Struggling to stay within my sugar limit

ruthd1401

Hey all,

So I've only recently started logging again as I'm trying to lose weight....AGAIN!
So I put in my weight, age, height etc and it calculated my BMI against how much I want to lose and worked out how much calories, fat, sugar etc I should be consuming each day if I want to lose weight (My Fitness Pal did this all for me).

So it says I'm allowed 54g of sugar a day. One banana contains nearly this whole allowance of sugar! I am constantly going over my sugar limit even though I usually stay within my fat and calories limit for the day.

So my problem is this...if fruit is so high in sugar and I'm only allowed 54g a day what on earth am I supposed to snack on? and what am I supposed to have for breakfast.

I was having weetabix, low fat natural yoghurt or porridge with fruit for breakfast and snacking on fruit if I got peckish between meals.

I dont really like having eggs for breakfast.

Any ideas guys?

Many thanks,
Ruth.
xx

Mycophilia

Unless you have a medical condition like diabetes, you don't have to worry about your sugar intake.

GottaBurnEmAll

I always go over my sugar and it's all from natural sources (fruit, veg, dairy). I never worry about it.

You shouldn't either if you don't have a medical condition indicating otherwise.

Bananas are good!

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

Mycophilia wrote: »

Unless you have a medical condition like diabetes, you don't have to worry about your sugar intake.

This^^

Don't stress about it. You'll lose weight if you're in a calorie deficit even if you go over your sugar.

I'm always over mine, too, and I've lost 30 lbs.

ruthd1401

thanks guys...I think I'm just over thinking it! so just keep within my calories limit and eat healthy and I should be fine??

kommodevaran

ruthd1401 wrote: »

I've only recently started logging again as I'm trying to lose weight....AGAIN!
So I put in my weight, age, height etc and it calculated my BMI against how much I want to lose and worked out how much calories, fat, sugar etc I should be consuming each day if I want to lose weight (My Fitness Pal did this all for me).

So it says I'm allowed 54g of sugar a day. One banana contains nearly this whole allowance of sugar! I am constantly going over my sugar limit even though I usually stay within my fat and calories limit for the day.

So my problem is this...if fruit is so high in sugar and I'm only allowed 54g a day what on earth am I supposed to snack on? and what am I supposed to have for breakfast.

I was having weetabix, low fat natural yoghurt or porridge with fruit for breakfast and snacking on fruit if I got peckish between meals.

I dont really like having eggs for breakfast.

BMI is Body Mass Index and is just a function of your weight in relation to your height. Your daily calorie allowance is based on your height, weight, age, sex, activity level, and how fast you want to lose weight. Anyway:

There is no need to track sugar unless you have a medical reason for doing so, and in that case your doctor would have told you.

The guidelines for sugar intake is for added sugar, not naturally occurring sugar. Neither food labels, nor MFP, nor your body, distinguish between them.

Foods containing naturally occurring sugar are usually more nutritious than foods that have a lot of added sugar. They are typically also calorie dense and easy to overeat. This is the reasoning for the recommendation of limiting added sugar. But added sugar doesn't wipe out the nutritional benefit of the food you are eating. In fact, some sugar on your porridge or on frozen fruit/berries, for insance, can make it easier to eat more nutritious food.

(Big thanks to lemurcat for teaching me this. Nutritional guidelines are VERY difficult to understand and follow until this simple principle is grasped.)

A treat now and then is not going to harm you as long as your overall diet is good.

If you don't like eggs for breakfast, don't have eggs for breakfast. Have food you like for breakfast, in fact - for every meal. You can probably eat full fat yogurt if you like that; maybe eating more fat can make you less peckish between meals. Track accurately no matter what and when you eat.

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

ruthd1401 wrote: »

thanks guys...I think I'm just over thinking it! so just keep within my calories limit and eat healthy and I should be fine??

Yes! As long as you're tracking everything accurately and are staying within your calorie goals, you will be fine.

You don't even necessarily have to eat "healthy" to lose weight, but I would generally recommend eating your veggies to make sure you're getting the vitamins and fiber you need.

ruthd1401

Thank you Kommodevaran

pdm3547

ruthd1401 wrote: »

thanks guys...I think I'm just over thinking it! so just keep within my calories limit and eat healthy and I should be fine??

Take baby steps. If you are new to logging, concentrate solely on your calories for the first couple of months. Once you are familiar with that, you can start to research carb, protein and fat macros.

You'll learn that carbs and sugar are good to fuel your cardio workouts, and that protein is needed to build/maintain muscle.

