Sugar-Lets be honest!

LisaMarieee

My diet consists heavily of fruit, it's never hindered my weight loss. I've lost 57lbs since January and I've always ate a lot of fruits (even some junk food like muffins and cookies months ago). There's really no reason (in my opinion) to freak out about going over your sugar intake because of something you read on MFP or heard on Dr. Oz.

foraMEthatiLOVE

I dont understand what my calorie deficit has to do with my sugar intake? Too much sugar whether from fruit or a candy bar cant be good for you and those limitations have been put there for a reason. Obviously fruit is better than a candy bar because fruit has much more nutritional value but too much sugar from either cant be good.

I went to a nutritionist once who prepared a food plan for me to follow for 3 months and she avoided most fruits with higher amounts of sugar, even though it was all natural sugar. My food plan was to help me lose weight, and all fruits were slowly being put back on my diet after the first 4 weeks, but she did say that no person on this earth is overweight by getting their sugar only from fruits, but if you are trying to LOSE weight, then you should avoid in the beginning some of the fruits that are higher in sugar, and slowly add them back to your diet. My goal was to lose 15 lbs by the end of the 3 months and following her diet I lost a total of 12 lbs. without ANY exercise. By the way, I have an appointment with her in the next 2 weeks...

2Bgoddess

You got fat from eating too many calories. No single macro makes you fat.

I also looked at your diary. You think that lowering sugar helped you lose weight? Not that you are eating 700-800 calories a day?

Hmm.

i just gotta love what dietists have to say ^^

Is there something wrong with what was said? *confused*

*sigh* haters...

I am on a special diet at the moment due to metabolism issues and digestion issues. My doctors and nutritionists have created this plan for me. I am not starving myself. It is not long term. get off my back.

Didn't realize that for expressing an opinion that is about ME, and only me, makes it ok for other My Fitness PALS to bully and pass judgement based on what you see in my diary. FFS every time I post, I am getting attitude about it. If I close my diary, I get attitude about that.

So, how much weight do you have to lose and keep it off for how long before you are entitled to act so bloody high and mighty?
some really bitter people here!

Well, maybe there is a health reason you have that diet and if a MD is watching over it, then fine. However, don't come around talking about Fat making you fat and sugar keeping you fat and not eating much of either is causing you yo lose weight. You are losing weight because you are probably eating less than a third of what you probably need for weight loss. It's not because you are not eating much sugar or much fat, it's simply eating way fewer calories than it takes to maintain weight.

People can lose weight safely on very low calorie diets, but looking at what you're eating the contents of your calories are not ideal for a VLCD. You should be getting a lot more protein in that.

i will come around and say what I like. OP asked for opinions, I did not claim to know more than anyone else. I gave my opinion. Geeze, here i was thinking i was saving time not posting a dozen paragraphs of back story. thank you so much for enlightening me, I was not aware that YOU know better than my own doctors what I should and should not have, regarding protein. I will be sure to let him know that he's doing it wrong.

the last three weeks are NOT what I am referring to, re: lower sugar. I've been on MFP since August. Prior to that, I ate a lot of sugar. I reduced my sugars substantially and kept my calories at 1310 for many weeks. I was losing. The last 3 weeks are not to do with weight loss, they are to do with allergies, diarrhea, head aches, build up of vitamins in my system that should be just flushed out...problems I have had for years and have just recently been able to co-ordinate all the crap from the specialists.

I do not log my food here to count calories right now. I have to straighten out the other issues. the diary is my log of what I eat, and I journal how I feel, etc. that's all. not a badge of honor.

Some of you might think that I asked for this huge backlash, because I left my diary open. I left it open because many of my pals feel they need honesty to be friends. So my choice is, close my diary and lose some of my friends who are a great resource and inspiration to me, or get flak from know-it-alls. I am a big girl, so I will just keep doing what I am doing. I realize it goes against what others in the forums believe, I am just not sure why it makes people so angry.

foraMEthatiLOVE

Anyone got any sugar?

Shhhhh thats bad for you ;D

Haha, you're also funny!

zeeeb

i don't really care either way.... but i'll never feel guilty about eating fresh fruit... i refuse to! It just makes sense that eating a pile of jelly beans versus eating a pile of fruit are worlds apart in their health benefits.... ignoring the calories, and taking into account the fibre and vitamins and goodness in fruit versus sugary treats.

angel79202

You got fat from eating too many calories. No single macro makes you fat.

I also looked at your diary. You think that lowering sugar helped you lose weight? Not that you are eating 700-800 calories a day?

Hmm.

i just gotta love what dietists have to say ^^

Is there something wrong with what was said? *confused*

*sigh* haters...

