I keep going over my carbs and sugar in breakfast alone!!

viren19890

Maybe I'm counting wrong cuz my weight drop is consistent so far. However I don't update the app on daily basis and have made it in my mind to do it -weekly instead daily since weight is suppose to fluctuate.

So my 2400 Calorie diet allows me 84 grams sugar - I was done with that in breakfast - what am I suppose to cut out?
(it's in grams)

Dole - Banana (Medium) 220gram- 37 sugar
Sun Date - Pitted Dates - Raw, 25 gram= 18 Sugar
Sealtest - Fat-Free Skim Milk, 11 fluid ounce = 14 sugar
Sweet potato steamed - Sweet Potato, 247 grams= 10 sugar
My Protein - Impact Whey Protein - Cookies & Cream, 50 g= 4 sugar (during workout)


Carbs 240 allowed and I'm left with 94 - lol I've my whole day ahead of me right now.

I can cut out the banana but after waking up in the morning i'm very hungry- so I take a banana and creatine and then workout right after. For Sweet potato- I ate that in two servings- ate half and then waited another 40-45 mins before eating.

Only reason I'm still losing weight is cuz I log all my food in and then if it looks like I'll go over- I'll walk so much in the evening to bring the entire damn total down. lol legs hurt but oh well.

Any suggestions. My carbs/sugar come from above things-I even stopped eating an apple which I like a lot.

septembergrrl

Could you swap the banana for a carton of lowfat yogurt? The calories are similar, and it would add some protein and cut the sugar by about 20g, if I'm reading Google correctly.

janejellyroll

Do you have a medical reason to want to monitor your sugar? Many of us don't find the sugar goal helpful so we track something else (like fiber). If you're losing weight and feel full. As long as you meet your needs for fat and protein, carbohydrates aren't necessarily going to slow down your weight loss (assuming you don't have additional medical factor at play here).

Marilyn0924

Unless you have a medical condition that requires you to monitor your sugar intake, I wouldn't worry so much about it.

markrgeary1

A 220 gram banana? Or typo? Mine have run around 100 grams, huge one was 150.

debrakgoogins

Unless you medically have a reason to limit your sugar, there isn't a reason to track it. You can adjust your settings to remove it. If you are consistently losing, I wouldn't be concerned about the sugar macro. For a quick filling breakfast, try a whole grain English Muffin with peanut butter and a banana. Another quick option is to wrap some lean deli meat around a cheese stick. A hard boiled egg and a piece of fruit work well. (Although, I burp eggs when I do this before a workout so that one might not work for you!) There are all kinds of options. The protein and fat in the ones I mentioned will keep you full longer than carbs alone. You are consistently losing because you are tracking your CICO and that really is the key. The macros are helpful but not required for weight loss.

rosebarnalice

That banana data seems wrong. "Self Nutrition Facts" shows 225 grams of banana as 28 g sugar. You might check to see if you're logging a flawed or unverified entry. See, e.g., http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

lynn_glenmont

rosebarnalice wrote: »

That banana data seems wrong. "Self Nutrition Facts" shows 225 grams of banana as 28 g sugar. You might check to see if you're logging a flawed or unverified entry. See, e.g., http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1846/2

Also, OP, are you weighing the banana before peeling it or after? You don't include the weight of the skin when you're logging (unless you're eating the skin, and then good luck finding an accurate entry with nutrition information that reflects the skin).

Lounmoun

If you don't want to eat so much sugar or have a medical reason for limiting it then I'd suggest changing the kind of food you eat. Try more protein foods.
Eggs, meat, beans, yogurt, nuts, cottage cheese for example
Maybe have a breakfast burrito or a sandwich with your sweet potato instead of the dates and banana.

kshama2001

I had 20 g of dates in my oatmeal last night, which were yummy, but cost me 65 calories and 13 grams of sugar. All I needed was 1 teaspoon of sugar, for 16 calories and 4 sugars.

Francl27

Nothing wrong with sugar unless you're diabetic, although yeah, I'd have dates, sweet potatoes, or bananas, but not the 3 of them at the same time.

JSBird18

Per the food you listed, You are eating a lot of fruit in the AM. Have you tried Plain non fat Greek Yogurt with some granola and some fresh/frozen berries? That is packed with a much more proportioned Carb/Protein/Fat ratio I find.
For breakfast I'll have the above or I'll have 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/2 cup of zucchini and bell pepper Omlet along with a slice of low sodium Ezekiel bread with no sugar strawberry or grape jelly. Fills me up for about 2 hours. Gives me my proportioned macros for the start of my day.
I am a "fasted" trainer. (I work out in the fasted state) The Protein and fat will help keep you feeling satisfied the longest.

I only track my Carbs, Proteins and Fats. I do not track sugar however, I don't completely ignore it either. Too much sugar and not enough of the others will eventually catch up to you. You must make sure you are getting a balanced meal every time you eat.

