Need to lower my sugar but love fruit!

stacks34

Hey guys,

I have a smoothie every morning and snack on fruit and almonds through the day and I ALWAYS exceed my sugar intake even on a good day!

Any tips for some healthy snacks? Preferably no meat or dairy

chezjuan

Is there a particular reason you need to avoid sugar? The MFP sugar number is for added sugars, so if the sugar you are getting is mainly from fruits and vegetables, then you're fine (barring any medical issues, and as long as you stay within your calorie and other macro goals).

RllyGudTweetr

Is there a particular reason you need to avoid sugar? The MFP sugar number is for added sugars, so if the sugar you are getting is mainly from fruits and vegetables, then you're fine (barring any medical issues, and as long as you stay within your calorie and other macro goals).

^This. Unless you're diabetic, hypoglycemic, or otherwise advised by a doctor to monitor sugar separately, sugar's just a carbohydrate. There's no need to track it separately or otherwise treat it as special.

MGreensides

Is there a particular reason you need to avoid sugar? The MFP sugar number is for added sugars, so if the sugar you are getting is mainly from fruits and vegetables, then you're fine (barring any medical issues, and as long as you stay within your calorie and other macro goals).

^^This

AlabasterVerve

The best replacement for fruit is vegetables, imo. But do you really need to lower your sugar? Yarwell wrote up an excellent sugar FAQ that you might find helpful -- including how to change your sugar goal or hide it and track something else if that's something you want to do.

Sugar FAQ:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq

In general about 10% of your calories will be from naturally occurring sugars and the American Heart Association recommends no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day for women. So a reasonable total sugar amount for a women eating 1,500 calories might be 63g of sugar.

Australia has a dietary recommendation of no more than 90g of total sugar per day.

So if your sugar from all sources including fruit isn't exceeding 90g (and you don't have any health conditions that warrant stricter sugar limits) I think your sugar intake is probably fine. Good luck.

BenjaminMFP88

Is there a particular reason you need to avoid sugar? The MFP sugar number is for added sugars, so if the sugar you are getting is mainly from fruits and vegetables, then you're fine (barring any medical issues, and as long as you stay within your calorie and other macro goals).

^^^ This ^^^

fruttibiscotti

Peanut butter or almond butter on celery sticks
Avocado slices
Boiled egg
Cucumber coins with flavoured sea salt

Berries tend to be the lowest sugar containing fruits (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

ansonrinesmith

Are you putting fruit juice in your smoothie? If so, avoid this! Maybe try a bland protein shake, and add your smoothie ingredients to that.

rabblerabble

I go over my sugar almost every day but most of it comes from fruit. I eat very little in the way of added sugars and the weight has poured off of me the last year.

stacks34

Thanks everyone! Really good tips and advice

JTick

Do what you want.

Thanks, I will!

JTick

BTW OP: I've never tracked sugar. It hasn't hurt my losses whatsoever. If you have no medical reason to track, I wouldn't worry about it.

Crochetluvr

......it's your life. Do what you want.

This is the only part of the post that I agree with. Everyone should do what they want.

gmthisfeller

Is there a particular reason you need to avoid sugar? The MFP sugar number is for added sugars, so if the sugar you are getting is mainly from fruits and vegetables, then you're fine (barring any medical issues, and as long as you stay within your calorie and other macro goals).

+1

Looking at your dietary log (thank you for being public about it, too!) most of your sugar is coming from fruit and veggies. Check your smoothie for added sugar, and check your tinned items, too. That tin of ravioli you logged last Friday may list added sugar. If you are concerned, then track down items that have added sugar, and do not worry overly about the fresh fruit and veggies that you eat.

Guinivere

Peanut butter or almond butter on celery sticks (or carrot batons)
Avocado slices
Boiled egg
Cucumber coins with flavoured sea salt

Berries tend to be the lowest sugar containing fruits (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

This /\

Yes yes yes plus you can roast shavings of carrots, parsnips and beet root with salt and pepper in the oven to make your own healthy crisps.

The smoothie is really high in sugars, your body might process whole fruit more easily and you'll consume less fruit. I know smoothies make me run to the loo!

stacks34

Thanks for taking the time to look into my log I'm always impressed when people do that haha!

Thanks again everyone for the kind words. I'll try not to worry so much but will also swap a few of my fruit snacks to veg and lower sugared fruits

bstevens1021

I go over my sugar almost every day but most of it comes from fruit. I eat very little in the way of added sugars and the weight has poured off of me the last year.

Yep, me too! I used to have a horrid sugar habit, I had no willpower or self-control, and I craved sugar CONSTANTLY! Except instead of eating an Oreo or two and being satisfied, I would eat an entire row of Oreos. Then an hour or two later, I would go back and eat another half to a full row. Then I'd be out of cookies and in need of a sugar fix, so I'd go buy more Oreos. It was a vicious cycle.

However, I pretty much stopped the sugar habit cold-turkey about a month and a half ago (on November 1st, of all days), and I have lost about 22-23 pounds since. I eat a ton of fruit (I have a fruit smoothie for breakfast every day), and I am still losing weight like crazy.

psuLemon

If you want to avoid sugar from a personal standpoint, that is cool, but scientificialy speaking your body processes the sugar from fruit the same as a candy part. In the end, weight loss is all about calories in vs out. It truly is simple. If you want to be concerned about anything, I would suggest monitoring protein. But if you want to understand the science behind sugar, below is a good article.


http://www.fitnessbaddies.com/your-problem-with-sugar-is-the-problem-with-sugar/

If anything, I would up your protein to around 100-120g's day and be more consistent with your logging.

psuLemon

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stacks34

Thanks for this!