Sugar!!
SunKissed1989
Posts: 1,314 Member
I've decided to keep track of my sugar as that's one macro I am constantly going over.
Does anyone have advice on how to cut back? I'm cutting back on chocolate bars and the likes (with the exception of some dark chocolate to curb some cravings - one or 2 squares a day).
Also, what's the deal with sugars found in fruits? There are so many mixed messages out there with regards to this - don't eat them, eat them as they're less detrimental to health than processed sugars, cut down on them - argh!!
I love my fruit and I'm all up for getting my 5 a day (of course I include plenty of veggies in this 5-a-day as well) but if I'm cutting back on sugar, how much of my fruit intake should I be watching?
Cheers in advance
Does anyone have advice on how to cut back? I'm cutting back on chocolate bars and the likes (with the exception of some dark chocolate to curb some cravings - one or 2 squares a day).
Also, what's the deal with sugars found in fruits? There are so many mixed messages out there with regards to this - don't eat them, eat them as they're less detrimental to health than processed sugars, cut down on them - argh!!
I love my fruit and I'm all up for getting my 5 a day (of course I include plenty of veggies in this 5-a-day as well) but if I'm cutting back on sugar, how much of my fruit intake should I be watching?
Cheers in advance
0
Replies
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I went without added sugar for two weeks. Took about 3 days to acclimatize.
I'd suggest something like the 80/20 rule. Allow yourself a little so you don't feel deprived of it.
If you aren't going over on your allotted calories it's not something to fret about as long as you
are getting close on your protein/fat macros.0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.0
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Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/sugar-and-desserts.html0 -
I am not a diabetic and don't have any underlying condition that would require me to track my sugar. I highly doubt very mild asthma would require that of me because I'm managing that just fine these days).
I totally understand sugar is not a demon, and neither is added sugar. I've just been stuck at the weight I'm at for nearly a year and looking for something to change. What better than to cut down on unnecessary sugars like sweets. Please note I'm cutting BACK, not cutting OUT these sugars - hence my decision to enjoy chocolate now and again. I know it's not good, nor sustainable, to cut these things out completely, but there have been weeks where my calories have been under everyday of the week and I've either maintained or gained weight so there must be something that needs changing…if that makes sense.0 -
Change your METABOLISM. Lift more, run faster, jump higher, etc. Whatever it is you do for physical activity, make it harder. Calorie deficit reduces metabolic rate and unless you increase physical activity, it will continue to go down by just eating less.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
YES!!! I love a good Monday morning sugar thread!!
OP - Good luck finding what works for you :flowerforyou:0 -
I am not a diabetic and don't have any underlying condition that would require me to track my sugar. I highly doubt very mild asthma would require that of me because I'm managing that just fine these days).
I totally understand sugar is not a demon, and neither is added sugar. I've just been stuck at the weight I'm at for nearly a year and looking for something to change. What better than to cut down on unnecessary sugars like sweets. Please note I'm cutting BACK, not cutting OUT these sugars - hence my decision to enjoy chocolate now and again. I know it's not good, nor sustainable, to cut these things out completely, but there have been weeks where my calories have been under everyday of the week and I've either maintained or gained weight so there must be something that needs changing…if that makes sense.
Just FYI, if you posted that you wanted to cut your daily sugar intake by a gram, you'd get the same knee-jerk reaction from the pro-sugar crowd. If you want to cut back, cut back, but I would also take a look at your exercise level.0 -
Stop tracking sugar, and track fiber instead. Enjoy your fruit without guilt!0
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here is a pretty good article on the subject:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129540.500-sugar-on-trial-what-you-really-need-to-know.html#.Uu0sDp_nbqA0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?0 -
Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
Why?0 -
OP what do you do for exercise?0
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I actually looked at your diary, and the majority of the sugar in your diet isn't coming from things like chocolate, plus you seem to have a healthy diet overall. I think if you are stuck at a certain weight, the problem is deficit and you might be better off re-examining your calories in vs calories out formula to see where some of the numbers could be off. How are you calculating your exercise calories? Are you weighing and measuring all your food? How long have you been doing your current exercise routine? Any medical issues or new medications that could impact your calorie intake or burn?0
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Change your METABOLISM. Lift more, run faster, jump higher, etc. Whatever it is you do for physical activity, make it harder. Calorie deficit reduces metabolic rate and unless you increase physical activity, it will continue to go down by just eating less.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This 100% ^^0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
Why?
