All of that said, it isn't easy, but there are many calorie tracker apps you can use to help. Once you start tracking everything it becomes pretty easy to be mindful of what you're taking in... it's not always easy to think in terms of how many calories certain meals have. It's okay to have a 1200 calorie meal once in a while, but it's not okay to have a 1200 calorie meal twice a day, with a few snacks, soda/sugar-coffee, etc. It all adds up.
That and sugar is one of the most inflammatory things you can take into your body, especially refined sugars. Refined oils aren't much better though.
I tend to use Avocado, Olive, Walnut, Coconut and Rice Bran oils as well as Butter and Lard. I don't often use lard, but if I'm making something that would traditionally use it, I will. I'm not too big on the flavor of Olive oil and will usually use Avocado oil instead. Walnut I use sparingly but love the flavor it adds when cooking. For mayonaise I'll tend to use rice bran, walnut and avocado oils. I will cook with coconut oil more often than the others. It depends on the specific use case.
There are many other options, but for the most part, I avoid "Vegetable Oil" and the composing parts.
