help with cutting sugar

lil_nesbitt11

So I made it through the first week under my calorie count (my sugar was high) and didn't loose even a pound. I know I need to cut the sugar. anyone have any suggestions of food thats low on sugar without living on salad?

RunForChai

I'm coming from a lifetime of sugar cravings--after a few weeks on a low-carb diet I have not been experiencing them at all....I can't explain it, I don't have science to back this up.....but I am thrilled and my weight is dropping.

So my low carb plan---I cut ALL wheat, all corn, all potatoes for starts--the first few days I wandered around trying to find something to fill in that carb craving [but didn't crave sugar]---I found: nuts, eggs, almond butter, goat cheese, natural turkey sticks, giant salads.

Just an idea, what not try something different, it might work.

Live4theLift

Weight loss ins not linear, so if you dont lose a lb every week dont worry to much. As for the sugar, avoid pre packaged or processed foods. they contain the most sugars, if you can make yourself some smoothies at the house with a bit of fruit ice and maybe splenda. Sugars always the hardest thing to kick cause its in everything you buy pretty much. Just look for natural products and a good rule for me is if it doesnt go bad in less than 2 weeks its prob not good for you

lil_nesbitt11

Thats not exactly what I meant by cutting sugar. I meant cutting sugar out of my diet. but thanks for the advice I'll keep that in mind if I ever feel I want to cut sugar that way.

Holly_Roman_Empire

So I made it through the first week under my calorie count (my sugar was high) and didn't loose even a pound. I know I need to cut the sugar. anyone have any suggestions of food thats low on sugar without living on salad?

You don't need to cut sugar to lose weight. You need to cut calories, and in this case, you're probably overestimating exercise burns or underestimating calories eaten.

But to answer your question, meat doesn't have sugar, and it's not a salad.

flinchyny

A week isn't a great indicator of whether your new lifestyle is working for you.

In terms of sugar, I'd suggest generally aiming for nutritious food and not worrying about sugar. Example: fresh pineapple -- high in sugar, but nutritious. Kit Kat bar -- high in sugar, not very nutritious. (Although a life w/o candy would be sad.)

chezjuan

By saying your sugar was high, do you mean compared to the number MFP gives you? That number is based on the recommended daily intake of added sugars, not total sugars. Because it would be difficult for the database to separate added sugars (especially since the nutritional labels list total sugar, not added vs. natural), that number generally looks high.

Barring a medical condition that requires you to watch your total sugar intake, I wouldn't be concerned about that number if you eat a generally balanced diet, hit all your macronutrient targets (protein, fat, carbs) and stay under your calories. The weight will eventually come off.

Phoenix_Warrior

Good news. Sugar doesn't inhibit weight loss. A week isn't much time to indicate whether or not you're not losing but on your weight loss journey, I highly suggest a digital scale to measure everything you can but liquids and being 100% honest with your logging, always. Weight loss truly comes down to calories in vs out. Unless you have a medical condition, sugar can be ignored. It's a carb, so you already track it. While I do think it's important to eat nutritionally dense foods, you can do this while still eating the things you love by portioning.

peachstategal

This may sound silly, but when you are craving, eat a dill pickle! Works for me!

psuLemon

Good news. Sugar doesn't inhibit weight loss. A week isn't much time to indicate whether or not you're not losing but on your weight loss journey, I highly suggest a digital scale to measure everything you can but liquids and being 100% honest with your logging, always. Weight loss truly comes down to calories in vs out. Unless you have a medical condition, sugar can be ignored. It's a carb, so you already track it. While I do think it's important to eat nutritionally dense foods, you can do this while still eating the things you love by portioning.

All of this..

But if you want, open your food diary so we can take a look.

baldmitch

Unexpected sources of sugar:

High starch foods like bread, potatoes, carrots, rice, pasta. Replace with whole grain bread, sweet potatoes (yes, really, sweet potatoes) brown rice, wheat pasta (yuck), and "hidden vegetable" pasta (yum!). The reason for this is enriched starchy food and "white" starchy food lack fiber and some nutrients. For instance, it takes more body energy to digest sweet potatoes than white potatoes because of the fiber, and you also get added vitamins and minerals in the sweet potato.

Processed meats and canned veggies are a HUGE source of unexpected sugar, and sugar is used in the preserving process. Read labels - dextrose, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, maltodextrin, maladextrose (any long chemical-sounding words with -sucrose and -dextrose in them) - these are SUGARS and STARCHES.

Now, we know fruit has sugar in them, but we need fruit. If you don't know that, then....YOU NEED FRUIT. Period. Stay away from FRUIT JUICES, which have all the sugars, most of the nutrients, but very little of the fiber. 1 orange is better for you than 1/2 glass of juice. Whole strawberries are excellent source of fruit with all the vitamins and minerals, and is very low in carbohydrates (sugar).

(10 year + diabetic....I've gained knowledge from books, diet plans, dieticians, and more doctors and nurses than is healthy

musicboxes

These are a few of my favs:

I like to create my own mixtures of sweet & salty chex mix, which works for me. I use different ingredients & try new ones. Some of my favs are....a variety of chex cereals, cherrios, mixed nuts, sesame sticks, M & Ms. I use less of some ingredients; measure out everything; divide into portion sizes; then add as a meal.

I like chocolate, so when I want it, I substitute mini candy bars or mini packs of M&Ms & I limit myself to 1 or 2 (as opposed to the whole candy bar which I use to eat).

Fresh fruit mixtures...I like cantelope, strawberries, pineapple & kiwi.

musicboxes

Also try creating a variety of fruit smoothies.

tpmaxwell2

If you are a chocolate fiend, like me, see if you like dark chocolate. I'm talking the 90% stuff. It's got minimal sugar, along with antioxidants and other nutrients, but still satisfies my chocolate cravings. Add nuts, if you like chocolate with nuts.

lil_nesbitt11

Thanks for the advice everyone!

sjp_511

As others have stated, the sugar goal that MFP gives you is incredibly low and it is hard to stay under, especially if you eat fruit. Just limit your junkfood and stay within your calorie goal.

