Limiting myself to 1500 calories. Too much sugar though?

Have to agree, 1500 sounds way too low for you...

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

But, that's the great thing about MFP - if you can find the right amount of cals to eat so you "don't feel like your'e on a diet" - then that's perfect!
I've loved to learn that losing weight doesn't have to be about deprivation. Moderation certainly goes a long way, but deprivation doesn't have to come into it.

Anyway, back to your sugar query - my opinion is that if most of your sugar is coming from fruit, I wouldn't worry about it. If you feel like you want to reduce it a bit, try replacing some of that fruit with veggies. Either way you are getting lots of good nutrition (and fibre, vitamins, minerals etc) with your sugar.

Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all.

Sounds good to me, losing weight while not feeling you are on a diet?

Have you even tried it yet?

At least try it for a couple of weeks first before attempting to do your own thing.

Stick with the higher 1900 cals and remember to eat your exercise cals. You have most likely been eating way, way more than this until now so you will definitely lose weight. Lower cals may not be sustainable for you in the longterm - you are more likely to fall off the diet. Your body may also get used to the lower cals, your metabolism may drop and you may find that you can never eat more than 1500 without putting weight back on.

If I were you I would try 1900+ cals for a month and then review.

Men trying to lose weight should have about 2000 cals, so 1930 is not too high

Where should I add extra calories and what?

I'd say add in another snack between lunch and dinner, I always need something about 4pm personally and usually have a big bowl of melon, strawberries, blueberries and whatever other fruit I can find.

Also do you have any other drinks in the day other than water and the one cup of tea for brekkie? I have about 3 big mugs of tea a day with semi skimmed milk, which is about 25 calories per mug, and sometimes I'll have a glass of ribena which is another 20 calories or something. So the odd drink can also bump calories up.

I find I am always over my sugar macro as well btw - just because I have a small glass of fruit juice every morning but its something I don't want to give up!

I have to agree with the rest of MFP, 1500 is way too low for you, you're on a road to illness with that low of calories. If you're worried about sugar intake, log it before you eat it Just advice, you can do what you feel works for you.

Where should I add extra calories and what?

Well, whatever you enjoy, I'd say! And if you can get more nutritional 'bang' for your buck then all the better.

Some examples:
Switch from skim to full fat milk (some studies show you absorb the nutrients from the milk better that way)
Add a handfull of nuts to your morning banana snack (will help stabilize your blood sugar level)

Another option is to calorie cycle and aim for a weekly cal total rather than a daily one. That way, you could still have your weekend splurges. It's all about finding a way of eating you can live with for the rest of your life...

my comment is strictly regarding sugars. Sugar did not make me fat, but it KEPT me fat. I was eating fat free crap, and not losing. the reason for that is because if there is sugar just floating around in my system, my body uses that for energy. If I keep my sugars pretty low, my body must burn more fat for energy. keeping my sugar low included limiting (not eliminating) fruit, bread, rice, pasta and some dairy products.

For a while, I was at a 1980 calories. I ate just that and lost weight. Granted I am five foot one inch..(Add one or two inhes with shoes.) I think if the site and than again most people don't go by it.. You should at lest try to have that amount of food.

Edit: Its my opnion about the situation. Doesn't mean you have to.

As you lose weight, the number of calories a day will drop. So after I lost weight (10 pounds) it dropped me to 1880 calories.

My biggest problem that I had to deal with is the fact that, no I may not go to the snack machine and simply snack! Then quitting the deit cokes.

Yet, fruit sugar doesn't seem to bother me. It's when the sugar from high sugar snacks come into play. xx

You could, if you think it would work for you, look at calories weekly.

So, 'if you want to keep one/two nights at the weekend for a curry you could stick with the 1500 on week days and then eat 3000 ish on weekend days.

^ That's what I would do.

Also, I trust these numbers more than MFP's. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

*And listen to Sidesteal above, he knows what he's talking about. Good luck!

The first question I would ask you kindly as a challenge is to assess your level of commitment to losing the weight and getting healthy. MFP is a great tool to receive motivation. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being mildly interested and 10 being willing to do anything and change your life where are you? You will see all examples on this scale on MFP. It is a great teacher- both in what to do and in what not to do.

Secondly I agree that 1,500 calories is too low and you risk virtually shutting down your metabolism. Especially since you said you are not exercising.

Third, I would look at an overall strategy besides calorie control. You want to maximize the nutritional concentration of the calories you take in. ex; leafy greens always trump processed starches and grains providing you are taking in your prescribed daily calories. Take a look at every meal and ask, "Am I eating the best thing I can possibly eat for this meal?" A diet heavy of starches and grains should be replaced with a diet heavy on vegetables, fruits, good fats and lean animal proteins. Fruits are great, within reason and are best used by your system in the morning. Carbs are great when they are good carbs! Its hard at the beginning but after 2-3 weeks you would ask yourself why you didn't do it earlier!

You can definitely lose weight without doing this just by limiting your calories but you would miss out on the speed of your improvement and also the exponential additional benefits of putting nutrition as paramount over caloric limit. Ironically you would also, in my opinion be less likely to suffer from burnout and/or bounce back. You probably already know people who lost weight by paying no attention to nutrition and lifestyle change and only restricted their calories and they likely didn't look or feel well during or afterwards. Weight loss centers (any brand out there) are full of them.

Finally, I would ask you to think more about how to integrate some planned exercise and movement into your weekly routine. Start small and build from there. This is so important and the benefits go way beyond weight loss. You don't have to go to a gym to workout. Gyms are overrated.

All of this depends of course on your answer to the first question.

Carbs are great when they are good carbs!

This is when any and all of your credibility was lost. A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate. You can paint it, dress it up, call it a different name, or whatever you please but the end result is still the same thing. It's going to become glucose molecules and insulin will spike. Carbs and insulin make you fat and keep you fat. Plain and simple.

Excess calories make you fat. Protein is insulinogenic too. Carbs do not make you fat or keep you fat in the absence of an energy surplus.