Soaring over my sugar limit...snack ideas?

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margelizard
margelizard Posts: 89 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Since I have joined the site I have soared quite significantly over my sugar limit almost every single day. From what I read, excess sugar, if not used for energy, immediately gets stored as fat. So I am figuring that lowering my sugar intake would only be a good thing, right?!

My set daily sugar amount based on my goals is 24g per day and I usually try to exercise every day, so it goes up to around 31g per day.

I make an iced coffee most days, which is 11g in itself, so I am looking to replace the honey I use with a sugar alternative. Hopefully this would cut the 11g.

I drink an orange fiber drink every morning which is 9g which I cannot go without!

I have a banana or eat melon every morning which is 14g.

However, I also often don't reach my calorie goal of 1200, so I am looking for a snack that is low/nil in sugar, but has a decent number of calories and maybe some protein? I try to eat different nuts during the day to satisfy this, but I would love some different ideas as I'm getting kinda bored with the nuts!

Anyone have a similar problem and if so, how did/do you combat it?

Replies

  • dancerbyday
    dancerbyday Posts: 61
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    Wait!! Don't use artificial sweeteners!! They may be less calories, and I guess they are less grams of sugar (?), but they are soooo bad for you! I mean really, they are almost poison. Sorry to freak out, but soooo many people think, "Well they are less calories, so that will be an easy way to lose weight," but it's not true!

    Ok, that said, stick with the honey. Maybe you could cut down on the amount of honey, though, or (I know it's hard) have you yummy iced coffee every other day?

    I understand you can't go without your special morning drink thing, and that's fine. I mean, we all have to indulge ourselves sometimes. ;) And as for the fruit, don't count that sugar. It is natural sugar, good for you, does not get stored as fat. So that cuts down a whole 14 grams! No need to skip your drinks!
  • janimei
    janimei Posts: 105 Member
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    I am getting better at not going over on my sugar & carb limits. I used to have 2-3 fruits a day and now have only one on most days. I use KIND bars as a "good cheat," but only the ones with 4-5 g of sugar (honey). I stopped sweetening my coffee. Many of the teas I drink are naturally sweet from spices and orange rind (e.g., Decaf Constant Comment; Trader Joe's Rooibos Ruby Chai). I stopped putting nonfat plain yogurt in my smoothies because I need agave syrup or maple syrup to cut its tartness--once a week, I'll indulge and use the yogurt/syrup, but not daily.
    Look over your daily logs. Analyze what worked and didn't work in terms of food choices.
    It helps me to enter my breakfast and lunch by 1 to 2 p.m. so I know how careful I have to be in terms of snacks and dinner.
  • MarshmallowLegs
    MarshmallowLegs Posts: 51 Member
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    I would only really worry about refined sugars rather than natural sugars found in fruit.
  • potatocar
    potatocar Posts: 250 Member
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    If you're getting bored with nuts, you can grind them, add a tiny bit of milk (or water), some melted coconut butter, a few mashed dried fruits (high in sugar, yes, just use a few so it'll stick), roll them into little balls and roll them in some coconut. I usually add a few drops of rum. :3

    *Also, personally, I don't worry about the amount of sugar at all, just the type of sugar! There's better things to worry about than eating too much fruit.
  • ApocalypticFae
    ApocalypticFae Posts: 217 Member
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    Hardboiled eggs make a nice snack for around the house. A handful of raw nuts. Thinly sliced veggies with hummus.

    Make sure to use stevia as a sugar replacement instead of anything with aspartame. I've been drinking tons of diet coke lately and ordering my Starbucks "skinny" so that they use sugar-free syrup and I can tell you firsthand that it can become a little addicting, not to mention the skin issues I've been experiencing and a few other weird side effects that seem to coincide with my increase in consuming products with aspartame.

    :flowerforyou:
  • margelizard
    margelizard Posts: 89 Member
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    Thanks for the responses everyone, there are definitely some potentially good ideas in there!

    I definitely wanted to avoid sweeteners with aspartame since I have read a lot about bad effects on it. I figured that if there was any potential for bad effects from something, I would be best off avoiding it. Do you guys have any thoughts on stevia? Or is that in the same group as other sweeteners?

    I could cut out the coffee on most days, or just go back to drinking hot coffee (which I don't sweeten at all). That's good about the fruit though, I will try and discount that for the most part. Looks like otherwise I am not doing too badly!
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
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    Fruit might be your best bet. But not canned fruit - i mean real fruit.. especially now with the summer here, lots of delish choices!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Since I have joined the site I have soared quite significantly over my sugar limit almost every single day. From what I read, excess sugar, if not used for energy, immediately gets stored as fat. So I am figuring that lowering my sugar intake would only be a good thing, right?!

    My set daily sugar amount based on my goals is 24g per day and I usually try to exercise every day, so it goes up to around 31g per day.

    I make an iced coffee most days, which is 11g in itself, so I am looking to replace the honey I use with a sugar alternative. Hopefully this would cut the 11g.

    I drink an orange fiber drink every morning which is 9g which I cannot go without!

    I have a banana or eat melon every morning which is 14g.

    However, I also often don't reach my calorie goal of 1200, so I am looking for a snack that is low/nil in sugar, but has a decent number of calories and maybe some protein? I try to eat different nuts during the day to satisfy this, but I would love some different ideas as I'm getting kinda bored with the nuts!

    Anyone have a similar problem and if so, how did/do you combat it?

    I think you need to do some more reading on sugar and DNL
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Unless you are diabetic, sugars are not a concern. They do not cause weight gain. They are not stored by the body. They are used any time and every time you move a muscle.
  • Alwayssohungry
    Alwayssohungry Posts: 369 Member
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    And as for the fruit, don't count that sugar. It is natural sugar, good for you, does not get stored as fat.

    Whoa - if you are counting sugars for a health reason the above advice could not be more wrong. Sugar is Sugar no matter what the source to many medical conditions.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    And as for the fruit, don't count that sugar. It is natural sugar, good for you, does not get stored as fat.

    Whoa - if you are counting sugars for a health reason the above advice could not be more wrong. Sugar is Sugar no matter what the source to many medical conditions.

    Yes... this is pretty much accurate... and sugars are not stored as fat unless the overall energy expenditure is less than consumption... which shouldn't be happening if you are at a deficit.
  • annewarre
    annewarre Posts: 3
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    As a newbie, I find the "sugar" goal on the Food Journal the most vexing. Basically, it says that I have to consume 7 grams of carbs per gram of sugar. Lettuce has 2 grams of carbs per gram of sugar, blueberries have 5 grams of carbs per 4 grams of sugar. Dairy is 1:1 carbs to sugar. Basically, to eat my carbs, I have to cut out fruits, vegetables and dairy, and replace them with bread, grains or beans to meet this ratio.

    I'm really trying to figure this out so I can get my diet straight. Is this right?

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