I just count calories and I always eat potatoes! I just weigh them. There isn't much difference nutritionally between sweet and regular potato just taste preference. I just don't eat pasta carbs cause I just don't care for them and I can easily eat 1000 calories of pasta, that's how much I don't like it lol. I would go for tuna noodle or mac and cheese with pasta. Oh my got, I can squeeze in 500 calories of ho made mac and cheese, that's 10 oz but I should weigh in grams but I'll let those extra calories slip in through the back door any day. But I do low fat and supplement with cod liver oil capsules. This way I can eat more. I don't have any cravings for anything and I feel satisfied from the protein. My food also digests easier this way because it's not heavy. I will have a free day of eating on my birthday since we are going out to dinner but I will still look at the menu before I go and pick something half way decent.

Oatmeal is a carb I get in too because it's low calorie. Rice isn't worth it most of the time. But potatoes are. Right now I'll avoid nuts except for walnuts for the fat, I'll eat an oz but will cut them out in a couple weeks when I lower the calories. I'm only eating 1600 calories a day now while building muscle, I'll cut the calories every couple weeks 100 daily until I get to 1300 a day. It's just to see if I can do it. I tried and got off track and now back at it, it's really hard going so low calorie while growing at the same time.