Don't stress over every weigh in. Some weeks you won't lose, or will even gain, whereas other weeks you will lose more than you think you deserve (I have had 5 lb loss weeks when I have gone over on calories most days!).

Salt intake will make you retain water for a day or 2, showing higher weights. I weigh myself everyday and I see this affect. If I had saltine crackers with soup the night before or ate at a restuarant (most resturants put too much salt/sodium in their meals), I will see a gain on the scale.

Also, women will see fluctuations with their period. Right before your period, you retain water and your weight will be up. Right after, you will see some of you lowest weights of the month.

janicebinva

Yep, MFP gives you pretty stringent sugar numbers to live by. For me, one packaged yogurt and/or protein bar, and there goes my sugar budget. I also like a little sugar in my tea, though logging it whenever I put some in has gotten me to cut it down a lot.

I chew sugarless gum sometimes when I'm having a craving. I know there are bad things about doing that, but when I feel it's either that or eat the cookies someone brought into work, the gum is the right choice.

Serah87

I eat everything in moderation, including sugary things. See ticker below. :bigsmile:

CyberEd312

Good news. Sugar doesn't inhibit weight loss. A week isn't much time to indicate whether or not you're not losing but on your weight loss journey, I highly suggest a digital scale to measure everything you can but liquids and being 100% honest with your logging, always. Weight loss truly comes down to calories in vs out. Unless you have a medical condition, sugar can be ignored. It's a carb, so you already track it. While I do think it's important to eat nutritionally dense foods, you can do this while still eating the things you love by portioning.

All of this, I have lost a few pounds and have never tracked a gram of sugar... Set a modest calorie deficit and make sure like above you are weighing and logging everything.... Best of Luck

bostonwolf

Remove it from your house and prepare as much of your own food as possible. You'll still get some sugar, but most of it will be from fruit and vegetables.

Arbeidslyst

Give it another two weeks. Log everything you eat, and weigh everything you log. If you still don't see any weight loss come back.

Consider opening your diary so we can see what and how much you are eating.

lynn_glenmont

By saying your sugar was high, do you mean compared to the number MFP gives you? That number is based on the recommended daily intake of added sugars, not total sugars. Because it would be difficult for the database to separate added sugars (especially since the nutritional labels list total sugar, not added vs. natural), that number generally looks high.

Barring a medical condition that requires you to watch your total sugar intake, I wouldn't be concerned about that number if you eat a generally balanced diet, hit all your macronutrient targets (protein, fat, carbs) and stay under your calories. The weight will eventually come off.

This^^.
If the only reason you have for wanting to cut sugar is that you're not coming in under the absurd numbers that MFP sets, just ignore it. You can change what you track. Add something useful, like fiber (not sure if that's a default setting, b/c I've changed mine so many times) or trans fat. I'd say potassium, but most entries in the database don't include potassium (b/c package labels don't usually list it), so that will just get you worried that you're not getting enough potassium (which you likely aren't, b/c most people aren't), but it's not as bad as it will look from MFP database entries.

The good news, as others have said, is that you don't have to cut sugar to lose weight. I just checked under reports, and I've only come under the MFP sugar goal once. But somehow I've lost more than 30 pounds in 4 months.

(If you still want to cut sugar, here's what you can have for 25 grams of sugar and 1571 calories, from the one day I came in under my MFP sugar goal: a Marie Callender's bacon egg and cheese biscuit [1 gram sugar] and an ounce of orange juice [3 g sugar] diluted with seltzer for breakfast; 5.5 ounces of fresh tomato [4 g sugar] with a splash of white wine vinegar and salt, and 1.3 oz of Baja Fresh tortilla chips [I don't remember if that was eating leftover chips or my effort to log fresh salsa from the restaurant] for lunch; meatloaf with gravy [8 g sugar], red smashed potatoes [2 g sugar], and garlicky greens from Wegman's, with diet Coke, for dinner; and a quarter of a 1.55 oz Hershey's milk chocolate bar [6 g sugar] with 46 grams of Smucker's creamy natural peanut butter [a little less than 1.5 Tbsp, for 1 g sugar] for an evening snack.)


Edited to change "more than 30 lbs in 4 weeks" to "more than 30 lbs in 4 months." :laugh:

AJay513

a good rule for me is if it doesnt go bad in less than 2 weeks its prob not good for you

Love that rule!!

Sreneesa

That is the one thing I'm going over each day; sugar.

Looks like it will have to just continue to be that way as I'm not giving up my fruit. lol... well okay today I did have a chocolate chai tea latte starbucks... that sugar alone put me over my daily limit and I haven't even had my greek yogurt and banana for breakfast yet! LOL

Fruit is my only juice or sweet thing. I do not drink anything but bottled water, Perrier, and nonfat milk.

So I have decided to not look at that part, unless I sneak in a cookie here or there which I do not do too often. lol

maymekeagy

Wow! Words to live by. Great job.

hastingsmassage

I don't track sugar at all, lost 120 lbs this year since February plus 6 lbs on my new MFP profile in last 30 days.

skinnygirly23

I like chocolate pudding or a popsicle. Just a little sugar. Not many calories. I use to have a HUGE sweet tooth. I read about sugar being really bad for you so I cut way down. Now I don't even crave it at all.

mbennett2283

It's not uncommon for me to be over by 5-10 the MFP-recommended sugar intake and I'm down by 14 pounds in a month and a half. If you're exercising with any length and frequency, you'll offset the sugar intake easily.