Sugar!!

SunKissed1989

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Thank you!! That's probs just what it's down to - just thought of it as a possible avenue to go down. My activity level varies all the time…maybe I need to get more consistency.
Jeez, what have I started here?! Feel so overwhelmed right now.

Also, thanks to J72FIT for the exercise calorie input. That's partly the reason I made the appointment at the gym for tomorrow morning…will get more advice from the trainer(s) and make adjustments accordingly.

RllyGudTweetr

Not if she swaps fruits for vegetables and stays within her macros. Easy fix.

What would that accomplish? Lowering her sugar intake while keeping her carb/fat/protein/calorie goals the same? That's totally pointless.

If she swaps fruits for vegetables she'll keep decent micros and create a bit of a caloric deficit, which is what we've been discussing.

With no impact on micronutrient levels? Because that was the claim you apparently made when you said "not if she swaps fruits for vegetables and stays within her macros."

PRMinx

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Thank you!! That's probs just what it's down to - just thought of it as a possible avenue to go down. My activity level varies all the time…maybe I need to get more consistency.
Jeez, what have I started here?! Feel so overwhelmed right now.

Also, thanks to J72FIT for the exercise calorie input. That's partly the reason I made the appointment at the gym for tomorrow morning…will get more advice from the trainer(s) and make adjustments accordingly.

For what it's worth, anecdotally I've noticed that the Polars are coming in with pretty high burns. I know HRMs are just an estimate, and a rough one at that, but there are a few people in my workout (of same approx height, weight, gender, age) who use Polars and their burns are consistently coming in 200-250 calories higher than the reads I'm getting off of my Garmin Forerunner.

mccindy72

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Your answer is too logical. Therefore, everyone posting after you must ignore it and continue to argue that OP must cut out all refined and/or processed sugar or swap out fruit for vegetables or eat fewer carbs or something.

OP, just do the above. Please. Join the above group, and buy a good food scale.

Even funnier from someone who didn't read that the OP has a scale and weighs her food. Seriously.

I said buy a GOOD food scale. If she has a food scale and is weighing all her food, I can only assume her scale is inaccurate, as she is obviously NOT eating at a deficit, or she'd be losing weight. Seriously.

fast_eddie_72

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Your answer is too logical. Therefore, everyone posting after you must ignore it and continue to argue that OP must cut out all refined and/or processed sugar or swap out fruit for vegetables or eat fewer carbs or something.

OP, just do the above. Please. Join the above group, and buy a good food scale.

Even funnier from someone who didn't read that the OP has a scale and weighs her food. Seriously.

Funnier yet from someone who just this morning suggested that someone might be having trouble staying within their calorie goal because they ate too much sugar.

It's more likely that it's misinterpreted thirst, or that OP ate too much sugar at once and had a blood sugar spike, then a crash and had a hunger spike from that. It does create a spike.

Some are hear to share and learn. Many are here to just to argue about nonsense.

Greytfish

Not if she swaps fruits for vegetables and stays within her macros. Easy fix.

What would that accomplish? Lowering her sugar intake while keeping her carb/fat/protein/calorie goals the same? That's totally pointless.

If she swaps fruits for vegetables she'll keep decent micros and create a bit of a caloric deficit, which is what we've been discussing.

Oh so you're saying she should lower her calorie intake.

Well, that may be true, but it's entirely possible she doesn't actually know how many calories she's consuming; for example, if she's not measuring accurately then we don't even know what her intake currently is.

The first step is to identify the reason she's not losing weight. The next step is to determine the way to fix that. Then only once that's accomplished should she consider the different methods to accomplish that goal.

You are skipping the first steps and jumping straight to the final one, and only providing a single option (which IMO is rather silly anyway).

You've come into this a bit late. She posted saying her weight loss has stalled and she noticed she is way over on sugar (she's consistently over on sugar and under on protein, and I suspect her HRM is overestimating her caloric burn because they guess based on averages and so become less accurate as conditioning goes one, but I digress).

She's also measuring her food with a digital scale, so unless she's delerious, she's not erring in portions.

I didn't provide a single option. I answered her question.

I stated she is not in a calorie deficit if she is not losing weight. Period.

I stated that "5 a day" doesn't mean 5 fruit servings per day. It means a minumum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, and the larger portion should be vegetables.

I stated if she shifted her fruit/veggie balance in favor of veggies she could lower her sugar which would lower her caloric intake.

For the record, I don't think she's not losing weight because she's eating sugar. She's getting enough protein for a very small, very sedentary woman not an active, athletic woman of any size. That means even in a deficit she's going to lose more muscle mass weight than she should (though in any deficit you'll lose some). But, to increase her protein, she would have to eliminate calories elsewhere to find the room in her caloric limit. I would lose the excess sugar as a start, though she'll have to lose calories elsewere as well.

I would also be very surprised if her calorie burn during exercise wasn't overstimated.

