Sugar suggestions?? Please Help!

theatregoddess

I'm new to myfitnesspal.com, and have been following the limits of the Food Diary as best I can. The biggest difficulty for me, however, is cutting out more sugar from my diet. I don't eat a lot of candy/ice cream/sweets in general, and when I do it's in moderation and I try to pick the healthiest available choice. I do eat a lot of grain-type products though (bread/rice/cereal/etc), and realize that they have higher sugar contents. I also eat fruit, with tends to be higher in sugar, as well (disquising itself as fructose).

So I guess my question here is: what CAN I eat that is still filling, but low in sugar? It seems harder and harder to find things that have low sugar contents, aside from things like soups and vegetables - and while I don't mind eating them, I'd love to have a wider variety of food choices. If you know of any food products that are low in sugar, please let me know what they are! What type of foods have you tried/are trying that seem to be working for you?

Thanks!! =]

SusieSonshine

Don't try to go cold turkey. Unless you must by doctor's orders, gradually eliminate the sugary foods from your diet. Make sure that you log all the foods you eat into your food diary (even the samples from Costco!), and then you'll be able to look over what you're consuming, and begin to see where you can cut.

My suggestion to you is to eat complex carbs and not simple ones (any processed foods such as candy, etc.). Check out the Zone Diet, Food Lover's Diet, Nutrisystem, and any of those that are similar; it is not a "diet" as we think of them nowadays, but a way of life, and all of these are based on the glycemic index. Simply put, divide your plate into three portions, in one portion is your protein/meat (2-4 oz, roughly the size of your palm), and the rest of your plate fill up with fruits and veggies. Treat rice, potatoes, etc as condiments. There are a few foods to avoid, but really, you can have anything, in the right portion. This will keep your blood sugar on an even keel, thereby avoiding diseases such as diabetes, and keeping your metabolism up and working well, ergo, you lose bodyfat.

All the best to you!!

Susie

:flowerforyou:

theatregoddess

Thanks so much, I'll definitly start looking more at those "complex" carbs!

Good Luck with your goal!

twilight1542

Welcome to the club I've been on MFP since 6/3, have lost 27 lbs since then, and ALWAYS go over on sugar....The closest I've ever gotten is double the daily allotment. So I recommend just doing your best & not beating yourself up for going over BTW-I HATE all artificial sweeteners, but have found that I do splenda & truvia, which I believe are about as close to real sugar as possible without going artificial. Both can be bought in packets & for cooking, although truvia is more difficult to find as it's newer!

SusieSonshine

Thanks, goddess!! Same to you!!! <smile!>

foxyforce

fruits sugars really aren't as bad as everyone says they are. i know they are still sugar, but they are better than those fake sugars because sometimes our bodies can't properly metabolize/digest/whatever the fake stuff and it can leave you bloated and feeling gross.

just try to cut down on your fruit, i find a couple of servings a day only puts you a little bit over.

theatregoddess

Susie, one more question! >.< Where exactly do you look on the food label to see whether or not the product has complex carbs or not, and how many there are? Thanks!!

And congratz on your progress twilight1542! I'll try not to beat myself up to much over it! =P

SusieSonshine

Welcome to the club I've been on MFP since 6/3, have lost 27 lbs since then, and ALWAYS go over on sugar....The closest I've ever gotten is double the daily allotment. So I recommend just doing your best & not beating yourself up for going over BTW-I HATE all artificial sweeteners, but have found that I do splenda & truvia, which I believe are about as close to real sugar as possible without going artificial. Both can be bought in packets & for cooking, although truvia is more difficult to find as it's newer!

I just had to look up "Truvia" cuz I've never heard of it, but had a suspicion that it is a brand name for Stevia. Stevia can be found in Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Fresh and Easy, and other grocery stores that sell natural foods. It can also be found in some other chain grocery stores in the natural foods section. Personally, I don't like the taste, and would rather use grade B maple syrup, blue agave, honey, or apple juice concentrate to sweeten. But it's worth trying to see if you like it!

I'd be careful about sucralose, better know to the public as Splenda. Here's an article about it: http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx.

All the best!

:flowerforyou:

EKarma

I buy sugar free everything! SF Maple syrup, SF Apricot Jelly, SF Chocolate Syrup.. EVERYTHING! It help with my sugar cravings, and it's always lower in calories. And you may think that you can't deal with Sugar Free, but you get used to it.. It's the only thing I feed my daughter too.

Anywho.. Good luck, but if you're going over, try going SF..

love and light. xo

SusieSonshine

Susie, one more question! >.< Where exactly do you look on the food label to see whether or not the product has complex carbs or not, and how many there are? Thanks!!

And congratz on your progress twilight1542! I'll try not to beat myself up to much over it! =P

If there's refined sugar in it, or if it's juice, it's simple carbs. If it's a whole food, with all of it's fibre, such as an apple, peach, plum, whole grain, etc, it's a complex carb. If you're using foods that are canned, boxed, bagged, whatever, then you'll have to pay attention to the ingredients. The first few ingredients are what make up the bulk of the item. So if the first, second, or third ingredient is sugar, then you know you don't want to put it in your body!

I'd suggest that you work on your food diary for a month and then see what foods have the most sugar that you'd want to eliminate from your daily intake (although, I think you're talking about carbs, cuz there is no RDA for sugar). Remember, our bodies need sugar, as our bodies turn everything that we eat into glucose but it's the processed stuff that sends our insulin levels soring, then, like a bad lover, leaves us to crash and burn. <smile>

Check out http://www.zonediet.com It's got lots of useful tips!

SusieSonshine

I buy sugar free everything! SF Maple syrup, SF Apricot Jelly, SF Chocolate Syrup.. EVERYTHING! It help with my sugar cravings, and it's always lower in calories. And you may think that you can't deal with Sugar Free, but you get used to it.. It's the only thing I feed my daughter too.

Anywho.. Good luck, but if you're going over, try going SF..

love and light. xo

I still can't figure out how they can make sugar free maple syup!! lol!! Just like I can't understand how there can be fat free cream or half and half!! lol!! Isn't that the point--half (fat) and half (milk)?! It's beyond me! <smile!!>

twinkletoes2

I'm also cutting sugar from my diet. I've found that staying away from processed foods helps a lot. I was disgusted to find out how much unneccessary sugar is added in just about everything that's on the market.

Fruits do have a lot of sugar, but I keep it to around 1 serving/day and eat mostly veggies instead. No fruit juices. Those are just liquefied sugar. If you need sometihng fruity, opt for the whole fruit instead.

I drink sugar-free drinks as well (don't mind the taste). And I eat a moderate amount of carbs. Usually, sugar comes hand in hand with carb content, so limiting those often limits how much sugar I intake on a daily basis as well.

When I buy food, I buy the brands with the least sugar. For example, I eat Dannon Light & Fit Carb Control yogurt which only has 2 grams of sugar in comparison to the Yoplait Light which has like 13 grams or something like that.

I end up eating lots of veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and healthy fats in my diet.