Will fruit sugars make me gain weight?

DannehBoyy

I always go over my sugar allowance, because of the fruit that i eat. Is this the reason that it is taking so long to lower my body fat %? I never go over my macros (apart from sugar in fruit) , and have lost around 30lbs of fat so far, but i still have a lot of work to do. It's taken almost a year so far...is that longer than average because it seems to be taking me an ETERNITY to get to my goal (

Cindyinpg

I don't track any sugar at all, ever. If seeing the numbers are frustrating you, replace sugar with fiber or something more relevant.

Eleonora91

I don't think so. I've had a look to your diary and it seems like you're out of your range for just a few grams each day. Plus, simple sugars that you can find in fruits are usually the preferred energy source for the body. You burn them very easily, and it's not like you're eating unhealthy foods, so I highly doubt a bit of fruit can make you gain weight. PLUS a lot of people on here have previously said that the sugar allowed intake here on MFP is a bit too low.

Maybe you just need more time to get rid of that excess fat %

Sarahnade42x

Don't bother tracking your sugar on MFP...even a couple pieces of fruit will put you in the red, and that's unreasonable. I switched that column to "fiber" a long time ago.

DannehBoyy

@cindyinpg yeah that's a good idea tbf thanks

lynn_glenmont

Sugar from fruit will not cause weight gain any more or any less than an equal number of calories from any other source. If you're treating fruit as some kind of "free" food and not bothering to log it, then yes, it will be a problem, because you will be consuming calories that you're not keeping track of. If you log them, and you're hitting your macro goals (most especially the one for total calories), then it's not a problem.

Also, the number the MFP gives you for a sugar allowance appears to be derived from various health organizations' recommendations about limiting "added" sugar, that is, sugar not naturally found in the whole foods that you are consuming or the whole foods that your processed foods are made from. Nutrition labels and databases that most MFP entries are based on do not distinguish between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars. Heck, just from dairy, whole grains, beans, and veggies I can push the MFP sugar "limit," before even thinking about a piece of fruit or two.

DannehBoyy

I don't think so. I've had a look to your diary and it seems like you're out of your range for just a few grams each day. Plus, simple sugars that you can find in fruits are usually the preferred energy source for the body. You burn them very easily, and it's not like you're eating unhealthy foods, so I highly doubt a bit of fruit can make you gain weight. PLUS a lot of people on here have previously said that the sugar allowed intake here on MFP is a bit too low.

Maybe you just need more time to get rid of that excess fat %

That's ok then, i agree that i does seem low, Thanks for the help

DannehBoyy

Yeah i'll do that now then, thank you

tigersword

Calories over your TDEE will make you gain weight, the source doesn't matter.

DannehBoyy

Sugar from fruit will not cause weight gain any more or any less than an equal number of calories from any other source. If you're treating fruit as some kind of "free" food and not bothering to log it, then yes, it will be a problem, because you will be consuming calories that you're not keeping track of. If you log them, and you're hitting your macro goals (most especially the one for total calories), then it's not a problem.

Also, the number the MFP gives you for a sugar allowance appears to be derived from various health organizations' recommendations about limiting "added" sugar, that is, sugar not naturally found in the whole foods that you are consuming or the whole foods that your processed foods are made from. Nutrition labels and databases that most MFP entries are based on do not distinguish between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars. Heck, just from dairy, whole grains, beans, and veggies I can push the MFP sugar "limit," before even thinking about a piece of fruit or two.

I think i understand get what you mean dude. That's great though, as long as i can still snack on fruit and not worry about the sugar i am happy. I always log the fruit that i eat too, just to make sure i'm not going over my calories. Thanks for the help

lynn_glenmont

I always go over my sugar allowance, because of the fruit that i eat. Is this the reason that it is taking so long to lower my body fat %? I never go over my macros (apart from sugar in fruit) , and have lost around 30lbs of fat so far, but i still have a lot of work to do. It's taken almost a year so far...is that longer than average because it seems to be taking me an ETERNITY to get to my goal (

What weekly loss goal did you ask MFP to set? If you selected a half-pound, your loss rate seems very good. If you selected 1 lb a week, you might be getting results that are just a little slow, depending on how close to "almost a year" you've been doing this, whether and for how long you've "taken a break" or "cheated" or shifted to maintenance during vacations, holidays, etc. If you selected 1.5 or 2 lbs a week you might want to reassess. Are you weighing everything you eat (at least at home)? Are you logging everything you eat? How are you calculating your exercise burns? Have you let MFP readjust your daily calorie target as you've lost weight? (Your body needs fewer calories to maintain itself as you lose weight.)

jennycina93

I took out my sugar tracker and replaced it with fiber. It has helped me a lot. Fruit is good for you and going over your sugar should not discourage you from eating more fruit.

longtimeterp

also, your daily fat intake seems really low on some days. from my understanding the body is constantly shuffling fat in and out of cells to be used as energy...when you dont get enought fat in your diet the body can hold onto the fat it has for energy reserves. in my personal experience i find to lose fat much better if i eat it at a reasonable amount... .4/g -.5/g per lb of body weight,(not lbm) is a pretty good goal to shoot for, and going over isnt bad as long as your overall calories are kept in check. you have some days around 65-75 g of fat, which is good...but then i saw a day with 12g...i take more than that in fat supplements each and every day lol

Sarauk2sf

A caloric surplus will make you gain weight (water weight fluctuations aside). Sugar is just a subset of carbs. Unless you have a medical condition, don't even bother to track it.

You are very inconsistent with your logging from looking at your diary. Weigh your food, log accurately and assess from there.