But, she asked about sugar. And everyone went bonkers.

jonnythan

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Your answer is too logical. Therefore, everyone posting after you must ignore it and continue to argue that OP must cut out all refined and/or processed sugar or swap out fruit for vegetables or eat fewer carbs or something.

OP, just do the above. Please. Join the above group, and buy a good food scale.

Even funnier from someone who didn't read that the OP has a scale and weighs her food. Seriously.

I said buy a GOOD food scale. If she has a food scale and is weighing all her food, I can only assume her scale is inaccurate, as she is obviously NOT eating at a deficit, or she'd be losing weight. Seriously.

Well she could be tracking accurately and not losing weight if she is going over her calorie goal or her calorie goal is incorrectly set.

All these things need to be examined. You can't just glance at her diary, say "too much sugar" and tell her to eat less fruit as if that is some sort of magical solution. It's not.

sloth3toes

In for sugar.

jonnythan

You've come into this a bit late.

Dang. I guess she better ignore me then.

Greytfish

I said buy a GOOD food scale. If she has a food scale and is weighing all her food, I can only assume her scale is inaccurate, as she is obviously NOT eating at a deficit, or she'd be losing weight. Seriously.

She has a good, digital scale. The liklihood that's inaccurate is infinitessimal.

If you want a retort, try one that's at least plausible. Do you really think it's more likley that her digital scale is calibrated grossly inaccurately or that she's simply overestimating her calorie burn?

Dang. I guess she better ignore me then.

If you aren't going to bother to read what she wrote, I wouldn't advise her otherwise.

goldfinger88

Fruit is not "added sugar" and it's important that we get several servings of fruit per day. I don't count that sugar as it is from nature and, unless you make a pig of yourself, will not cause any trouble. It's the sugar in refined carbs and candy and cookies and cakes and like that, that causes trouble and fat.

A woman should get no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. The folks who cut out fruit are just nuts. Fruit is nature's candy and should not be feared.

jonnythan

If you aren't going to bother to read what she wrote, I wouldn't advise her otherwise.

I did, but I appreciate the detailed overview of the advice you gave her nonetheless. We all thank you for summarizing your responses.

Greytfish

Fruit is not "added sugar" and it's important that we get several servings of fruit per day. I don't count that sugar as it is from nature and, unless you make a pig of yourself, will not cause any trouble. It's the sugar in refined carbs and candy and cookies and cakes and like that, that causes trouble and fat.

A woman should get no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. The folks who cut out fruit are just nuts. Fruit is nature's candy and should not be feared.

MFP isn't estimating her recommended amount of added sugar, just sugar. Why? Because to the body, as fuel, sugar is sugar.

Greytfish

If you aren't going to bother to read what she wrote, I wouldn't advise her otherwise.

I did, but I appreciate the detailed overview of the advice you gave her nonetheless. We all thank you for summarizing your responses.

Given your misunderstanding of what I suggested, I could only presume iether you didn't read it or you didn't understand it. I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

Also, the OP can reference it for my opinion on her overall issue, not just her original question.

WendyTerry420

I just said cut down to a point where she is in a deficit...she can cut that from wherever she wants.

Also, sugar does not go to fat if you are in a deficit; excess calories are stored as fat is you are in a surplus...

She is not in a deficit. She is not losing weight.

If she simply loses the sugar, she'll create a deficit without sacrificing micros or macros. It would be foolish (and frankly, harder) to make cut elsewhere.

The majority of her sugar comes from fruit. Cutting fruit will absolutely have an impact on micros...

Not if she swaps fruits for vegetables and stays within her macros. Easy fix.

Do you believe that changing fruits for vegetables would have zero impact on her micronutrient levels? Could you explain that in more detail, perhaps with a comparison of the micronutrients in various fruits with the vegetables you're recommending as a replacement?

Let's not pretend that veggie = multi-vitamin and fruit = candy

jonnythan

If you aren't going to bother to read what she wrote, I wouldn't advise her otherwise.

I did, but I appreciate the detailed overview of the advice you gave her nonetheless. We all thank you for summarizing your responses.

Given your misunderstanding of what I suggested, I could only presume iether you didn't read it or you didn't understand it. I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

Also, the OP can reference it for my opinion on her overall issue, not just her original question.

Oh I thought you said I should have read HER words.

You clearly meant that I should have done a better job interpreting YOUR words.

I see.

I'll stick with reading HER words and giving her advice based on what I think of HER situation and HER methods, and continue not to be overly concerned with what you're saying.

WendyTerry420

Fruit is not "added sugar" and it's important that we get several servings of fruit per day. I don't count that sugar as it is from nature and, unless you make a pig of yourself, will not cause any trouble. It's the sugar in refined carbs and candy and cookies and cakes and like that, that causes trouble and fat.

A woman should get no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. The folks who cut out fruit are just nuts. Fruit is nature's candy and should not be feared.

