I still feel like I should watch my carb intake if I want to lose weight. Am I way off?

I feel like bread, pasta, cereal and all things refined are part of what's given me such problems with weight gain. (Not so much from potatoes and rice...but I also eat them less frequently.) The grains--although I LOVE them--make me bloated and I think they literally pack the weight onto my body.

So I've decided to try and cut them out as much as possible. But I'm still eating yogurt and fruit, which both have all their carbs from sugar--as does milk. Am I totally messing myself up or missing the point?

Help!

'Carbs'... is a very big food group.  Everything from simple sugars and starches through to wholegrain foods, pulses (legumes), vegetables, fruit...   They are the main source of energy for the body and should be about 40-65% of a healthy balanced diet.  

So rather than cutting out carbohydrates, make them work for you.  Choose more of the unprocessed wholefoods... wholegrains, pulses, fruit, vegetables... and fewer of the heavily processed, starchy or sugary type.  Limit things like rice to a smaller portion... typically 2oz uncooked weight.    If you do that you'll find that reduced calories go a lot further and that you are better nourished and more satisfied with what you eat.

If you specifically find that wheat products leave you bloated try a) eating them in much smaller amounts and b) choosing the wholegrain version over the white version before you go down the route of eliminating them all together.

It's the whole grain ones that do more damage to me than the white....

And what about the dairy?

Do you eat much fibre the rest of the time in the form of vegetables?...   (25g fibre a day isn't a bad benchmark).  If your digestion is not used to much fibre, wholegrains might make you bloat.  Too much fruit can do that as well.

As for dairy, the calcium in dairy products helps limit fat absorption.  And if you go for the low-fat versions of milk and yoghurt then they're also a reasonable source of protein without too many calories.  Plain yoghurt mixed with some freshly chopped fruit doesn't contain added sugar... only lactose.  You only need two portions of dairy products a day to get enough calcium. 

If carbs are a trigger for you, then don't eat them.  But realize, vegetables are also carbs.  I doubt spinach is a trigger, so eat your veggies!  Avoid the breads, pastas, chips, cookies...these things often trigger overeating.  For me, too.  I am cutting them out of my diet.