Sugar, especially in the form of fruit, is the number one way that women eating a diet otherwise geared toward weight loss undermine that goal. The body will break down complex carbs and both simple and complex carbs will be used or stored. The body will burn the sugar as fuel, then store it as glycogen, about 100g in your liver and about 500g in musculature. Once it has done both of those it will convert the sugar to store as fat.
If you're having 5-10 servings of vegtation per day and they aren't mostly vegetables, you'll have an excess of sugar and a deficit in some essential micronutrients.0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?
Even if you don't get diabetes or need to lose weight, added sugar still might cause heart disease
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-sugar-diet-idUSBREA121IK201402030 -
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
Nonsense! It was when I learned that sugar isn't harmful, doesn't cause diabetes, and was reintroduced into my diet that I began to thrive with both weight loss and fitness goals.
ETA: Also, I just saw that the OP called sugar a macro, but sugar is a subset of carbohydrates. (just to be clear)0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
Why?
Sugar, especially in the form of fruit, is the number one way that women eating a diet otherwise geared toward weight loss undermine that goal. The body will break down complex carbs and both simple and complex carbs will be used or stored. The body will burn the sugar as fuel, then store it as glycogen, about 100g in your liver and about 500g in musculature. Once it has done both of those it will convert the sugar to store as fat.
If you're having 5-10 servings of vegtation per day and they aren't mostly vegetables, you'll have an excess of sugar and a deficit in some essential micronutrients.
Yes, since in a caloric deficit, there is so much net fat storage, esp through DNL0 -
Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
Why?
Sugar, especially in the form of fruit, is the number one way that women eating a diet otherwise geared toward weight loss undermine that goal. The body will break down complex carbs and both simple and complex carbs will be used or stored. The body will burn the sugar as fuel, then store it as glycogen, about 100g in your liver and about 500g in musculature. Once it has done both of those it will convert the sugar to store as fat.
If you're having 5-10 servings of vegtation per day and they aren't mostly vegetables, you'll have an excess of sugar and a deficit in some essential micronutrients.
Yes, since in a caloric deficit, there is so much net fat storage, esp through DNL
^right?!
Okay, for the lol. I eat close, if not over 100g of sugar I a day, sometimes less ( I don't track it, it's a carb so I dgaf). I'm a woman. I've been doing this the whole time. No ill effects. No undermining of my goal. Oh, because calorie deficit.0 -
Change your METABOLISM. Lift more, run faster, jump higher, etc. Whatever it is you do for physical activity, make it harder. Calorie deficit reduces metabolic rate and unless you increase physical activity, it will continue to go down by just eating less.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
This 100% ^^
Agreed! And when I stepped on the "sugar is bad" bandwagon, I couldn't exercise at all. Limiting carbohydrates made me tired, cranky, and dizzy. Exercise is a real game-changer, but you have to have energy to get off the couch first.0 -
Others gave you good advice, but I'll chime in...ignore it. I had to completely remove it because (with the exception of yesterday - it was pizza day) because I hate seeing the red numbers on my profile. I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, and try to limit my lean meat protein (try to go plant based as much as possible). I induldge in my fruits and veggies, I don't care what the "red line" says.0
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Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
Why?
Sugar, especially in the form of fruit, is the number one way that women eating a diet otherwise geared toward weight loss undermine that goal. The body will break down complex carbs and both simple and complex carbs will be used or stored. The body will burn the sugar as fuel, then store it as glycogen, about 100g in your liver and about 500g in musculature. Once it has done both of those it will convert the sugar to store as fat.
