What do you try to "stay away from" or only have very occasionally?
For me, it's sugar & sodium. I cut back on carbs, but don't try to stay away from them. I don't worry about low fat so much; in fact, I believe that fat (in good forms) is really good for you. Good for the brain!
But sugar & sodium... those are the two things that are my downfall. The more I eat them, the more I want to eat them. So I tend to have "only occasionally". Not always easy!! But necessary for my success.
I am low carb and low sugar. I only have them one day a week. I use to just eat whatever and everything was fine but now I've been doing this so long (Almost 4 months) that I get sick if I eat too much sugar. I have to stick to mostly carbs if I wanna "cheat". Last weekend I ate ONE hostess orange cupcake and I ACTUALLY vomited 15 minutes later. It made me that sick. Ugh. Won't do that again, lol.
I try to stay low sodium and low simple carbs.
I load up on complex carbs because without them, I drag all day long. I stay away from sodium because it keeps the water weight low.
Simple carbs (like white flour and sugar) makes me feel lethargic. (sp?) the other day I had a cheesecake slice as my weekly treat during lunch and work, I dragged knuckles for the next 2 hours, i couldn't remember feeling so icky...not doing that treat again.
I have been slowly eliminating/lessening sugar, sodium, and white flour. I try to keep to a low carb, low sugar, low sodium, high fiber/protein diet - made up of mainly whole foods.
I have at least one off-plan day a week to get my fixes, though. However, if I overdo it on any of those three things, I feel rotten afterwards - kind of like how I used to feel ALL the time before I started this journey!
I don't eat grains, sweeteners, soy, legumes, or dairy. All my carbs come from fruits and vegetables, pretty much. It's strict, but I am super dooper carb sensitive, so if I want to lose at a decent rate, that's what I have to do. It's not that bad once you get used to it, and I feel 1000% better now that I'm not eating grains at all.
Changing my WOE is in its infancy but my goal is to limit sugar without totally eliminating it. I also would like to do away with simple carbs/white flour. DH's joint pain is much more tolerable without those things, plus it's not good for me. Lead by example!
I also try to pair my carbs with a lean protein. I've found carbs, even complex ones, do not satisfy me nearly as much as protein but I just can't go "low carb."
We'll see how all this pans out and gets tweaked over the next few months though!
the only thing i really try to stay away from is food with a lot of sodium. calories, fat, carbs, sugar, protein, fiber, etc... if i want it, and it fits within my calories for the day, i don't deprive myself. if it's something awful, like high in fat, or sugar or both, i tend to drink a bottle of water (with a crystal light if it's a sweet i'm craving) and then wait 15 mins or so to decide if i still want it. however, i try to aim for high protein or high fiber foods, more so than anything else. i think i'm lucky in that i don't feel like eating certain things triggers cravings for me.
I WISH that I could stay away from sugar, carbs, and salt. But I don't know what I shouldn't have, except for the obvious deserts like cookies and other deserts. How do you know what you should stay away from. I LOVE fruit, is that "bad sugar"?
Sodium is hard to get a handle on. Seems like everything is high in sodium. I've been working on it for the last few weeks since for some unkown reason, my BP has been going up. Also doctor said to cut down on caffeine as well. And I , or my own sanity, am trying to cut down on sugar. But its hidden in a lot of foods too. You really have to make a concerted effort and read labels.
I try to stay away from anything overly processed, particularly processed carbs and sugar. I am fine with sugar from fruit. But i stay away from anything high carb (even if not processed) such as potatoes.
I stay away from sugar completely because it just causes cravings that make me eat irresponsibly. I do low carb and make sure my carbs come from good sources so I never get hungry and always feel good about how I eat. I don't watch fat or protein because they don't affect my weightloss, I just make sure the fat comes from good things.
Low fat, low sugar, low sodium, low carb, low-low-low!