Take your time though. Calories are king, and that is what you should focus on first. Don't - whatever you do - cut out fruit and veggies from your diet because of a misplaced campaign against sugar.

lemurcat12

I don't disagree with what others have said (I eat lots of fruit in the summer and tend to go over my limit in the summer from fruit and vegetables, mainly, and see no reason to worry about that). All the credible recommendations about sugar are about added sugar and, specifically, limiting the amount of low nutrient foods in your diet to avoid excess calories, and with MFP there are more efficient and specific ways to do that without worrying about a sugar limit.

However:

ruthd1401 wrote: »

So it says I'm allowed 54g of sugar a day. One banana contains nearly this whole allowance of sugar!

It really doesn't, A 120 g banana (which is not small, you weigh it without the peel) has 107 calories and under 15 g of sugar. I realize you might just be exaggerating, but it's worth pointing out that there are lots of crazy entries in the database and making sure you are finding the good ones is important.

Using the formula of the USDA entries (there should be lots of size options, including 100 g) usually brings up the good entries, and you can also just double check and save the ones you like. Here's the USDA for checking: https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

ruthd1401

Thank you

kgirlhart

I would not worry about it if you don't have a medical issue that requires you to track your sugar intake. Fruit is a great low calorie snack.

Aaron_K123

Are you diabetic? Sugar limits are for diabetics.

nvmomketo

I too would just switch fruit for veggies or use lower GI fruits like berries or apples rather than tropical fruits and dried fruits, which are highest in sugars.

Or choose higher fat foods. When processed foods are low in fat they are usually higher in sugar.

CoffeeNCardio

Sugar is not the devil. It's just high calorie for a proportionally low quantity. The only thing you should worry about is if the sugary foods you eat are putting you over your calorie goal. If they aren't, super.

DisneyDude85

Switch out your tracking of sugar for fiber. Much more important! you can do this in your diary settings.

Gamliela

Yah, sometimes I just wanna eat fruit all day! Its wierd but no harm seems to be done.
I usually eat at least an orange and some blueberries daily. It was the sugars in the dairy that surprised me when I first started logging.
I figure as long as I'm in the right calorie range its ok though.
Best wishes !

cwolfman13

ruthd1401 wrote: »

Hey all,

So I've only recently started logging again as I'm trying to lose weight....AGAIN!
So I put in my weight, age, height etc and it calculated my BMI against how much I want to lose and worked out how much calories, fat, sugar etc I should be consuming each day if I want to lose weight (My Fitness Pal did this all for me).

So it says I'm allowed 54g of sugar a day. One banana contains nearly this whole allowance of sugar! I am constantly going over my sugar limit even though I usually stay within my fat and calories limit for the day.

So my problem is this...if fruit is so high in sugar and I'm only allowed 54g a day what on earth am I supposed to snack on? and what am I supposed to have for breakfast.

I was having weetabix, low fat natural yoghurt or porridge with fruit for breakfast and snacking on fruit if I got peckish between meals.

I dont really like having eggs for breakfast.

Any ideas guys?

Many thanks,
Ruth.
xx

One medium banana has 14g sugar...not "nearly this whole allowance"....You need to verify the entries you are making are correct.

Beyond that, I stick to a couple servings of fruit daily...usually a higher GI fruit like a banana or orange or something and then a lower one like blueberries or strawberries and put a premium on vegetables.

Therealobi1

I don't bother tracking sugar

Aaron_K123

Been a while since I've set up my account, is sugar tracking on by default or do you have to turn it on intentionally? If it is on by default that is sort of bizzare.

CoffeeNCardio

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Been a while since I've set up my account, is sugar tracking on by default or do you have to turn it on intentionally? If it is on by default that is sort of bizzare.

It's on by default. You can change it to fiber or a number of other options by going to "settings" from your diary page on desktop website, it's the first thing that shows, five or six little boxes wth "Protein" "carbs" etc. The very last box is default set to sugar. I've changed it to fiber. Unless you're in deep trouble with the white stuff, there's really no reason to track sugar.

Ricksh1000

Porridge oats, instead of sugar, put a few raisins in there (I find 5g is enough for me). It sweetens it up and you get the benefit of more fruit

I too am over my sugar allowance every single day!

ruthd1401

Thanks everyone.

Aaron_K123

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Been a while since I've set up my account, is sugar tracking on by default or do you have to turn it on intentionally? If it is on by default that is sort of bizzare.

