Can I still lose weight on the same rate with high sugar?
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meharmahshahid wrote: »I've just recently realised that I'm eating foods too high in sugar, around 50g sugar everyday, although 80 percent of all this is fruit sugar. Can I still lose weight the way I was losing before, or will it create an obstacle?
Realizing where the sugar comes from or how much is being consumed will not change the way one loses weight. If you've been losing weight, discovering how much sugar will not change that - won't stop it, speed it up or slow it down.
This sudden realization may cause you to rethink goals and/or eating habits, but if learning a couple new facts could change anything but our mind (and, looking at some of the posts in this thread, it doesn't happen too often 😜 ), we'd all be skinny as rails, smarter than Steven Hawking, and as bat-poop crazy as Sheldon.6 -
Thank you so much, all of you! I read an article on how sugar gets stored as fat, and that seemed to worry me very much, but after reading all the responses, I feel renewed<315
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Sugar, especially refined white sugar is high in calories but low in nutrients. Therefore, added sugar adds calories without adding other nutrients. For example, a tablespoon of sugar and a peach have about the same number of calories yet the peach provides other nutrients and fiber the sugar doesn't have, so a peach is "better for you" than a spoonful of sugar.
A fundamental flaw in the MFP numbers calculated for sugar is that it is based on the percentages recommended for added sugars yet the database (and many food labels) do not make those distinctions. If you log a peach, it will show up in your sugar numbers as if it were "added sugar." There are, at present, no recommendations on how much natural sugar to consume. You may, if you have type II diabetes or other carbohydrate sensitivity limit those and that will automatically limit your consumption of natural sugars.
I generally ignore the MFP sugar percentage and numbers because of its computations are fatally flawed. I watch my carbs and usually avoid foods with any added sugars among the ingredients. MFP automatically sets your carb percentage to 50% of calories. With type II diabetes, I have mine set to 40% which makes my endocrinologist happy. Those in keto may use different numbers.2 -
Speaking of fruit, it's national watermelon day!
Who likes watermelon? Who doesn't like watermelon? Who likes watermelon flavored gum and candy? Who can eat a whole watermelon and still need to eat something else because can it really fill you up? And if you eat that whole watermelon, are you inadvertantly eating "added" sugar because who needs to eat a whole, big *kitten* watermelon, anyway?
(Sorry, OP
)
<----only fruit I eat these days are bananas (most likely because they're probably the highest sugared fruit)3 -
Let's sum this up.
You can lose weight eating nothing but table sugar but it would be a terrible idea.
You can lose weight eating no fruit as long as you eat a good variety of food otherwise.
As a general rule of thumb I believe if people have kept themselves alive for a few years they will continue to do so in a calorie deficit. It doesn't hurt to ask "Can I eat better than I do now" and implement small changes over time to improve as needed. I think it is a bad idea to assume that your current way of eating is supremely unhealthy unless a doctor confirms it. It think it is also a bad idea to assume that eating nothing but "healthy" food is necessary.
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Let's sum this up.
You can lose weight eating nothing but table sugar but it would be a terrible idea.
You can lose weight eating no fruit as long as you eat a good variety of food otherwise.
As a general rule of thumb I believe if people have kept themselves alive for a few years they will continue to do so in a calorie deficit. It doesn't hurt to ask "Can I eat better than I do now" and implement small changes over time to improve as needed. I think it is a bad idea to assume that your current way of eating is supremely unhealthy unless a doctor confirms it. It think it is also a bad idea to assume that eating nothing but "healthy" food is necessary.
Yes, the larger good point you're making here is very important.
There are people who completely overhauled their diet in order to meet their weight management goals. This is a thing, I understand some people have found it successful.
There are also many, many people who found that they could *adapt* their preferred eating pattern to be compatible with weight management, sometimes while making changes along the way to either address nutritional needs, increase volume of food, or improve satiety. I'm in camp two, so I'm speaking from that experience. My feeling is that this approach is sustainable for maintaining (because our "before" diet is often a good fit for our lifestyle and culture, which means it's easier to sustain), is emotionally easier (because we were already eating what we liked), and just more enjoyable.
I don't want to erase or minimize the people in the first group, I respect their decision process. But if someone came to me and said "Hey, I really want to manage my weight, please give me advice" I would always recommend starting with your current diet and figuring out how to make it work within a certain calorie budget. Once that's dialed in, then you can begin to address any nutritional needs that become apparent (and for many people, it may be fewer than they think!).
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4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »Dear posters,
Please keep the threads in the help boards focused on the question presented by the OP. If you would like to further debate calories vs sugar intake there are plenty of debate threads on the topic.
Thanks
4legs
MFP volunteer moderator
This type of message ^^^^^^
In the future please know it is worth following these types of hints. If you would like to start a debate there is a debate section for that. Otherwise, hi-jacking help threads and turning them into you own personal debate is against guideline 3.3 -
meharmahshahid wrote: »I've just recently realised that I'm eating foods too high in sugar, around 50g sugar everyday, although 80 percent of all this is fruit sugar. Can I still lose weight the way I was losing before, or will it create an obstacle?
When I was in Costa Rico I ate high-sugar tropical fruit all day long and dropped a clothes size without even trying - I had created a calorie deficit by not eating my usual calorie-dense foods.5 -
Also echoing that CICO is really all that matters for weight loss. Unless you're some sort of zombie and lay in bed all day eating sugar, you're BURNING glycogen by MOVING AROUND. Physical movement burns glycogen. So to MAX OUT glycogen in the body would take some doing. And that would mean a CALORIE SURPLUS. Regardless if it's sugar, carbs, fat..........if you're in a calorie surplus you'll gain weight. And vice versa. Too many people try to overanalyze how weight loss works and that's why there's so much confusion. Keep it simple. CICO for the win.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Whole fruit comes bundled with heaps of nutrients, and the sugars are slowly released thanks to the fibre!
