Watch the sugar. I have dropped 31 pounds this year...

....I cut the fat in my diet and capped the daily calories.  My cholesterol was high too before I started the new diet in January of this year.  At that point, I started eating a lot of non-fat foods.  The pounds came off over the next nine months and I was quite proud of myself as I conveyed my weight-loss story to my doctor.  I was sure my next cholesterol tests would be better.  They were, but that was not why my doctor called me on the telephone.  He wanted me to know my blood-sugar had spiked to the yellow zone.  I subsequently went back several months and did a sample of my daily food journal, whereupon it showed I was averaging 85 grams of sugar a day, which unknown to me is apparently 200-some percent over the recommended daily allowance.  Those Special-K bars I've been living on for the past nine months:  12 grams of sugar.  That non-fat dressing I've been living on for the past nine months:  10 grams of sugar.  Apparently a lot of non-fat foods have more sugar.  Therefore, it's time for me to add a little fat back to the diet, cut the sugar, and continue to watch the calorie total.  I started that yesterday and still got a B from Calorie Count.  Again, watch the sugar.  We all walk a fine line with diet and I'm learning it's more of a balancing act than I originally thought.

Dave

That's a good point.  A lot of 'low-fat' products will bump up the sugar content to maintain texture and flavour.   To keep your blood-sugars on an even keel try eating like a Type II diabetic.... light, evenly spaced meals, wholegrain and other high fibre foods like vegetables in preference to refined starches, and a little fat and some protein (vegetable more often than animal) at each meal 

You sound like you have a good doctor!   Good luck

I think if you are eating fresh, unprocessed food, watching your sugar isn't a big deal. I heard Dr. Oz talk the other day and he said the food you eat should look the same as when it came out of the ground. I totally agree with this. Ever since I've been eating unprocessed foods, I am just not as hungry anymore. Natural food doesn't have a lot of sugar. If it does, it's good complex carbs.

I mostly agree with you but sugars cannot, by definition, be complex carbs.  Some natural food is actually pretty high in sugar - fruit for example - but it comes wrapped up in so much fibre and other nutrients that your body seems to be able to process it more slowly preventing the sugar rush/insulin spike that comes from eating too many sugary processed foods.

Paraplayer41, good for you for finding out what America refuses to pay attention to or is in denial about.  You READ LABELS and you understand that all sugar, no matter the source or vehicle, is metabolized the same.

Most folks don't understand that if you have diabetes or are threatened with it all sugar has to be counted.  When someone spouts the "eat healthy food and fruits are no big deal" uh, my reply is, "ask a learned diabetic, they'll tell you different". 

Good job and great work!  Keep those glycemic index lists handy!

I beg to differ.

Fruit is so good for you, cutting it out of your diet is not a good thing. Most people are not diabetic! Therefore, for most people limiting added sugars is a good thing but we can eat as much fruit as we like and still be healthy. If you have a medical problem, maybe you have to watch natural sugars, but not everyone does.

But too much sugar is still bad for you, no matter the source.  It sounds like our guy just discovered ALL of his sugar, sources, not just the hidden ones.  And there is soo much already hidden/included in non-sweet foods!

http://chetday.com/benefitfruithealth.htm

My dad always tells me about the woman who went on a peaches-only diet and gained weight.   But still I would never want to discourage anyone from including some kind of fruit into their daily diet.  Also "serving size" is misleading, for example, one serving of fruit = half an apple.  

Also, his doc indicated his sugar was in the "not-at-all-good-zone".  See original posting.