It's on by default. You can change it to fiber or a number of other options by going to "settings" from your diary page on desktop website, it's the first thing that shows, five or six little boxes wth "Protein" "carbs" etc. The very last box is default set to sugar. I've changed it to fiber. Unless you're in deep trouble with the white stuff, there's really no reason to track sugar.

That seems kind of messed up to me, not sure why MFP does that...it suggests that somehow it is important to track sugar consumption whether you are diabetic or not and thats not really true. If you aren't diabetic then how much sugar you have is not really that important as long as you aren't sacrificing the needed protein, fat or micronutrients.

lemurcat12

There are the three macros, calories, and two other things, with the default being sugar and sodium. I'd pick fiber for one of them instead, and I guess keep sodium as the default other (although I don't track it myself), but really none of the two extras are obvious choices for a default. I tend to do fiber and sat fat or fiber and sugar, but really just out of curiosity since I know where my sugar is from, am generally aware of my sat fat, and am always over the fiber amount.

I'd guess sugar gets the default because so many users are IR/T2D and because hating on sugar is currently trendy. Maybe also because if you really don't know how much you are eating it can be an easy way to cut calories (but I think fiber is a better choice still).

CoffeeNCardio

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Been a while since I've set up my account, is sugar tracking on by default or do you have to turn it on intentionally? If it is on by default that is sort of bizzare.

It's on by default. You can change it to fiber or a number of other options by going to "settings" from your diary page on desktop website, it's the first thing that shows, five or six little boxes wth "Protein" "carbs" etc. The very last box is default set to sugar. I've changed it to fiber. Unless you're in deep trouble with the white stuff, there's really no reason to track sugar.

That seems kind of messed up to me, not sure why MFP does that...it suggests that somehow it is important to track sugar consumption whether you are diabetic or not and thats not really true. If you aren't diabetic then how much sugar you have is not really that important as long as you aren't sacrificing the needed protein, fat or micronutrients.

I imagine it's defaulted by popular demand more than because MFP actually cares. I'm sure you have seen the obsessive nature of the "sugar is the devil" people on here. Can you imagine a big group of them all emailing the poor MFP techs demanding they make sugar obsession default? They scare the heck out of me in packs. I'm not sure MFP wanted that fight ya know? It's also possible MFP is deluded too, but I think my narrative is funnier;)

Aaron_K123

Yeah I have sodium on, not because I care but because when I set up my tracking that defaulted to on and I couldn't be bothered to turn it off. I don't care about it though and most days I'm way over on it. I don't have any blood pressure issues though so it doesn't matter.

Track sodium if you have blood pressure issues, track sugar if you are diabetic. Otherwise don't bother.

Unknown

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peaceout_aly

Mycophilia wrote: »

Unless you have a medical condition like diabetes, you don't have to worry about your sugar intake.

Some people (like myself) have benefits from limiting sugar like better skin, less inflammation overall, plus it does help in making generally better food choices. If she wants to limit sugar it isn't going to hurt her.

lemurcat12

I don't track sodium because I cook most things at home and add salt when cooking and can't be bothered to measure or log it. So it's wrong. Never seems to make a difference anyway how much sodium I eat. That it's definitely wrong is the only reason I've felt compelled to replace it.

peaceout_aly

ruthd1401 wrote: »

Hey all,

So I've only recently started logging again as I'm trying to lose weight....AGAIN!
So I put in my weight, age, height etc and it calculated my BMI against how much I want to lose and worked out how much calories, fat, sugar etc I should be consuming each day if I want to lose weight (My Fitness Pal did this all for me).

So it says I'm allowed 54g of sugar a day. One banana contains nearly this whole allowance of sugar! I am constantly going over my sugar limit even though I usually stay within my fat and calories limit for the day.

So my problem is this...if fruit is so high in sugar and I'm only allowed 54g a day what on earth am I supposed to snack on? and what am I supposed to have for breakfast.

I was having weetabix, low fat natural yoghurt or porridge with fruit for breakfast and snacking on fruit if I got peckish between meals.

I dont really like having eggs for breakfast.

Any ideas guys?

Many thanks,
Ruth.
xx

My sugar intake used to be around 120g +, and it's now down to 20-40g per day. Fruit is a natural sugar, which although natural, is still sugar. Opt for berries which generally contain less. Bananas, pineapples and apples are some of the worst offendors. Of course, you don't have to eliminate them (and I don't suggest it) just don't overload on these particular fruits. My go-to breakfast option is usually a Quest bar - 21g protein, 1g sugar. Can't beat it. If you like yogurt or porridge, just use natural oats and a bit of honey, berries or add some protein powder to flavor plain yogurt and top with berries and sunflower seeds. YUM!