suga and carbs

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I loveeee fruit .. but i try to limit myself ...for example orange for lunch and apple for snack or blueberries w/ breakfast .. but not a fruit at every meal .. maybe twice a day.. i seriously could eat just fruit all day!

i'm 5'3" 146 right now and could stand to lose some weight but was wondering what the average carb/sugar intake should be for me a day.. sometimes my carb intake on my counter says over 260 carbs and 50 sugars that seems high tho.. but actually sugars i sometimes meet with all the fruit i eat..

some advice?

Amy

Replies

  • khrys1
    khrys1 Posts: 444 Member
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    I say if you like fruit, go for it!!! Remember that the carbs and sugars in fruits are good carbs and sugars, so you shouldn't be too concerned about them!
  • cjengel
    cjengel Posts: 21
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    Go to the Canada Food Guide (I'm Canadian, so if you have a different guide by all means go there :P) and figure out what your recommended daily fruit and carbohydrate intakes are.

    For me, I should be having 7 portions of fruit daily, about half cup portions, and 6 grain portions. so go nuts on fruit - natural sugar is awesome, and they're low in calories. frozen fruit is the BEST for snacking, plus it has more antioxidants than fresh fruit. remember to eat a variety of colors.

    for carbs, make smart choices; whole wheat bread, potatoes, air popped popcorn. I snack on air popped popcorn all the time, lightly dusted with cinnamon. soooo good, soooo healthy.

    hope that helped! :)
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
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    An apple has a lot of fiber to keep you full and the sugar is complex. Oranges have great vitamins too. Some fruits are better than others, but overall, fruit is better than ANY simple sugar! Complex carbs take longer for your body to break down, so it doesn't lead to as much insulin resistance problems (causing type II diabetes) or those annoying sugar highs/drops.

    The USDA recommends we get 2 cups of fruit a day.

    Carbs are the building block for energy! They are not the enemy. As long as you stay under calorie recommendations it doesn't really matter if you go over on calories from carbs.
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
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    Oops, double posted.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    According the the USDA food pyramid I only need 1 cup of fruit (small apple) and 1.5 cups of veggies per day (1200-1300 calorie diet). I do try and get more veggies.

    1500 diet plan is 1 1/2 cups of fruit and 2 cups of veggies.

    You might be able to do a little searching on Livestrong.com and find requirements for other diet plans. I found the 1500 there. And I've seen the 1200 and 1300 there in the past.

    Fruit sugars are natural and don't count towards MFP's sugar (only added sugar does). It takes a little more work but I take the nutrition content for a fruit and create my own food and remove the sugar since it counts towards carbs. I do this with foods that contain natural sugars.