I am on a special diet at the moment due to metabolism issues and digestion issues. My doctors and nutritionists have created this plan for me. I am not starving myself. It is not long term. get off my back.

Didn't realize that for expressing an opinion that is about ME, and only me, makes it ok for other My Fitness PALS to bully and pass judgement based on what you see in my diary. FFS every time I post, I am getting attitude about it. If I close my diary, I get attitude about that.

So, how much weight do you have to lose and keep it off for how long before you are entitled to act so bloody high and mighty?
some really bitter people here!

Well, maybe there is a health reason you have that diet and if a MD is watching over it, then fine. However, don't come around talking about Fat making you fat and sugar keeping you fat and not eating much of either is causing you yo lose weight. You are losing weight because you are probably eating less than a third of what you probably need for weight loss. It's not because you are not eating much sugar or much fat, it's simply eating way fewer calories than it takes to maintain weight.

People can lose weight safely on very low calorie diets, but looking at what you're eating the contents of your calories are not ideal for a VLCD. You should be getting a lot more protein in that.

i will come around and say what I like. OP asked for opinions, I did not claim to know more than anyone else. I gave my opinion. Geeze, here i was thinking i was saving time not posting a dozen paragraphs of back story. thank you so much for enlightening me, I was not aware that YOU know better than my own doctors what I should and should not have, regarding protein. I will be sure to let him know that he's doing it wrong.

the last three weeks are NOT what I am referring to, re: lower sugar. I've been on MFP since August. Prior to that, I ate a lot of sugar. I reduced my sugars substantially and kept my calories at 1310 for many weeks. I was losing. The last 3 weeks are not to do with weight loss, they are to do with allergies, diarrhea, head aches, build up of vitamins in my system that should be just flushed out...problems I have had for years and have just recently been able to co-ordinate all the crap from the specialists.

I do not log my food here to count calories right now. I have to straighten out the other issues. the diary is my log of what I eat, and I journal how I feel, etc. that's all. not a badge of honor.

Some of you might think that I asked for this huge backlash, because I left my diary open. I left it open because many of my pals feel they need honesty to be friends. So my choice is, close my diary and lose some of my friends who are a great resource and inspiration to me, or get flak from know-it-alls. I am a big girl, so I will just keep doing what I am doing. I realize it goes against what others in the forums believe, I am just not sure why it makes people so angry.

Follow your doctor My doctor has lost weight and suggests eating my BMR, my trainer has different advice. It's all a balancing act, one day you'll be feeling better and be able to eat more
Keep at it girl!

vs1023

If sugar is sugar then I agree, but overall if you are looking for something sweet to eat...fruit would be the way to go!! Great post and I definitely agree mam

Agreed. If you can follow a whole food diet and cut out sugars and stick to naturally occuring sugars and pair it with a protein and maybe a good fat while you eat it, it'll be processed in your body more efficiently.

AI1108

The vitamins in most fruit is overrated, most only have Vit C and you can get all the body needs in a day from one fifth of a red pepper. Fruit has evolved to be attractive to animals as a way for plants distributing their seeds. They are all about advertising, a bright colour and bit of sugar to sweeten the deal, but there is no advantage to the plant to pack them full of any real nutrients that the plant needs for its own growth. Vegetables have all the good vitamins.

This is so very incorrect. Fruits offer a variety of vitamins that are essential for us. Most of them have way more than vitamin C.

There are also a lot of micronutrients in fruits and vegetables that we have identified, but don't quite know of their health benefits yet.

^^Agreed.

There are way more health benefits to fruits & veggies than modern science has even considered figuring out.

Weight loss is not an exact science and you're not going to come up with an exact number for everyone simultaneously to follow to shed the same weight. The same way that our DNA creates differences in our outside appearance it also creates differences inside and we've only got a fraction of that figured out too.

What do we know? We need a balanced mealplan of carbs, protein and "good" fats to keep us going. Everyone's macro goal is different and its that carb % that'll dictate how many grams of sugar that you're body actually needs and handles through different tasks on any given day. The more carbs coming from fiber is probably a good thing as most people don't get the recommended intake, but you're body does need a good balance of sugars too.. "good" sugars. For most healthy individuals, I don't see why you would cut fruit or dairy out of your diet when you're getting vitamins and minerals and nourishment from it just because it has sugar in it.

