How do you stay within your sugar limits?

SeaMonkey83

It seems impossible to stay at the right sugar level. Any suggestions?

dls06

Stop tracking sugar. If your carbs are within your goal and your sugar is coming from healthy sources, don't worry

1FitMomof4Girls

Bump!

Losing2Live69

It is really difficult...especially if you like fresh fruit. I could never stay under...so I took it off my diary and just pay attention to carbs. I know some people say "sugar is sugar"...but I think the sugar in berries or melon are much healthier than eating something with high fructose corn syrup or refined sugar.

brianna626

Bump. I have heard mixed information about sugar intake.

taberube

It's difficult, but not impossible. You need to watch the sugar amounts on every item you eat or plan to eat. Sugar is a "major" long term concern when it comes to chronic disease, so it is very important to get it under control.

juliapurpletoes

I stay within the limits because I don't eat processed sugary foods! I do however eat high fiber fruits which of course have sugar-but for me these are natural and healthy.

I have no insulin/sugar issues so i don't worry about fruits.

:bigsmile:

Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet

I dont. I dont even track it. Macros such as these are more important.. Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Chol

usmcmp

Avoid processed foods. If it doesn't grow from the ground, fall from a tree or have a face it isn't good for you. Milk has sugar though. The Powerbar you had was very high in sugar and so was the cereal. Fruit is high in sugar but I would ignore that and milk sugar.

Elizabeth_C34

I stay away from things like high fructose corn syrup and other "not from a natural source" sugars as possible. My sugar intake is below 30 consistently now. Most of the sugars come from fruit.

auntiebabs

Okay here the thing.

I knew there were hidden sugars in foods and thought I was doing a good job of avoiding them...

I've got diabetes running rampant in my family. Mom's side and Dad's side GreatGrandma diagnosed in her 70s, Grandma in her 60s and Dad in his 50s. So I figured I was destine to be diagnosed in my 40s

I'm 49 and my A1C (@ 48 before I started MFP) came back a silly millimeter above the normal range. (5.8 instead of 5.7)
about a month after that a friend told me about MFP.

Once I started tracking. I chose sugar as a catagory. I WAS AMAZED at how much I didn't know I was eating.

I like a treat now and then so i keep an eagle eye out for sugars in *REAL* or *HEALTHY* foods.

And I haven't yet been able to keep it under the MFP target. But I figure I'm eating much less food overall and a smaller percentage of that is sugar. So I'm sure I'm doing much better that I was before I was tracking. and as long as I'm improving I'm okay with that. My blood work is coming up again we'll see how that goes.

***********RANT WARNING********

My tomato sauce had 9g of sugar (on top of a big pile of carbs) If I by plain sauce canned with 1g I can doctor it up with spices. If i'm lazy (if?) I found a Trader Joe's Puttanesca for 3g of sugar.

What has become my bench mark is that my favorite cookies are 9g of sugar for 15 cookies.
If that is a TREAT or SNACK all my real food should be less than that significantly less.

They were having a *HEALTH FAIR* in the lobby of the building I work in and were giving away sample of *NUTRITION BARS* one brand and 15 different kinds of sugar.

I picked up a lean cuisine on the way home from work one night and forgot to check the nutri. facts.
After I ate all night I was starving ready to gnaw my arm off. I went back and checked the package and it had 30g of sugar for crying out loud.

My nutrionist told me that BOTH sugar AND artificial sweeteners increase your appetite and it becomes a the more you get the more you want kind of thing.

So the less you eat, the less you crave.

Elizabeth_C34

Okay here the thing.

I knew there were hidden sugars in foods and thought I was doing a good job of avoiding them...

I've got diabetes running rampant in my family. Mom's side and Dad's side GreatGrandma diagnosed in her 70s, Grandma in her 60s and Dad in his 50s. So I figured I was destine to be diagnosed in my 40s

I'm 49 and my A1C (@ 48 before I started MFP) came back a silly millimeter above the normal range. (5.8 instead of 5.7)
about a month after that a friend told me about MFP.

Once I started tracking. I chose sugar as a catagory. I WAS AMAZED at how much I didn't know I was eating.

I like a treat now and then so i keep an eagle eye out for sugars in *REAL* or *HEALTHY* foods.

And I haven't yet been able to keep it under the MFP target. But I'm sure I'm doing much better that I was before I was tracking. and as long as I'm improving I'm okay with that.

***********RANT WARNING********

My tomato sauce had 9g of sugar (on top of a big pile of carbs) If I by plain sauce canned with 1g I can doctor it up with spices. If i'm lazy (if?) I found a Trader Joe's Puttanesca for 3g of sugar.

What has become my bench mark is that my favorite cookies are 9g of sugar for 15 cookies.
If that is a TREAT or SNACK all my real food should be less than that significantly less.

They were having a *HEALTH FAIR* in the lobby of the building I work in and were giving away sample of *NUTRITION BARS* one brand and 15 different kinds of sugar.

I picked up a lean cuisine on the way home from work one night and forgot to check the nutri. facts.
After I ate all night I was starving ready to gnaw my arm off. I went back and checked the package and it had 30g of sugar for crying out loud.

My nutrionist told me that BOTH sugar AND artificial sweeteners increase your appetite and it becomes a the more you get the more you want kind of thing.

So the less you eat, the less you crave.

So true! Sugar is hidden almost everywhere! Even in whole grain breads (of all strange places). Just read the labels really carefully folks.

kr3851

I don't eat fruit, so it's easier for me. My first few weeks I was eating a lot of pre-packaged food which surprisingly has heaps of sugar. Foods which are labelled 'low fat' especially had high sugar levels. I've switched from getting the convenience packs (like cheese and bikkies, tuna with crackers, muesli bars) to making my own snacks. It's really made a difference. Shopping takes a lot longer now that I study the labels and try to work out which brand is going to make my life easier!!

If I did eat fruit, I would consider the nutritional value of the fruit to sort of counteract the sugar. As long as I wasn't going crazy and eating more than 2 or 3 pieces a day (as recommended by the Australian Medical Association), I wouldn't worry if I went slightly over sugar BECAUSE of fruit.