchy carb cravings (which is closely aligned with sugar cravings). Until this WOE kicks-in, here are 2 temporary measures that I find helpful when I 'hanger' for something that I mentally do not want to eat: #1 brush my teeth & tongue #2 drink a cup of black unsweetened tea.

What is your goal?

Are you meeting the MFP goal? If so, is there a specific reason you'd want to go lower?

I do prefer eating lower carb, but that's just personal preference.

What's important is to have ideas about what you want to eat and not just what you want to avoid, that's what will help you have a healthier diet and not starve yourself. Think in terms of adding in protein and healthy fats and carbs with more fiber if your current diet is high in refined carbs and particularly added sugar.

If your body doesn't want to go cold turkey, then believe your body! Try tracking what you eat for a week -- every last thing that you put in your mouth -- while just eating what you normally eat. That'll give you an idea of where you are right now. Then maybe you can try cutting the number of carbs you eat by 25% and raising your protein and fat. Don't worry so much about green carbs (vegetables, fruits) and try to omit the starchier carbs.

Having said all that, there is no reason to cut carbs other than your own choice. Plenty of people have lost weight healthily and successfully eating full carbs. Low(er) carb works for me; it may not for you. There are lots of roads to your goal.

I have been trying this for a month until the past week I was watching calorie intake but this last week I started eating different I bought wildway grain free cereal for breakfast ate whatever for lunch as long as it stayed within my calorie goal. For dinner I bought eating well meals and I would snack on Cliff bar protein bar. I also exercise every day to Fitstar. And I make sure I wear my fit bit and get my 10,000 steps. I've lost 2 pounds this week which is a big step because before I was stuck. I'm still drinking half my bodyweight in water. And I hit my calorie goal every day without going under or over. For me eating higher protein foods with low sugar indexes really made a difference all together since June 18th I have lost 10lbs.

sdoh31 wrote: »

Oh I also wanted to add that I am chronically sleepy. Even with a full night sleep, I end up taking naps whenever I can and then going to sleep at night. I just want to feel healthier and more awake

When's the last time you had your vitamin D levels checked (simple blood test)? D deficiency is a super common issue and it has many symptoms, including feeling run down/lethargy. It's easy to fix as well, once you've been tested.

sdoh31 wrote: »

Im at 150# and 5' 6''. My family has a history of diabetes, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure. I have been on the edge of high cholesterol, BP, and triglycerides for a while now. I'm trying to get a better grasp on what I'm eating and hopefully get my numbers lower so that I am healthier! I changed MFP nutrients percentages to 40, 40, 20 (or something similar to this) for fats, protein, and carbs (respectively). But this was only to try and decrease my sugar intake. Carbs are fine for me but my main issue is sugar intake.

Thank you all so much for your help and advice!! Starting to actually weigh and count what I eat today (the most serious I have been).

Mostly I think logging what you are doing now and adjusting to get your totals more in line with what you want is all you really need to do. I didn't find any surprises when it comes to sugar (I mostly eat whole foods and homemade stuff, so pretty much knew what had sugar), but when you look at a day you can see where you were getting protein, fat, carbs (and within carbs, sugar) and make adjustments. Sweet snacky/dessert stuff can be the obvious culprit with added sugar, as well as some cereals, flavored yogurt, and various other highly processed things, perhaps. Seeing it you can decide what's easy to cut down on. You can also increase portions of protein sources (if you are low on protein), decrease sources of carbs (if you are high on carbs), although I personally don't think of all sources of fat and carbs and protein as identical.

I really think eating healthfully/nutrition is more about what we do eat than what we don't (although they go together, as you will pick one thing vs. another). My main priority is getting in enough vegetables, protein, and then healthy fats (salmon, olives or olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds), and maybe some fruit. For starchy carbs I'd focus on higher fiber or whole food options, mostly (like beans and lentils, among others), although of course you can fit in what you really love and would miss too.