Please know the advice I give is based on my own personal preferences and opinion.
Good Luck!

bpwolf77

IMO you probably want your sugar/carb intake to be higher earlier, your probably burning it off through the day when your active. My dad lost over 100 pounds on a diet where he only had sugar in the morning and then he was pretty carb restricted the rest of the day

AlliRich

I've been struggling with the sugar issue, and keep coming across the same information, which basically stated the biggest issue with sugar is when it is "added." Natural sugars (from what I've read) are okay (everything in moderation), and the focus should mainly be on minimizing processed foods, which can greatly increase daily sugar intake. Like the other posters, this is just my personal opinion, and definitely not medical advice :-)

I also just finished watching the Netflix documentary "Sugar," which was very insightful and eye opening. On the other hand I haven't done much fact checking with the information presented in the documentary. I did agree with some of the info based on my personal experiences with the types of food I eat when attempting to be healthier, which is probably due to my body type and genetics.

holothuroidea

I don't think sugar is a problem necessarily, but that seems like a very unbalanced meal. There's no need to eat a huge banana, dates, and a sweet potato in one sitting.

Guacamole goes really great with sweet potatoes. You can buy them in individual serving packets, too. That will give you a good source of fats and vitamins with your potato. Taken with milk that would be a nice balanced meal.

The pre-workout banana and post workout shakes are a fine idea. That is the heaviest banana I have ever heard of, though. My bananas are usually 60-80g. Granted, I purposefully pick smaller ones, but 220g of banana is a lot of banana. Choose smaller bananas and make sure you weigh them instead of picking the "medium" or whatever option. I would also log those as a snack, not as part of breakfast.

viren19890

Thanks everyone for chiming in.

I'm using the app so don't know how to multi quote and reply to individual posts. So it'll be a write here.

I have no sugar constraints or restrictions I need to worry about but I read that it could restrict in weight loss.

My banana have been measured with the skin and now I realize that could be the causing issue. Apple is with skin but I eat it with skin too but stopped eating cuz of sugar.

I eat banana and creatine right at 5:15 am and 5:35 am I'm in the gym working out. During I take my protein shake 200 Cal's with 4 grams sugar with another 5 grams of creatine. At 8 am I go to sleep and get up at 10 am and eat breakfast with sweet potato and dates 4 of them, came out to 20grams.

Sweet Potato was steamed and then I ate that in two sittings, it means I ate half at that time and other half like an hour or so later.

Around 12 or so I take my skimmed milk with another scoop of protein.

Carbs ratio is 40%, Protein is 35% and fat 25% and I'm always under the fat level by 5-10 grams.

Also before going to bed I check if I'm like 50-100 calories lower than my target and then I walk until I'm at 200-300 Cal's deficit before going to bed.

I'm vegetarian and only drink milk and no meat products.

Zero eating from outside and one coffee from Macdonald's 2 cream 2 sugar but I make sure I burn that right after drinking the coffee lol

I tried lowering my Carbs ratio to 30% but that's just unhealthy I learned. Vegetables are carb intensive.
I am losing fat consistently though.

What else could be changed?

viren19890

I'm lifting as heavy as I can and I've started boxing on Saturday. 5 days strength training and walk and then Sat boxing.

cafeaulait7

Maybe you'd be interested in the Glycemic Index of the carbs, so you know which ones spike glucose more than others? Cooking can matter, like I boil my sweet potatoes so they have a much lower GI than when they are baked.

So if you are getting enough protein, maybe just watch how many high-GI foods you eat? Apples and most fruits are really good, and beans, etc are excellent. I have blood sugar problems and don't even avoid the low GI stuff Some of my days of carbs look high, but if they are low-GI then it's fine (confirmed by my glucose meter).

It sounds like your carbs aren't 'junk food', so that's already much better right there for any reason you'd avoid carbs. And if you eat them before you exercise, all the better. I wouldn't be too concerned

holothuroidea

Eat your sweet potato with a source of fat instead of dates. Guacamole, coconut oil, margarine/butter, etc. go nicely with sweet potato.

When you eat your banana, cut it in half and have it with a spoonful of peanut butter.

viren19890

cafeaulait7 wrote: »

Maybe you'd be interested in the Glycemic Index of the carbs, so you know which ones spike glucose more than others? Cooking can matter, like I boil my sweet potatoes so they have a much lower GI than when they are baked.

So if you are getting enough protein, maybe just watch how many high-GI foods you eat? Apples and most fruits are really good, and beans, etc are excellent. I have blood sugar problems and don't even avoid the low GI stuff Some of my days of carbs look high, but if they are low-GI then it's fine (confirmed by my glucose meter).

It sounds like your carbs aren't 'junk food', so that's already much better right there for any reason you'd avoid carbs. And if you eat them before you exercise, all the better. I wouldn't be too concerned

I was under the impression that a calorie is a calorie regardless if it comes from "good" or "bad" sources ? I mean -I understand it'll have health repercussions but aiding in cutting phase -it'll be same right?

viren19890

holothuroidea wrote: »

Eat your sweet potato with a source of fat instead of dates. Guacamole, coconut oil, margarine/butter, etc. go nicely with sweet potato.