What's magical about 25 grams? That's 100 calories. That's a pretty tiny amount for an active woman.

bcattoes

it's important that we get several servings of fruit per day.

Why?

kgeyser

OP: you seem to have stalled on your weight loss. That's your actual problem. For some reason you identified sugar as the reason you have stalled.

This is inaccurate. Weight loss or gain is all about calorie intake; no individual macronutrient can be responsible for stalled weight loss if your calorie intake is in order.

I suggest you create a new thread asking for help identifying the cause of your stalled weight loss. I suspect that in the end the answer will be some variation of either "your calorie goal is inappropriate for your body and activity level" or "you are eating more than you think," both of which are extremely common.

Unfortunately you will also get a bunch of nonsense replies like "eat more!" or "eat less sugar!" or "eat less fat!" or "eat cleaner!" and other stuff. For this reason, I suggest you join and post in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group. There you will get no-nonsense honest answers without all of the BS.

Thank you!! That's probs just what it's down to - just thought of it as a possible avenue to go down. My activity level varies all the time…maybe I need to get more consistency.
Jeez, what have I started here?! Feel so overwhelmed right now.

Also, thanks to J72FIT for the exercise calorie input. That's partly the reason I made the appointment at the gym for tomorrow morning…will get more advice from the trainer(s) and make adjustments accordingly.

I was gone for a bit too so I didn't get to see your response until now, but thanks for answering my questions. I agree with the previous posters based on what I saw in your diary about the calorie burns, eating only a portion of your calories back, and changing things up, I just didn't want to assume anything without asking first. I have a Polar FT4 and I find the calorie burns on that to be overestimated as well. I think your plan sounds like a good one, and I don't think you should give up any of the already minimal delicious chocolate in your diet.

And don't worry about all the arguing, someone would have come in and recommended cutting out sugar no matter what you posted. A few years ago it was carbs, before that it was fat, now sugar is apparently what people want to blame for everything. Just ignore it.

Greytfish

If you aren't going to bother to read what she wrote, I wouldn't advise her otherwise.

I did, but I appreciate the detailed overview of the advice you gave her nonetheless. We all thank you for summarizing your responses.

Given your misunderstanding of what I suggested, I could only presume iether you didn't read it or you didn't understand it. I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

Also, the OP can reference it for my opinion on her overall issue, not just her original question.

Oh I thought you said I should have read HER words.

You clearly meant that I should have done a better job interpreting YOUR words.

I see.

I'll stick with reading HER words and giving her advice based on what I think of HER situation and HER methods, and continue not to be overly concerned with what you're saying.

I said you should have read what she posted before responding.

I reposted what I wrote because you stated that I was telling her to be "Lowering her sugar intake while keeping her carb/fat/protein/calorie goals the same" and if you had actually read anything I wrote, I would not have had to explain to you that I was not suggesting she do that since I wrote multiple times that if she wasn't losing weight she wasn't in a calorie deficit.

Please, this time, do read what people write before you repond, don't just assume.

It is amazing that so many people would be so emotionally attached to something as fungible as high levels of sugar that they leave logic and comprehension so totally behind. Your poor ancestors....

jonnythan

I reposted what I wrote because you stated that I was telling her to be "Lowering her sugar intake while keeping her carb/fat/protein/calorie goals the same" and if you had actually read anything I wrote, I would not have had to explain to you that I was not suggesting she do that since I wrote multiple times that if she wasn't losing weight she wasn't in a calorie deficit.

Please, this time, do read what people write before you repond, don't just assume.

It is amazing that so many people would be so emotionally attached to something as fungible as high levels of sugar that they leave logic and comprehension so totally behind. Your poor ancestors....

"Not if she swaps fruits for vegetables and stays within her macros."

Carb/fat/protein are the macros. There are no other macros.

SunKissed1989

Everyone PLEASE just simmer doon - have a cuppa tea or something.

I've posted in the Eat, Train, Progress forum and awaiting a response. Please don't tear each other's heads off over this!

I'm not going to bother tracking sugar on its own because I know I'm going to get a red number everyday and that's not good motivation for me. I'll just track carbs as a whole. I am, however, going to watch where exactly my carbs are coming from.

Thanks for the helpful advice and, again, I apologise for starting a heated 'sugar war'. It really is a matter of different approaches for different people.

Hope you all have a fab week

jonnythan

Everyone PLEASE just simmer doon - have a cuppa tea or something.

I've posted in the Eat, Train, Progress forum and awaiting a response. Please don't tear each other's heads off over this!

I'm not going to bother tracking sugar on its own because I know I'm going to get a red number everyday and that's not good motivation for me. I'll just track carbs as a whole. I am, however, going to watch where exactly my carbs are coming from.

Thanks for the helpful advice and, again, I apologise for starting a heated 'sugar war'. It really is a matter of different approaches for different people.

Hope you all have a fab week

Great. You did the right thing. Best of luck, and I will cease posting in this thread.