DannehBoyy

I always go over my sugar allowance, because of the fruit that i eat. Is this the reason that it is taking so long to lower my body fat %? I never go over my macros (apart from sugar in fruit) , and have lost around 30lbs of fat so far, but i still have a lot of work to do. It's taken almost a year so far...is that longer than average because it seems to be taking me an ETERNITY to get to my goal (

What weekly loss goal did you ask MFP to set? If you selected a half-pound, your loss rate seems very good. If you selected 1 lb a week, you might be getting results that are just a little slow, depending on how close to "almost a year" you've been doing this, whether and for how long you've "taken a break" or "cheated" or shifted to maintenance during vacations, holidays, etc. If you selected 1.5 or 2 lbs a week you might want to reassess. Are you weighing everything you eat (at least at home)? Are you logging everything you eat? How are you calculating your exercise burns? Have you let MFP readjust your daily calorie target as you've lost weight? (Your body needs fewer calories to maintain itself as you lose weight.)

When i first started with mfp, i had it set to 2.0lbs a week, and that seemed to work well. But now i have lost quite a lot of fat and felt that i needed to slow the loss down a bit, dunno why it just felt right as i wasn't loosing weight that quickly anymore. not it is set to 1.5 a week, and i don't seem to be losing that. It just goes from 14st to 14st 3lbs everyday.

DannehBoyy

also, your daily fat intake seems really low on some days. from my understanding the body is constantly shuffling fat in and out of cells to be used as energy...when you dont get enought fat in your diet the body can hold onto the fat it has for energy reserves. in my personal experience i find to lose fat much better if i eat it at a reasonable amount... .4/g -.5/g per lb of body weight,(not lbm) is a pretty good goal to shoot for, and going over isnt bad as long as your overall calories are kept in check. you have some days around 65-75 g of fat, which is good...but then i saw a day with 12g...i take more than that in fat supplements each and every day lol

Yeah i see what you are saying. So should i class these macros as a minimum? because i have been trying to keep just under them. I noticed that our food diary's look a lot different lol, and wondered why you lost more weight than me as you had more food logged than i did But i will take your advice, coz the last time i did it helped a lot! thanks for the help

Ejourneys

I go over on my sugar from fresh fruit, but that hasn't been a problem.

Diabetes runs in my family, so I get tested every year. My fasting glucose has always been within normal range, but weight loss has made a huge difference. Regardless of how much sugar I've consumed or where it comes from, losing weight has dropped my fasting glucose reading by 20 points, from the 90s to the 70s.

That said, I did not measure my sugar intake before I got onto MFP, but I know a lot of it came from ice cream and candy. A quick check of the nutrition facts for Ben & Jerry's shows that on average I consumed more sugar from ice cream alone back then, than I consume eating fruit now.

DannehBoyy

A caloric surplus will make you gain weight (water weight fluctuations aside). Sugar is just a subset of carbs. Unless you have a medical condition, don't even bother to track it.

You are very inconsistent with your logging from looking at your diary. Weigh your food, log accurately and assess from there.

yeah i am inconsistent with it lol. I guess its because i am new to doing it. The first few months of my fat loss i didn't use mfp. But i will start to weigh my food I had a feeling that i wasn't getting enough sugar. For a while i was trying to not eat much of it and no joke, every time i got up out of my chair my vision went all cloudy and i nearly blacked out :S it still happens rarely but not as bad. Thanks for the help

longtimeterp

[/quote]

Yeah i see what you are saying. So should i class these macros as a minimum? because i have been trying to keep just under them. I noticed that our food diary's look a lot different lol, and wondered why you lost more weight than me as you had more food logged than i did But i will take your advice, coz the last time i did it helped a lot! thanks for the help
[/quote]

i think the lowest heatlhy minimum i've come across is .35/g/lb...at least for people above 8-9% bodyfat. if and when you get your fat down that low your body wont have as much fat to "shuffle" and it might be necessary to severely restrict fat intake to continue losing fat, but for now you need fat in your diet. i'll be happy when i get in the 12-14% range and keep enjoying my bacon along the way!!

check this link for one of the fat calculators i've come across... http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fats_calculator.htm

MstngSammy

bump

MrGonzo05

A caloric surplus will make you gain weight (water weight fluctuations aside). Sugar is just a subset of carbs. Unless you have a medical condition, don't even bother to track it.

You are very inconsistent with your logging from looking at your diary. Weigh your food, log accurately and assess from there.

yeah i am inconsistent with it lol. I guess its because i am new to doing it. The first few months of my fat loss i didn't use mfp. But i will start to weigh my food I had a feeling that i wasn't getting enough sugar. For a while i was trying to not eat much of it and no joke, every time i got up out of my chair my vision went all cloudy and i nearly blacked out :S it still happens rarely but not as bad. Thanks for the help

It's not normal to "nearly black out." Ask a sawbones.

2aycocks

NO. It's processed sugar that you need to stay away from. Not natural sugar in fruits.

jofjltncb6

NO. It's processed sugar that you need to stay away from. Not natural sugar in fruits.

*sigh*

Magical processed sugar.

MyChocolateDiet

Well I guess if you don't like going over in your sugars and then the source for yours are fruits then the conclusion would be to eliminate the fruits?

BeachIron

You've gotten solid advice above in terms of not worrying about sugar aside from accurately recording and staying under calories. It's really a simple process, just one that takes disipline.

wheird

You've gotten solid advice above in terms of not worrying about sugar aside from accurately recording and staying under calories. It's really a simple process, just one that takes disipline.

Yup. There is no one thing (other than excess energy and water weight fluctuations) that causes weight gain.

Enjoy your fruit, watch your calories and macros, and be patient.