It's not even 10am and I'm over my limit on Sugars???

hopefloatsup

So it's not even 10am here. I've had 1 cup of coffee with some creamer (my weakness), and 1 banana. I've been up since about 5:30 this morning and have been to the ER with my kiddo who has a bad ear infection. I come home thinking, "Ok, so I only had 1 cup as opposed to normal 2-3 cups of coffee, so I'm having a banana" I'm exhausted and it was something quick to grab. But according to my numbers, I'm already 8 over on sugars. I know the creamer isn't good - I always got Fat Free, so I'm using that up before opening my Sugar Free. But REALLY? I know that I won't make it through with no more sugars today. Why does this not seem right to me?

tigersword

Are you suffering from a metabolic syndrome, like Diabetes or PCOS? If you aren't, then it makes no difference how much sugar you eat.

CMmrsfloyd

I don't even track sugar. It's just depressing. Plus it's already included in the total carbohydrates anyway.

treetop57

Maybe the particular banana or creamer entry from the database had the wrong value for sugar. Compare it with other similar entries.

One day my fat was inordinately high and I figured out one of the entries had put 100 grams of fat when the right value was 10 grams.

AmyLRed

i dont track sugar, i was always way over because of fruit. So long as my sugar comes largely from fruits, i am not at all concerned with it.

Dan112358

If you're concerned about sugar intake, make sure you keep the big picture in mind. Going over on one day will not make or break you. Have a look at your weekly summary or look back at your diary to see if this is a recurring trend for you.

andforpoise

Fruits have a lot of sugar - but it's the good kind (natural). If you're worried about sugar intake, just cut down on the things with the artificial stuff. Your creamer probably has natural sugars in it too (dairy products also tend to be higher, I've noticed). I wouldn't be overly concerned!

Good luck!!

BaconMD

I don't know what your goal is, but I set my sugar goal to 55 grams, and my wife says I shouldn't really even count naturally-occurring sugars, unless I'm going overboard on fruit. At 55g, that includes barely any added sugars - maybe only in my granola or something.

GoinOrganic

I believe the 'sugars' are for ADDED sugar, and concentrated sugars (like fruit juice even with only natural sugar). Natural sugar in fruit, veggies etc are 'ok' sugars... so even though MFP tracks all sugar intake, look at it, and if you have NO added sugar in any form, sugar,added fructose sugar as a sweetner, and in my opinion all sugar substitutes except stevia, than you're ok...

MissFit0101

I don't pay attention to my sugar intake, and had no problem losing the weight or maintaining it now.

tigersword

There is NO SUCH THING as "good sugar" or "bad sugar." All sugars are the same on molecular level, and your body doesn't recognize a difference between refined sucrose that you added into your coffee, or the sucrose that's naturally in an orange. It just sees sucrose, glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, etc, and digests them. The source they come from doesn't matter. Sugar is sugar, and like I mentioned earlier, unless you have a metabolic condition that requires limiting sugar, it's irrelevant how much you eat.

81Katz

I don't know if I am going about this the right way, but anymore I do not worry about fruit or vegetable sugars (yes sugar in veggies!) because that is a naturally occurring sugar. I do however really try to watch processed sugars (sugars in crackers, cereals, breads, etc) Also yogurt. I quit eating the 'flavored' yogurts because some had 15+ grams of sugar per tiny cup and you know that's not all 'natural'. Some dairy however does have naturally occurring sugar but I don't believe that's the case with most flavored yogurts, its likely almost all processed/added sugar.

hopefloatsup

Thanks everyone! I feel a bit better now I don't have any reason to watch my sugars closely, so I will just watch the "added" sugars close instead.