If you're having 5-10 servings of vegtation per day and they aren't mostly vegetables, you'll have an excess of sugar and a deficit in some essential micronutrients.
But if you are active (which you should be) and in a state of energy balance then it is of no issue...0 -
There is truth to what your saying, but that data really only looks at population at risk and not on an individual basis even though they're adjusted for a few other independent risk factors. Is it more likely that certain markers for health can be effected deleteriously by consuming a high amount of refined sugar as a percentage of total calories, sure I'll go along with that, but if someone is not gaining weight, is physically active and consumes most of their other calories from whole and minimally processed foods, which can happen, just not as much in the population they use for study purposes. This type of data is interesting in that other research can continue using more specific data points.Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?
Even if you don't get diabetes or need to lose weight, added sugar still might cause heart disease
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-sugar-diet-idUSBREA121IK201402030 -
I've lost 25 lbs in 5 months. One of the things I did was cut out refined sugar completely. I find that if I eat sugar, I crave sugar. If I stay off it, I don't crave it. I really feel better without it. I didn't eat fruit at all for just 2 weeks, while I was getting rid of the cravings. Now, I eat fruit daily, without any problems.
That's what worked for me. You need to find what works for you.0 -
Yes, since in a caloric deficit, there is so much net fat storage, esp through DNLBut if you are active (which you should be) and in a state of energy balance then it is of no issue...
If she was actually in a caloric deficit, she would be losing weight, possibly not in the proportion of fat to muscle that she would like, but that's a different issue entirely.0 -
Yes, since in a caloric deficit, there is so much net fat storage, esp through DNLBut if you are active (which you should be) and in a state of energy balance then it is of no issue...
If she was actually in a caloric deficit, she would be losing weight, possibly not in the proportion of fat to muscle that she would like, but that's a different issue entirely.
How is that a different issue? That is the issue. Get active and eat to stay in energy balance.0 -
How is that a different issue? That is the issue. Get active and eat to stay in energy balance.
Do you know something about her activity level that she hasn't shared with the rest of us? Unless you do know she's not very active it'a rather silly to advocate she needs to increase her activity level to burn the overconsumption of sugar rather than simply curtail sugar intake.0 -
There is truth to what your saying, but that data really only looks at population at risk and not on an individual basis even though they're adjusted for a few other independent risk factors. Is it more likely that certain markers for health can be effected deleteriously by consuming a high amount of refined sugar as a percentage of total calories, sure I'll go along with that, but if someone is not gaining weight, is physically active and consumes most of their other calories from whole and minimally processed foods, which can happen, just not as much in the population they use for study purposes. This type of data is interesting in that other research can continue using more specific data points.Oh boy, are you diabetic? Do you have some other underlying medical condition? If not, why bother with tracking sugar? It's just a carb. Track your carbs with the sugar included. Sugar is not a demon, added sugar is not a demon. Just be reasonable with all your macros and enjoy life. It's easier when you aren't running from the boogie man.
Possibly because if she's not an endurance athlete and she's trying to lose weight or avoid diabetes in the future, consuming a large amount of sugar (refined, unrefined, or fruit sourced) isn't getting her closer to her goals.
ETA: 5 a day is a minimum, and not a goal. Also, the amount you should consume daily should be mostly vegetables, not fruits.
And can you substantiate that eating a large amount of sugar leads to diabetes and that it stalls weight loss?
Even if you don't get diabetes or need to lose weight, added sugar still might cause heart disease
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-sugar-diet-idUSBREA121IK20140203
Agreed. It is but one study, but an interesting one that adds to other data re: added sugar causing health problems.
Given that large numbers of MFP users are either overweight, obese, or used to be, giving advice that added sugar is of no concern if you don't already have a diagnosis seems a little reckless IMO.0 -
as long as you are in a calorie deficit you can eat all the sugar you want...
As a side note, there are about a million threads on this and you may want to search some of them for answers...0
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