Hey guys! Anyone else cutting sugar?

sparklebunnbunn
sparklebunnbunn Posts: 12 Member
in Getting Started
Hey guys! I've lost 40lb by calorie counting but still have 20lb to go. Although I have lost weight I don't feel healthy, I rely way too heavily on 'diet food' eg weight watchers meals, 'light' versions of foods which are packed with sugar. I want to try and cut my sugar intake drastically and start making more of my meals from scratch. Anyone feel the same? Feel free to add me :)

Replies

  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    My bf gave me great advice: find a chef whose work you admire and work through their recipes. Or a food blogger. Or someone on Youtube. Or even a vintage cookbook. Learn about flavours. And spices.

    So yes, we mostly cook our meals from scratch. Not all of these meals are low-cal, though: they're often quite calorie-intensive ;)

    But it's so rewarding to learn how to cook. And I'm starting to enjoy it a bit more now, thanks to my wonderful better half.
  • signerh
    signerh Posts: 61 Member
    Yup, I so know that feeling. I'm just getting started (again) and apart from not eating as well as a should, partly because I don't really cool much, a big part of my calorie intake comes from candy and such, so that's where I have to start...
  • Limon421
    Limon421 Posts: 23 Member
    I'm really trying to cut sugar from my diet, I try not to go over 25 grams total from all sources, natural and added. Usually under 20 a day. I check every thing before I choose what I will eat.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I mostly cook from scratch and don't rely on any pre-packaged things (I go through phases where I buy lunch a lot, but what I buy is similar to what I would make for myself, like a salad with chicken or a shrimp wrap). I don't avoid sugar, but I get lots of mine from vegetables and generally am not over the MFP limit.
  • RNZLR44
    RNZLR44 Posts: 574 Member
    Cutting processed foods is the way to go but very difficult; just being honest:)
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Each week try adding one home cooked meal until you have a repertoire to work with.
    Look at the My fitness recipe blog because those recipes have the calories and macros listed.
  • r9o1n6
    r9o1n6 Posts: 37 Member
    sparklebunnbunn wrote: »
    Hey guys! I've lost 40lb by calorie counting but still have 20lb to go. Although I have lost weight I don't feel healthy, I rely way too heavily on 'diet food' eg weight watchers meals, 'light' versions of foods which are packed with sugar. I want to try and cut my sugar intake drastically and start making more of my meals from scratch. Anyone feel the same? Feel free to add me :)

    That is the one bad thing about the TV dinners that are frozen they are supposed to be healthy but then they add a whole lot of sugar when you side by side them to a regular meal the sugar content of the healthy meal is extremely higher than the unhealthy meal it sucks. And as we all know sugar is the one of the main causes to helping not lose weight.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    tumblr_lobyaeQhfM1qdj9rco1_500.gif
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Meh. I'm not cutting out sugar but I keep an eye on it because I get a weird physical reaction when I go over a certain level. I can still go a little bit above the MFP suggestion and be okay.

    I prefer to cook for myself rather than use frozen dinners mainly because I can get MUCH high volume for sometimes less calories than those little packages of food. It's just not enough food for me.
  • r9o1n6
    r9o1n6 Posts: 37 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    Meh. I'm not cutting out sugar but I keep an eye on it because I get a weird physical reaction when I go over a certain level. I can still go a little bit above the MFP suggestion and be okay.

    I prefer to cook for myself rather than use frozen dinners mainly because I can get MUCH high volume for sometimes less calories than those little packages of food. It's just not enough food for me.

  • Nickle526
    Nickle526 Posts: 239 Member
    Congrats on the 40 lbs weight loss! That is no small accomplishment! The thing about those meals are that it is not necessarily healthy food, it is just a small portion of food. I think a huge benefit to cooking at home is I end up eating much more in volume, for a better nutrition profile, than if I was eating those frozen meals.

    My boyfriend has diabetes that is treated with medications. At his last checkup about a month ago, it was discovered that the disease is progressing. This freaked me out in a big way. He is the first to admit that he is not the best with his nutrition. I tend to eat pretty healthy, but I decided that the best thing I could do was to be a good example. I decided that I would eat within diabetic carbohydrate recommendations from now on. We don't live together, so part of my reasoning for this was to increase my understanding and empathy of what he is supposed to be doing. I have expanded my go-to recipes and found fun replacements for carby staples like pasta and bread. Last week I made a shrimp and veggie alfredo over spiralized zucchini. Delicious. Last night I made steak sandwiches using cube steak that had simmered all day, a yummy garlic herb cheese, onions and spring mix greens, and used portobello caps as the buns. I also made a few bacon wrapped scallops for both of us, and I made steak fries from a single sweet potato, which we split.

    Part of the fun for me is when I present my boyfriend with a meal that is diabetic friendly, and he loves it and can eat enough to be satisfied. This definitely takes some creativity, but my diet has never been better, and since I'm eating things that are super tasty, I'm happy to put in a little extra work.

    Good luck!
  • Kamikazeflutterby
    Kamikazeflutterby Posts: 770 Member
    I don't avoid sugar, but just cutting calories has reduced sugar for me. There aren't too many filling high sugar foods I can have in the average day. The sugars that I regularly eat usually have something else going for them as well (yogurt with protein, fruit with fiber, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with fiber).

    Once a week in the evenings I will have something super sugary that has as few redeeming benefits as I can find. I do have the sugar tracker on my diary out of morbid curiosity, but don't care at all if I go over.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    @r9o1n6 why did you quote me above?
  • r9o1n6
    r9o1n6 Posts: 37 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    @r9o1n6 why did you quote me above?

    Tried to do a thumbs up
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    r9o1n6 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    @r9o1n6 why did you quote me above?

    Tried to do a thumbs up

    high five

    Though I don't agree with you on most of the things you post about sugar lol
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    r9o1n6 wrote: »
    sparklebunnbunn wrote: »
    Hey guys! I've lost 40lb by calorie counting but still have 20lb to go. Although I have lost weight I don't feel healthy, I rely way too heavily on 'diet food' eg weight watchers meals, 'light' versions of foods which are packed with sugar. I want to try and cut my sugar intake drastically and start making more of my meals from scratch. Anyone feel the same? Feel free to add me :)

    That is the one bad thing about the TV dinners that are frozen they are supposed to be healthy but then they add a whole lot of sugar when you side by side them to a regular meal the sugar content of the healthy meal is extremely higher than the unhealthy meal it sucks. And as we all know sugar is the one of the main causes to helping not lose weight.

    That's not always so. The frozen dinners vary a lot and of course people should read the ingredients.

    I never use them because I enjoy cooking and don't really ever like them, but it's not true to say they are all full of sugar.

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