STrooper

So it's not even 10am here. I've had 1 cup of coffee with some creamer (my weakness), and 1 banana. I've been up since about 5:30 this morning and have been to the ER with my kiddo who has a bad ear infection. I come home thinking, "Ok, so I only had 1 cup as opposed to normal 2-3 cups of coffee, so I'm having a banana" I'm exhausted and it was something quick to grab. But according to my numbers, I'm already 8 over on sugars. I know the creamer isn't good - I always got Fat Free, so I'm using that up before opening my Sugar Free. But REALLY? I know that I won't make it through with no more sugars today. Why does this not seem right to me?

I know what you mean. I'm already 18 g over my "target." Now that will be decreasing because I haven't gotten on my treadmill this morning or gone for a daily walk of more than a couple of miles. It's not just the sugar that I directly put into my coffee this morning, its everything else that has sugar buried in it. I've checked most of the things that list sugar in the database and they generally have it correct. The target is just that, and it moves as you add exercise.

Unless you have a medical condition that really requires close attention to sugars, don't fret. Just don't overdo it either (making a huge portion of your calorie intake strictly sugar). It may be more important about what form of sugar you are taking in (e.g., fructose versus sucrose).

issyfit

There is NO SUCH THING as "good sugar" or "bad sugar." All sugars are the same on molecular level, and your body doesn't recognize a difference between refined sucrose that you added into your coffee, or the sucrose that's naturally in an orange. It just sees sucrose, glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, etc, and digests them. The source they come from doesn't matter. Sugar is sugar, and like I mentioned earlier, unless you have a metabolic condition that requires limiting sugar, it's irrelevant how much you eat.

I agree with this except the last part--I don't think it's irrelevant--I think limiting all forms of sugar will help prevent developing glucose intolerance and diabetes, and that is why I follow South Beach.

BarbWhite09

I'm always over on my sugar, I attempted to watch it for a while but it's really just impossible. If I ever eat a fruit it always puts me over, seems silly to me if I were to cut the fruits out of my diet because of the sugar content so I was like eh screw the sugar stuff

Anomalia

I track sugar, 5 days out of the week I allow myself to go over so I can include fruit in my diet and some treats. I make sure to stay under my goal 2 days a week and haven't had any issues maintaining my weight.

cmhickey616

It depends really how much was from the creamer. If that was the majority then make sure the rest of your sugar today is from fruit. If the majority is from the banana then just don't worry about it. Unless you are a diabetic, sugar from fruit really doesn't count.

katieek23

bananas have a lot of sugar but it is healthy sugar and when i eat fruit i basically don't count the sugar from them because it's not added sugar, it's natural.

nitepagan

If your diabetic, sugar is a big thing.

alauriab

The reason it is high is becasue the creamers ( esp fat free ) use high fructose corn syrup and a serving size on a banana is 1/2 of a regular sized fruit because their sugar levels are so high. So eating a whole one is really 2 servings of fruit.
Regular milk is a better choice than creamers( esp. the processed ones) and a banana is the sweetest fruit you could have chosen as far as sugar content goes. I do track my sugar - it's really important, as is awareness of the sugars that get "snuck in" like the ones in your creamer.

susanswan

I don't add sugar to my food. I only eat fruit sugars from real fruit. I don't track my sugar, carbs, fat, or sodium any more due to my dietary changes of eating whole foods and 80% plants.

Heather20646

I wasn't tracking sugar then decided one day, "That might be a good idea". So I started the tracking, had my one cup of coffee with french vanilla creamer (my one weakness I still treat myself to). After the coffee and an orange I was over my sugar. My solution? Stop tracking sugar LOL.

delilah47

In the long run (for a healthy person), only the total calories count. But, if you find you are often over on your sugars, you may be getting hungrier than usual because if you are wasting calories on sugar, you won't be getting lots of food bulk for your calorie intake. It should help when you start using your sugarless product. Be careful though, sometimes low sugar = extra fat (and visa versa).

