smoothie/ fruit question

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So I've been drinking a fruit smoothie for my breakfast which is made up of,
4 strawberries
1 banana
20 blueberries
.half cup of low fat milk
2 tablespoons of vanilla yogurt.

My husband told me if I want to lose weight I need to quit eating sugar, that included fruits.... I thought I was doing good,Iijust have one smoothie a day and that is all the fruit I eat for the day. Do I need to stop eating fruit altogether in order to lose weight?
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Replies

  • kk_inprogress
    kk_inprogress Posts: 3,077 Member
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    Nope. All you need is a calorie deficit to lose weight. If that smoothie fits your calories, you're good.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    Are you accurately logging that smoothie? Does it fit within your calories?

    If yes, then you're good to go. Though, you could up the nutritional content by adding some greens or other veggies if you want.
  • lindz4ever
    lindz4ever Posts: 593 Member
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    Yeah it fits in with my calories, I have 1490 calories a day before workouts and that smoothie is 221, that smoothie does have 46g of carbs and 33gofsugar, hubby told me that I should only have 40g of carbs a day and no sugar of any kind,this app says 183g carbs and 89g sugar I'm so lost so far I've had around 80g carbs the past few days so I thought I was doing good and I've been under my sugar between 14-20g
  • FiiiiFiiiFlowerTot
    FiiiiFiiiFlowerTot Posts: 102 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Tell your husband, if he wants to have a cranky wife then to carry on telling you that. Having no sugar and little carbs is insane! Just keep a calorie deficit and youre all good!!!
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I watch added sugars (try to limit to 20 grams a day). I never look at sugars from fruit, veggies, or milk.
    The sites that I have found that talk about sugar focus on cutting back on "added" sugars.
  • MarziPanda95
    MarziPanda95 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    Your husband, to be blunt, is totally 100% WRONG. The only thing needed for weight loss is a calorie deficit. You could literally eat 1490 calories of pure sugar and still lose weight, though of course you'd feel terrible, hungry and you'd probably get scurvy or something.
    Just eat a balanced diet at your recommended calorie level, making sure to hit your protein and fat requirements. Unless you have a medical condition like diabetes, there is no need to limit sugar or carbs.
  • Jetamu96
    Jetamu96 Posts: 963 Member
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    Agree with everyone else, as long as it's under your calories it's fine. You can't have zero sugars because your brain needs sugar to work! Your body depends on glucose for energy. Sure it can get it from other nutrients but it takes a lot longer and you'll be very cranky and lethargic. (I'm a med student).
  • lindz4ever
    lindz4ever Posts: 593 Member
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    Thank you every one for your feedback I really appreciate it
  • KatEmmaMarie
    KatEmmaMarie Posts: 64 Member
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    If it fits into your calories for the day and you don't have any medical issues concerning sugar, then it shouldn't be any problem. I have a shake every morning which consists of protein powder/veggie powder/fiber powder, half a cup of almond milk (the rest water) and 1 cup of mixed berries. Then I also will eat some other kind of fruit (especially if I ran/worked out that day) with lunch. I consistently lost weight eating plenty of fruit (fit into my day) for a year and even after gaining 15 pounds due to life style changes and being back to lose it, I've been consistently losing weight every week. Just do what works for you, if you're consistently losing the weight don't listen to him.
  • BeaUtiful_1413
    BeaUtiful_1413 Posts: 200 Member
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    Your fine. Fruits are low in calories and very good for you. I have them for breakfast all the time
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Your husband is wrong.
  • soulofgrace
    soulofgrace Posts: 175 Member
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    The best thing you can do is read these forums and prepare to have your mind changed about a lot of things. There are some very smart and helpful people around here. Enjoy your smoothie and good luck!
  • provencal73
    provencal73 Posts: 1,275 Member
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    I'm going to be the odd one out here. Yes it's true that calories in vs. calories out is the way to lose weight. However, your husband is right in a way. Sugars and sodium play a role in how you lose weight. If you have a high impact strength session and eat a few gummie bears after, your body utilizes the sugars for immediate breakdown in a beneficial way but if you're just slinging back those same gummies as a snack it becomes stored instead of utilized. Processed sugars are a bad thing of course but as fruits ripen (like the banana) the benefits of the fruit become lower as the sugar increases. You don't have to knock out fruits entirely because we need a certain level of real sugar but I agree with your hubs that cutting back may help depending on your goals.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I'm going to be the odd one out here. Yes it's true that calories in vs. calories out is the way to lose weight. However, your husband is right in a way. Sugars and sodium play a role in how you lose weight. If you have a high impact strength session and eat a few gummie bears after, your body utilizes the sugars for immediate breakdown in a beneficial way but if you're just slinging back those same gummies as a snack it becomes stored instead of utilized. Processed sugars are a bad thing of course but as fruits ripen (like the banana) the benefits of the fruit become lower as the sugar increases. You don't have to knock out fruits entirely because we need a certain level of real sugar but I agree with your hubs that cutting back may help depending on your goals.