When you eat your banana, cut it in half and have it with a spoonful of peanut butter.

that's a good suggestion-thank you. I'll cut it in half and get a 2 tsp of peanut butter..other thing is that my peanut butter is regular-if I knew better I would've purchased unsweetened version.

Funny thing is -I didn't even know what a teaspoon vs tablespoon is lol- had to look at google images and compare my spoons with it.

Now I just ordered labelled spoons from amazon.

viren19890

Is it possible to multi-quote or am I asking for too much now?

cafeaulait7

viren19890 wrote: »

cafeaulait7 wrote: »

Maybe you'd be interested in the Glycemic Index of the carbs, so you know which ones spike glucose more than others? Cooking can matter, like I boil my sweet potatoes so they have a much lower GI than when they are baked.

So if you are getting enough protein, maybe just watch how many high-GI foods you eat? Apples and most fruits are really good, and beans, etc are excellent. I have blood sugar problems and don't even avoid the low GI stuff Some of my days of carbs look high, but if they are low-GI then it's fine (confirmed by my glucose meter).

It sounds like your carbs aren't 'junk food', so that's already much better right there for any reason you'd avoid carbs. And if you eat them before you exercise, all the better. I wouldn't be too concerned

I was under the impression that a calorie is a calorie regardless if it comes from "good" or "bad" sources ? I mean -I understand it'll have health repercussions but aiding in cutting phase -it'll be same right?

That gets tricky, because I'm not convinced that carbs hinder weight loss at all unless there is some insulin problem going on. If that is indeed any sort of problem, then the slow-digesting carbs are much better on blood sugar levels, yes. The 'bad' carbs are only bad because they spike blood glucose because of quick absorption, and so they are a problem for folks like me whose blood sugars go too high. If there is no insulin problem, I don't know that carbs would be any different than any other macro. Just make sure you get enough of protein and even fat.

Pollywog_la

Bananas and dates are pretty high in carbs if you are watching those. I avoid them myself.
Another breakfast option could be a nice plain greek yogurt (like Fage) which is fairly low in carbs. You can add some nuts and/or blueberries (lower in carbs than fruit like bananas) for variety/deliciousness.

blankiefinder

Stop tracking sugar and then it won't stress you so much. I didn't track sugars and it certainly didn't affect my weight loss. I also eat a lot of fruit, with milk, and a spoon of white sugar, sometimes multiple times per day in season. Never hurt me.

Duchy82

viren19890 wrote: »

Is it possible to multi-quote or am I asking for too much now?

You can multi quote if replying from your phone then just press the quote button at the bottom of each post and they should appear in the reply box (at least that is how it works on my phone).

As for your question I personally stopped tracking sugar as I go over all the time, tracking fiber is more meaningful for me. You can change what macros to track in the settings. If sugar is from natural sources and I'm losing weight I'm just not all that bothered if I go over.

Sued0nim

Can't believe people still use the glycemic index ...it's like the last 20 years never happened

OP ...swap out sugar for fibre tracking, don't worry about carbs ..focus on calories then hitting protein and fat minimums ...don't weigh the bits of fruit you don't eat

jennifer_417

As far as weight loss goes, calories are king. It's probably good to not eat tons of sugar, but it's irrelevant for weight loss.

jazzyjasper68

You should aim to eat more protein for breakfast, I try to have an egg and spinach (I got the idea off here) every day: eating protein for breakfast helps to keep you full for longer. You should eat bananas after working out, not before, try eating an apple about half an hour before doing your workout. Fruit does have a lot of sugar but it is good sugar, unlike that in cakes and biscuits. Fruit sugar isn't stored the same way in the body, whereas eating carbs from bread etc is stored as fat if you don't use it for exercise. For example, eating biscuits at night and then going to bed, will result in the carbs being stored as fat in the body.
Your protein shake is high in calories, or is that for whey and creatine? My whey protein shake is 100 calories and 20g of protein.
Hope you can get your eating to where you want it to be.

cafeaulait7

rabbitjb wrote: »

Can't believe people still use the glycemic index ...it's like the last 20 years never happened

OP ...swap out sugar for fibre tracking, don't worry about carbs ..focus on calories then hitting protein and fat minimums ...don't weigh the bits of fruit you don't eat

Well, we also disagree on whether cutting down on carbs for diabetics is a preferred plan of attack, so let's not try to debate about diabetic topics like GI together. Fortunately this isn't a thread where the OP seems to have any insulin problems, so the difference of opinion doesn't seem reckless. It's fluff here, yeah.

Although, monitoring fiber intake instead of sugars amounts to the same thing as GI pretty much, so maybe we were more on the same page than you realized.

Sued0nim

This isn't a thread on diabetes and I have never even intimated that watching carb intake is a requirement for those with diabetes ...watching carb intake does not mean spuriously low numbers


What does monitoring fibre intake is the same as GI mean? :huh:

I monitor mine as a minimum intake for digestive purposes