GraemePayne

Look at the banana - 24 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams.

hataxa1

A good rule of thumb is to look at the ingredient list and see how far down the sugar is listed. It it's one of the first three ingredients, than you're basically eating sugar with some fillers. I agree with other comments that you should really limit your intake of refined or added sugars. Even though fruit sugars are naturally occurring, it's not a bad idea to limit your intake of super sugary fruit. I found out that pineapple and grapes are super high in naturally occurring sugar, so I made an adjustment to only eat one of those fruits on a given day. That way, I can still eat my favorite fruit, but maintain my sugar intake at a manageable level.

hopefloatsup

I wasn't tracking sugar then decided one day, "That might be a good idea". So I started the tracking, had my one cup of coffee with french vanilla creamer (my one weakness I still treat myself to). After the coffee and an orange I was over my sugar. My solution? Stop tracking sugar LOL.

So far....my favorite reply! LOL I'm making the switch to sugar free, but I'm wondering now about the Silk Almond Milk - the sweetened kind. I wonder how that would be in coffee? I just can't drink it plain and my family would rather I NOT stop drinking coffee in the morning LOL

hopefloatsup

A good rule of thumb is to look at the ingredient list and see how far down the sugar is listed. It it's one of the first three ingredients, than you're basically eating sugar with some fillers. I agree with other comments that you should really limit your intake of refined or added sugars. Even though fruit sugars are naturally occurring, it's not a bad idea to limit your intake of super sugary fruit. I found out that pineapple and grapes are super high in naturally occurring sugar, so I made an adjustment to only eat one of those fruits on a given day. That way, I can still eat my favorite fruit, but maintain my sugar intake at a manageable level.

Thanks for that tip - I absolutely LOVE my fruits, but I guess I should do some research on them. I'm trying to jump into this full speed at once, but I find that when I do that on anything, I normally will fail. I figure baby steps are better than no steps. Fruit is better than Doritos. Walking even around the block or just pacing around the house is better than sitting. I'm slowly doing this....but I'm doing it Plus, I'm big on research LOL

vs1023

I don't worry about naturally occurring sugars in fruits and only processe sugars. I do track my sugar. It works better for me I feel yucky with too much processed sugar.

tigersword

There is NO SUCH THING as "good sugar" or "bad sugar." All sugars are the same on molecular level, and your body doesn't recognize a difference between refined sucrose that you added into your coffee, or the sucrose that's naturally in an orange. It just sees sucrose, glucose, fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, etc, and digests them. The source they come from doesn't matter. Sugar is sugar, and like I mentioned earlier, unless you have a metabolic condition that requires limiting sugar, it's irrelevant how much you eat.

I agree with this except the last part--I don't think it's irrelevant--I think limiting all forms of sugar will help prevent developing glucose intolerance and diabetes, and that is why I follow South Beach.

Insulin resistance and glucose intolerance are symptoms of diabetes, not the cause. Diabetes (Type 2) is actually caused by excess body fat. When you have excess body fat, some of that body fat ends up circulating through the blood stream. This fat in the blood stream is what interferes with insulin's ability to regulate blood glucose, and leads to conditions like Diabetes. This is why there are examples of people reversing Type 2 Diabetes by losing weight, as the reduction in overall body fat is a huge factor in reversing insulin resistance.

Which is why I say, as long as your caloric goals are maintained properly, and you get sufficient amounts of fat and protein in your diet, the amount of sugar you consume is irrelevant.

Now, I also want to point out, excess body fat, and dietary fat are two different things. Eating fat in your diet is a good thing, as essential fatty acids are necessary for health. Just wanted to throw that in there, as I don't want anyone to read this and think that they can cut back on excess fat by not eating fat. It's all about calories, not any one specific macro.

LoreyGiblin

there's no way what you ate has put you over your sugar limit unless you're adding like 8 tablespoons of sugar to your coffee. i would double check you're sugar goal, carbs should be your highest portion. In fact, it should be split in such a way that 50% of your nutrition calories are carbs, 25% protein, & 25% fats. Being over just doesnt make sense to me, double check your settings.