I am eating about the same sugar as you - 40-50g per day mainly from 2-3 pieces of fruit, milk in tea/coffee and some yoghurt every day. For the last 12 weeks I have consistently lost 700g per week on about 1300cal/day. (5ft6 54yr old female now 76kg). Maybe I would lose faster with less sugars, but I am happy with my eating patterns and rate of weight loss.2 -
meharmahshahid wrote: »Thank you so much, all of you! I read an article on how sugar gets stored as fat, and that seemed to worry me very much, but after reading all the responses, I feel renewed<3
Unfortunately there are a load of awful articles about.
Carbs can get converted to fat storage (the pathway exists...) but very, very rarely. And crucially not in a calorie deficit.
Here's an excerpt which covers the subject. Link below if you want to read more of a good article from someone who knows their stuff.
"Carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis) under normal dietary conditions. There are exceptions when this occurs. One is with massive chronic overfeeding of carbs. I’m talking 700-900 grams of carbs per day for multiple days. Under those conditions, carbs max out glycogen stores, are in excess of total daily energy requirements and you see the conversion of carbohydrate to fat for storage. But this is not a normal dietary situation for most people.
A few very stupid studies have shown that glucose INFUSION at levels of 1.5 total daily energy expenditure can cause DNL to occur but this is equally non-physiological. There is also some evidence that DNL may be increased in individuals with hyperinsulinemia (often secondary to obesity). There’s one final exception that I’ll use to finish this piece.
But by and large the conversion of carbohydrates to fat for storage is not a major pathway in humans. However, this doens’t mean that carbohydrate can’t contribute to fat gain. Because when you eat more carbohydrates you burn more carbohydrates and less fat. If fat burning is decreased, more of the fat that you are eating can then be stored as fat. So the effect is indirect and I want to repeat it to make sure it’s clear.
Carbs don’t make you fat via direct conversion and storage to fat; but excess carbs can still make you fat by blunting out the normal daily fat oxidation so that all of the fat you’re eating is stored. Which is why a 500 cal surplus of fat and a 500 cal surplus of carbs can both make you fat."
https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-we-get-fat
Please note the emphasis on calorie surplus throughout!!
If you take just one thing away then it's calorie balance that determines adding or subtracting energy storage in the form of body fat.
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You could lose weight while getting 80% of your calories from table sugar and 20% mostly from protein.
For me, it would mean drinking the equivalent of 6.6 cans of caffeine-free Coke plus 13oz of steamed Atlantic Cod. One of the cans of Coke could be cooked with the cod to make a sauce. All while lounging on the couch watching Netflix. You keep the calories at TDEE - 500kcals and lose a pound a week. What could go wrong?
As with a lot of things that you could do, it doesn't mean you should.
It's probably nearly as bad for you as trying to make up your calories with alcohol. It gives your liver a big workout and keeps your blood sugars high. You insulin levels would have to be high much of the time, and you insulin resistance might start to increase. In general, you probably wouldn't feel very well, which is why most people wouldn't naturally do it. Still, you could.
It seems like there are a lot of things in life like this.2 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »You could lose weight while getting 80% of your calories from table sugar and 20% mostly from protein.
For me, it would mean drinking the equivalent of 6.6 cans of caffeine-free Coke plus 13oz of steamed Atlantic Cod. One of the cans of Coke could be cooked with the cod to make a sauce. All while lounging on the couch watching Netflix. You keep the calories at TDEE - 500kcals and lose a pound a week. What could go wrong?
As with a lot of things that you could do, it doesn't mean you should.
It's probably nearly as bad for you as trying to make up your calories with alcohol. It gives your liver a big workout and keeps your blood sugars high. You insulin levels would have to be high much of the time, and you insulin resistance might start to increase. In general, you probably wouldn't feel very well, which is why most people wouldn't naturally do it. Still, you could.
It seems like there are a lot of things in life like this.
That's not what the OP was asking. The OP was getting around 50g of sugar, which they estimated 80% of that came from fruit. The 50g of sugar comes to approximately 200 calories which would easily fit in most people's calorie allowances even when losing weight. Literally nobody has stated getting 80% of total calories was a good idea, so why throw out that straw man?8 -
he got to use red font lol8
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KrissDotCom wrote: »he got to use red font lol
You could use the red color tag, it doesn't mean you should use it.
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KrissDotCom wrote: »he got to use red font lol
You could use the red color tag, it doesn't mean you should use it.
🤣 I love you right now3 -
The one issue with sugar which can affect weight loss (if you’re within your calorie limit) is whether you find you get blood sugar spikes and crashes. The crashes can make you feel really hungry (I get hangry) and I know that’s the time I could eat everything in sight. But you can mitigate by eating protein at the same time to stabilise your blood sugar (Greek yoghurt with fruit, for instance). That helps me to stop feeling soooo hungry and over eating.0
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I average 125 grams of sugar a day. Much of it is fruit.
I’ve still managed to lose 90+ pounds. I’ve even had to up my calories lately to hold steady. I’m not certain I want to continue losing.
So, anecdotally, it’s totally possible.
I agree with @KrissDotCom. It’s CICO. I don’t have the time or the patience to get bogged down in the minutiae of what kinds of sugar or other macros, what time of day is most efficient, and all that jazz.5 -
KrissDotCom wrote: »he got to use red font lol
lolll gurl0 -
They're on to me!4
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