Summary daily and weekly nutrition.

lynnhardinbrown

I went to my daily and weekly summary and found that I have a minus on sugars, protein and calcium. Please tell me what this means. On a daily when I complete my entry everything looks great. I am always under my caloric intake and it tells me to eat more. So I will usually get me a greek yogurt and that helps. I am trying to make this different as far as what I eat and the way that I exercise. Please someone help me with what is going on here.

reklawn

Minus means you are "getting too much" I wouldn't worry so much with the protein or calcium, but I would cut back on the sugar intake.

lynnhardinbrown

I have no idea what it is that is giving me all of the sugars. I calculate everything and nothing that I take in has that many sugars. : ( I have had no sweets except for my snacks which is Greek Chobabi yogurt and Fiber One snack brownies which only has 8 grams of sugar. I have been grilling everything that I eat chicken, vegetables etc...If I need to eat something quickly and I don't have time to cook then I eat a lean cousine frozen dinner, so that I can see exactly what I am getting. I was just really frustrated when I found that in my summary this morning.

KirstenTheFamilyCoach

fruit (while incredibly healthy) can be high in sugar and so can many veggies. If you are eating your sugar in the packaging God gave it you are probably fine but if not ... I'd cut it back.

Sunflowergirl1

You can track various nutrients daily, including sugars, so perhaps you will want to do that for a bit and see where the sugar is coming from. I have pretty high sugar numbers some days, and it is always primarily from fruits and dairy products, so I don't worry much about going over for those reasons. Very informative.

lynnhardinbrown

Could it be my fruit? I have a handful of blueberries and strawberries with my yogurt. And maybe a couple of apples this week. My peanut butter is Organic natural. Very low on sugars but pretty high in fat.

Sunflowergirl1

I will bet it is the fruit and dairy. If you want to track sugars, go to Food=>Settings and you can select what you track daily. I occasionally track sugar, sodium and/or fiber in addition to the carbs, protein and fats and it is very interesting. I'm continually amazed I am 50 years old and am just learning what's really in some foods.....often not what I thought.

victay3

I guess we need to scan what we are eating before we eat and check our daily nutrients before we actually eat it. That way we will be able to see if what we are about to eat is going to make us go over our daily limit. Gosh there sure is a lot more work to loosing weight than I ever thought than just watching calories and getting exercise.

2hobbit1

Lynn,

The protein level that MFP gives when you first start is way low for lean muscle mass preservation while eating at t calorie deficit - you can change this and set your self up for more reasonable macros as well as change what shows on your tracking page - My Home > Goals > Change goals > Custom

It is good to have your macros set to 40P/30C/30F. You can adjust your fiber up to the 30gm recommended for women, change the sodium if you need to be lower due to health issues. You can change what shows and the order that it shows to one you like better.

You can customize you daily calorie goals if your using the TDEE - 20% method.

Also remember that there are sugars that are naturally in foods as well as sugars that are added to processed foods - both of these will track as sugar. They are part of Carbs so if you cook for yourself from scratch it might be more usefull to track total carbs and fiber, if you do a lot of processed packaged take out foods then it might be better to track sugars. It all depends on what your goals are at this point in your journey.

lynnhardinbrown

I usually drink diet sodas and even quit them at the beginning of the year. I have not had any sugar in my tea or any sweets except for the fiber one and Kellogg's snacks which were very low in sugars. So it could be my fruits and vegetables. I had no idea. Thank you so much. I will be more diligent on watching the sugars in my fruits, and vegetables to see if this is where they are coming from. I think that I will go back and check and see where exactly these sugars were coming from. Thank you, You just put a smile back on my face. I was getting a little depressed. : )

Nacho12

The yogurt may be high in sugar too. I asked my nutritionist about the Greek Yogurt, she said it was fine but get the plain not the
one that has fruit with it. Even the plain has sugar in it.

lynnhardinbrown

I just checked my yogurt and you are right it has 20 carbs and 19 sugars. Eeeeek!! I never thought to look because it is suppose to be so good for you. I am going back into my diary now checking everything. Thank you.

2hobbit1

I just checked my yogurt and you are right it has 20 carbs and 19 sugars. Eeeeek!! I never thought to look because it is suppose to be so good for you. I am going back into my diary now checking everything. Thank you.

You need to look at your yogurt label for ADDED sugars - the sugar for yogurt includes the lactose sugar that is naturally present in the milk used to make yogurt - this consumed by the lactobacilis that creates the yogurt. This is usually around 14 gm per serving even though it is removed. Your looking for additional added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sugar in the jams they use for fruit flavoring etc.

lynnhardinbrown

I just checked my slim fast it has 22.0 grams of sugar, 30.0 carbs, 240.0 mg of sodium and my yogurt has 19.0 grams of sugar, 65 mg of sodium 20.0 carbs. Is this not good???

lynnhardinbrown

I see none of that in my yogurt. So does that mean it is okay? It does not say that it is organic but it does say that everything in it is natural. I have just started reading labels and find it to be a little frustrating. Lol

2hobbit1

I see none of that in my yogurt. So does that mean it is okay? It does not say that it is organic but it does say that everything in it is natural. I have just started reading labels and find it to be a little frustrating. Lol

take a look at the ingredient list - most usually start with milk, skim milk, milk powder etc - then kick into live culture bacillus( the bugs that actually make yogurt) , then add other things including sugar , food starch, gelatin, flavorings, fruit or fruit purees etc. - If you do not have anything you can identify as an added sugar or starch by about the 4-5 ingredient then you are probably OK .

If the added sugars are higher on the list then you should be looking for a better yogurt.
Just a heads up it is very easy to make your own yogurt - just need some skim milk powder, water, a warm location and a live culture starter (otherwise known as a TBS or two of a live culture yogurt) then you add your own fruit or sweeteners.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/dairyrecipes/r/bldairy9.htm

Just one of many sites online on how to do it!

lynnhardinbrown

Thank you 2 hobbit1. I just checked the first ingredients and everything looks good. And thanks for the heads up on making my own yogurt.

Nacho12

Your welcome and good luck!