No - not all sugars are equal. If you're going over that carb % from sugars, whether refined or process then yes you're probably going over on sugar and hindering your weight loss but if you're hitting your carb % and getting the recommended intake of dietary fiber and keeping your "added" sugar down, which would eliminate undue stress on your body, I don't see how that's going to cause you not to lose weight.

yeaforme

Wow! I just checked back to read this topic. I am amazed at the passion people have when it comes to sugar!
I only have one thing I would like to offer to this conversation....
FREE HUGS!! (((((HUG)))))

kateroot

In terms of weight loss and weight loss alone, it doesn't matter how much sugar you eat. You could eat pure sugar all day long, and as long as you have a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight. However, in terms of health - naturally occuring sugars and manufactured sugars are metabolized basically the same by your body. However, the vitamins and fiber in fruit are value-added benefits to consuming "fruit sugar" that are not present in eating a bag of smarties.

ldennett

Love the comic!

bjfmade

Well, let's see.

I don't track sugar and never have (disclaimer: I don't have diabetes or pre-diabetes - if you do, you probably need to be aware of it).

I do, however, eat a lot of fruit. At least one banana (often 2) each day. A large Granny Smith apple every day. Lots and lots of baby carrots (3+ servings every day). I drink original almond milk, which has sugar. I eat bread, which has sugar.

I don't eat a lot of added or refined sugar, except for an occasional treat.

I have shed 109 pounds since mid September 2010. I've dropped my body fat from 56% to 22%.

I'm going to say that consuming sugar really didn't "hinder" my weight loss.

I am over on my sugar everyday because of the fruit I eat. I also use small amounts of truvia or sweet and low, whatever I have at the time. Beats drinking coffee with creamers like I used to. Hasn't stopped my weight loss.

ljbhill

Sugar is sugar and you may not agree but I'm allowed to have that opinion.

Of course going over the sugar goal isn't the end of the world. If you have a a calorie deficiet you can lose weight.

BUT... from what I've researched and the healthy eating seminars that I've attended (school teacher and it mandated that we attend them) sugar cause energy levels to spike crash, affecting concentration and making you hungrier sooner. This usually means you're likely to eat more and become tired. This MAY translate into eating more for energy and being OVER in calories at the end of the day!

Do I eat sugar? Of course. I try to limit it but I do enjoy my wine and other treats at times. That's not the debate here.

There's an interesting show called 'fat head' which talks about sugar and carbs with a tongue and check attittude. It provides an interesting perspective on the concept of healthy foods and the debate on the healthy food pyramid/pie.

Let's face it. There are many different reasons and motives on why organisations research things like this (farming industry, cereal companies etc) and hence many different viewpoints. How reliable are they? There is research that supports both sides. No one is right or wrong on this forum. It's a matter of doing your own research and making your own judgment on the matter. People should be able to share their opinions without being shot down.

kmbrooks15

Sugar is sugar and you may not agree but I'm allowed to have that opinion.

Of course going over the sugar goal isn't the end of the world. If you have a a calorie deficiet you can lose weight.

BUT... from what I've researched and the healthy eating seminars that I've attended (school teacher and it mandated that we attend them) sugar cause energy levels to spike crash, affecting concentration and making you hungrier sooner. This usually means you're likely to eat more and become tired. This MAY translate into eating more for energy and being OVER in calories at the end of the day!

Do I eat sugar? Of course. I try to limit it but I do enjoy my wine and other treats at times. That's not the debate here.

There's an interesting show called 'fat head' which talks about sugar and carbs with a tongue and check attittude. It provides an interesting perspective on the concept of healthy foods and the debate on the healthy food pyramid/pie.

Let's face it. There are many different reasons and motives on why organisations research things like this (farming industry, cereal companies etc) and hence many different viewpoints. How reliable are they? There is research that supports both sides. No one is right or wrong on this forum. It's a matter of doing your own research and making your own judgment on the matter. People should be able to share their opinions without being shot down.

Well said. The whole "energy spike then crash" thing is why I don't eat fruit by itself. If I'm having something with sugar, I eat a protein with it. For example, I love red grapes, but they are high in sugar. So I eat a 2% sharp cheddar cheese stick (kind of like having wine and cheese!) with it. That gives me some protein along with it to help prevent the spike/crash scenario. It's also good--the contrast of the tang of the sharp cheddar with the sweetness of the grapes is very satisfying. When I eat a banana, it's usually on my cereal (Special K Protein Plus), so I'm not eating it by itself. For those with insulin issues (I have mild PCOS/insulin resistance), that can be a good way to eat fruit. My mom is diabetic (Type II--totally controlled by diet, she takes no meds), and her nutritionist told her to eat fruit with other foods to avoid the spike/crash.

And you're so right...people should be able to share their opinions. Each person has to find what works for them and should research and form their own opinions. That's one reason kids shouldn't be allowed on the forums...they aren't mature enough to form an educated opinion yet. But adults have the capability to research an issue and decide for themselves.