What do I need to change?

knmzmom

So I finished logging everything Friday eve and a big ole alert popped up telling me I'm not eating all my calories...1490/day...and I've had anywhere from 200-400+ left over. (Who'd have thought it would be hard to eat that few)? So what do I do? I eat "good for me" stuff...tuna in water, lettuce, tomatoes, cantelope, etc etc. But I run out of sugars before I run out of anything else. I think a lot of it is "natural" sugar from the cantelope because I'm sure not eating any "sweets". Is natural sugar better for you than "sugar" sugar? Or is sugar, sugar regardless? What do I need to do different?

RodaRose

Add some almonds or sunflower seeds or peanut butter.
This thread lists many items that help someone get to their calorie goal.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

Marilyn0924

Unless you have a medical condition that requires you to track your sugar intake, ignore it. Eat your calories as assigned and work on balancing out protein/fats and the rest will fall into place.

knmzmom

THANKS! Both of you. I bookmarked the list for reference. Quite a few things I was limiting as I thought the sugars/carbs would "do me in". As I was looking through comments on the list conversation I saw someone post that at the end of the day if they are under calories they eat something high in calories to boost them toward their goal. I like that idea. I still need to get a grasp on the "sugar thing" because my whole life "sugar equals calories equals weight gain". I did lose 6 lbs this week and upped my exercise 10-fold. I'm not tired all the time so I feel more energetic. I'm PUMPED and hope I can continue to feel this way!

knmzmom

Oh, one other thing...the peanut butter for the calorie boost...won't that affect my fats? Or not enough to really hurt anything...

Kalikel

Getting your sugar from fruits is better than from frosting because the fruits contain nutrients you need and fiber you can use. Frosting will generally have nothing you need and the yummiest ones often contains trans fats. The fruits are generally much lower in calories, too, so you can stuff yourself full for the same (or fewer) calories as a teaspoon of frosting.

When you want to figure out what foods are better and worse, just look at what they give you that helps you and what they give you that hurts you. Consider the calories. Then make your decision.

White table sugar is not worse, per se, than fructose. It's just empty calories.

I don't sweat it when I exceed a sugar limit based on fruit I ate. I don't even care.

A glass of juice is high-cal and not filling. If you need extra calories, but feel stuffed, try sipping some juice. Or just go under the goal one day and over the next.

knmzmom

Thank you, Kalikel. Your very last sentence helped me accept tonight. I've been under my calorie count every day last week but today I'm over by 260-some. Bums me out because I went over, but realize this one day won't hurt. I know I just have to be careful this week.

arditarose

knmzmom wrote: »

Oh, one other thing...the peanut butter for the calorie boost...won't that affect my fats? Or not enough to really hurt anything...

The macros mfp list for you are minimums. Many of us go in and manually change them to suit our training needs. For weight loss, worry about your calorie goal. For me, I'd be very happy to eat some peanut butter and raise my fat level as reaching my fat goal and beyond makes me feel good and energetic.