    Are you saying that my body will store calories from sugar even if I'm eating at a deficit? Can you explain more how this works? If I'm storing energy in a deficit, what is my body running on?
  • provencal73
    provencal73 Posts: 1,275 Member
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    You need to think outside of calories. Your fat, carb, protein, sugar and sodium levels have the biggest impact on your body. When you're in a deficit your body relies on carbs and protein to fuel itself, if not it's going to go after the next available resource which is not your fat, it's your muscles. Fat is your bodies way of protecting itself from starvation in simpler terms. If you want your body to utilize it's fat stores instead of muscle stores you have to provide it the proper nutrition levels (hence why this program has the breakdown for sodium, sugar, carbs etc). If you're over indulging in an area like sugars but meeting your calories, your body is not using the excess sugar it'll store the sugar or the sodium or the fat as a preservation technique (especially in women).

    I guess the simplest way to say it is to provide your body with the higher protein and minimum carb levels and lower sugar and sodium levels so you burn fat stores instead of muscle (muscle is higher in protein/energy). Your body runs on carbs and proteins.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited January 2016
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    You need to think outside of calories. Your fat, carb, protein, sugar and sodium levels have the biggest impact on your body. When you're in a deficit your body relies on carbs and protein to fuel itself, if not it's going to go after the next available resource which is not your fat, it's your muscles. Fat is your bodies way of protecting itself from starvation in simpler terms. If you want your body to utilize it's fat stores instead of muscle stores you have to provide it the proper nutrition levels (hence why this program has the breakdown for sodium, sugar, carbs etc). If you're over indulging in an area like sugars but meeting your calories, your body is not using the excess sugar it'll store the sugar or the sodium or the fat as a preservation technique (especially in women).

    I guess the simplest way to say it is to provide your body with the higher protein and minimum carb levels and lower sugar and sodium levels so you burn fat stores instead of muscle (muscle is higher in protein/energy). Your body runs on carbs and proteins.

    I exceeded the sugar recommendation virtually every day when I was losing weight and my body fat percentage went down. I don't believe that the body can store energy while in a deficit -- do you have any sources you can point me to that further explain what you're saying will happen?
  • Odilerubia
    Odilerubia Posts: 80 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Interesting discussion, in my humble opinion everyone is a little right, if you do sports it is important to eat well and healthy and fruits are healthy, on the other hand fruits do contain sugars, although the healthy type, eating only fruits would give you way too much sugar, but of course you are not eating only fruits...
    One thing though: its proven that it is more satisfying to eat in comparising to drink. I noticed you are consuming a lot of fruits/calories packed in your smoothie.
    Have you considered of making your smoothie with only the strawberries, banana and milk and even add some icecubes (if I say water it doesnt sound tasty, but actually it wouldnt hurt to add water). As a snack you could eat your yoghurt with the blueberries so you will spread a little over the morning. It helps me to feel good throughout the whole day.
    Good luck
  • provencal73
    provencal73 Posts: 1,275 Member
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    Here is a recent one, I don't mind pulling more: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek69.htm

    You may have a high metabolism or a level of activity that is utilizing the sugars appropriately. It could be something as simple as you shocking your system with the deficit. My response is in regards to her asking if he was right. Which he is... in a way, especially if she has plateaued.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Here is a recent one, I don't mind pulling more: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek69.htm

    You may have a high metabolism or a level of activity that is utilizing the sugars appropriately. It could be something as simple as you shocking your system with the deficit. My response is in regards to her asking if he was right. Which he is... in a way, especially if she has plateaued.

    DId you mean to post a link to a study? That appears to be the entries in some sort of essay contest about why sugar is bad, including some pseudoscience like proper diets for different body types (like ectomorphs and endomorphs, a categorization that has no documented scientific value). Do you have a study that documents subjects gaining weight while in a calorie deficit due to sugar consumption?

    My metabolism isn't high. I am active, but not extraordinarily so.

    I don't understand what you mean by "shocking the system."
  • provencal73
    provencal73 Posts: 1,275 Member
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    Yes I purposely chose that link. There are many actual studies saying why sugar is bad, good or no difference. Everything is based on the individual and finding what works for your body. My reason for that link, different ideas, different philosophies. I'm sure you can take the time to pull me hundreds of scientific studies to back why you lost weight even though you overloaded your sugar levels. At no point have I stated anything about gaining weight on a deficit. Simply putting this, her husband is not wrong. Nor is he fully right. If she is plateauing I would recommend looking into her sugar, sodium and fat levels.

    Shocking the system..... drastically altering a diet, calorie reduction, increase in activity level. Anything you don't typically do that you've started doing. Couch potato to running a few times a week. Etc.

    :smile: