eating too much sugar ... but its fruit!

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  • JulieGirl58
    JulieGirl58 Posts: 158 Member
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    I track my sugars but I don't stress over them. I try to watch emtpy calorie sweets but fruit is fine. Nobody ever got fat on strawberries.
  • fuzzymop55
    fuzzymop55 Posts: 70 Member
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    take the sugar meter off of your macros bar, replace it with something else. You can eat as much fruit as you want. Sugar does not make you fat, fat makes you fat. I eat 200-300 grams of carbs/sugar a day. Don't worry about fruits.

    http://www.30bananasaday.com/

    Excess calories make you fat. Fat does not make you fat. You could eat 3500+ calories in bananas and you will gain weight.
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
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    Unless you are diabetic, then I think fruit has been done a disservice by those who want to want us to be on some kind of freaky diet. Meanwhile, someone will diss a lowly banana or peach, but then choose to eat some chemically laden soda, a Macdonalds sandwich, etc.

    Same with rice.

    People in 3rd world countries live on this stuff and they are often NOT fat.

    I think - eat a peach, banana, grapes, melon, etc. The fiber in them alone will fill a person up, even me I try to eat 3-4 fruits a day and I have a hard time being that disciplined to remember to take food with me to work.
  • crippledvirgin
    crippledvirgin Posts: 15
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    take the sugar meter off of your macros bar, replace it with something else. You can eat as much fruit as you want. Sugar does not make you fat, fat makes you fat. I eat 200-300 grams of carbs/sugar a day. Don't worry about fruits.

    http://www.30bananasaday.com/
    "fat makes you fat"

    Not in this lifetime.
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
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    take the sugar meter off of your macros bar, replace it with something else. You can eat as much fruit as you want. Sugar does not make you fat, fat makes you fat. I eat 200-300 grams of carbs/sugar a day. Don't worry about fruits.

    http://www.30bananasaday.com/

    You are correct in saying that sugar does not make you fat... but wrong in saying fat makes you fat... Too many calories makes you fat..
    ** I have lost 57 pounds not eating white/processed carbs and I eat tons of healthy fats
  • KayRisTee
    KayRisTee Posts: 31 Member
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    I always eat too much sugar according to MFP. I have a fruit smoothie every morning and that always puts me way over. There are days where I wont have any processed sugar and will end up 45-70 over my sugar goal. I just deleted it off my journal because it made me irritated to see such a huge negative number. Feel much better about my journal now
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
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    take the sugar meter off of your macros bar, replace it with something else. You can eat as much fruit as you want. Sugar does not make you fat, fat makes you fat. I eat 200-300 grams of carbs/sugar a day. Don't worry about fruits.

    http://www.30bananasaday.com/

    Excess calories make you fat. Fat does not make you fat. You could eat 3500+ calories in bananas and you will gain weight.

    ^^ HIGH 5!!
  • ShengHuo
    ShengHuo Posts: 42
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    Check out the glycemic index. Some fruits have more sugar and will raise blood sugar than other fruits. The higher the glycemic index number, the more sugar and the more it raises blood sugar. For example: apples are a 38, while bananas are a 52. Just put "fruit glycemic index" into google and you should be able to find it.

    Also don't think the glycemic index is to lose weight; it is a tool for diabetics to make food choices that will keep their blood sugar steady. But if you're worried about sugar, it should help.
  • Iletitshine
    Iletitshine Posts: 8
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    Actually, glycemic index isn't the only thing to consider, and grams of naturally occurring sugar in fruits & veggies is also not the only thing to acknowledge...

    http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/foods-high-on-the-glycemic-index-but-low-on-glycem.html

    Glycemic load is to be considered as well! When you look at GI and GL, with or without considering the grams of sugar in whole foods, you'll find that almost all fruits and veggies are great for a glycemic-conscious diet.

    "When you take glycemic load into account, you find that nearly all fruits and vegetables are acceptable on your low-glycemic diet. This is an important realization because fruits and veggies (which are naturally low in calories) also provide the majority of nutrients and fiber in your diet. Including five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables in your diet will help you lose weight in a way that you can eat plenty of food and not starve yourself!"
  • Iletitshine
    Iletitshine Posts: 8
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    I also found the following sources helpful in meal planning:

    General dietary sugar info:
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/443579-sugar-content-of-vegetables-fruits/

    How much fruits and vegetables constitute a serving? In other words: What does a serving of various fruits & veggies look like?
    http://www.cookinglight.com/healthy-living/healthy-habits/how-much-serving-fruits-vegetables-00412000069526/
  • lovelaughrun
    lovelaughrun Posts: 45 Member
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    :smile:
    it seems like I am always eating too much sugar.. it was in the negatives when I ate green grapes for breakfast !?! anyone else having this problem? Should I cut down on my fruit intake?

    To be honest I lost a little more weight cutting back on sugars, although I have been informed that my body processes all sugars good and bad the same - stores it as fat. A week of low sugar intake (blueberries and bananas for fruit only) I drop a little weight and bloating goes down. It was trial and error and it works for me
  • Iletitshine
    Iletitshine Posts: 8
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    I've been logging on loseit.com since March 2013, I prefer it to MFP by far. Besides that point, I went back and looked at my sugar intake the past few months. It usually doesn't exceed 50 grams, and I eat a ton of tropical fruit in the summer (papaya, pineapple, mangoes) as well as watermelon (3 cups a day lately!). I typically always eat a lot of berries (blue berries, strawberries), stone fruits (peaches, pluots, apricots), grapes, grapefruits, and sometimes medium bananas, throughout the year.

    I also love tomatoes and avocados. I do eat a fair amount of veggies as well, but I tend to get more excited about fruits! They're just so much more appealing, colorful, delicious...haha. I do like the thought of combining them with veggies in shakes, that seems to make a lot of sense nutritionally and in terms of taste, but I prefer eating things whole I guess, haha.

    Anyway, I set my sugar intake goal to "no more than 92 grams a day" on loseit.com, and I plan to decrease that to 75 grams a day in a week, and 50 grams a day a week there after. Although, if ever I go over that, I won't beat myself up. Here's my logic:

    [Amount of sugar in the typical 5-7 servings of fruit & veggies a day]
    Breakfast:
    15 grams: 1 serving of fruit - Banana (medium)
    Lunch:
    2 grams: 1 serving of veggies - Leafy Greens (1 cup)
    8 grams: 1 serving of fruit - Strawberries (sliced, 1/2 cup)
    Snack:
    10 grams: 1 serving of fruit - Pineapple (chunks, 1/2 cup)
    Dinner:
    2 grams: 1 serving of veggies - Leafy Greens (1 cup)
    2 grams: 1 serving of veggies - Salad bar veggies - 2 tbs shredded carrots, 2 tbs red onion, 1 crimini mushroom sliced, 3 cucumber slices, 1 broccoli floret, 2 tomato wedges (1/2 cup, total)
    25 grams: 1 serving of fruit - Apple (small)


    This is a modest day in consumption of fruits & veggies for me, and the total is 64 grams of sugar!! I just entered this into loseit.com, and this meal plan is only 297 calories! That leaves room for all the oil, seeds, nuts, whole grains, fish, fowl, eggs, and dairy you can stand! :) That said, I've been known to consider chocolate and honey in such a plan as well, hehe. However, there's always liquid Stevia!

    Here's a further nutrition break down:
    Fat 1.1g 3%
    Saturated Fat 0.2g
    Cholesterol 0mg
    Sodium 119.6mg
    Carbohydrates 73.7g 91%
    Fiber 11.9g
    Sugars 63.2g
    Protein 4.9g 6%

    I avoid added sugar by not drinking pop (diet if I really must have some - maybe once a month), limiting alcohol intake and sticking to La Croix natural sparkling flavored water (for the carbonated drink cravings). La Croix is a brand that is free of sugar, sodium (!!!) and caffeine, which makes this a really nice/guilt-free drink (unfortunately, the acidic effect of carbonation can still deteriorate tooth enamel). I always get tea or coffee with Stevia, instead of sugar, and I absolutely love store-bought Kombucha as well (which has some natural sugars from the fermenting process and the added juice flavorings). That, and a lot of tap/spring water!! :)

    My weaknesses are chocolate for sure, and sometimes cookies/pastries, but you gotta live a little! I take the approach that I want to lose weight eating the way I want and need to, so that it doesn't feel restrictive and is easily sustainable after meeting the goal weight.

    Its been an eye opener to consider how much nutrients I need on a daily basis, and how much I usually get. The most difficult to control is carb and sodium intake. Its usually easy to get enough fiber, but I have to work at getting enough protein. I never worry about fats in my diet, I think I need more fats than the average woman due to my medical diagnoses. Lastly, I also never knew that I wasn't getting enough fluids, since I drink so much water as it is! "The Food and Nutrition Board recommendation for minimum water intake through fluids is 74oz for women and 101oz for men."

    Nutrition should be taught in schools, along with personal finance and also fitness.
  • candylilacs
    candylilacs Posts: 614 Member
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    I would not worry about sugars being higher than MFP sets because you're eating fruit. However, I would say that if you are eating fruit that you go with better fruit choices such as apples, berries or mangoes. I'm a fruit snob and grapes, although sweet and delicious, have little nutritional value. Sure they have antioxidants, but compared to strawberries --- strawberries give way more fiber, 141% of Vitamin C, and 7 g of sugar -- grapes have 15 g of sugar and only 6% of Vitamin C.

    For me, this journey has been about eating good food with high nutritional value. I just think grapes are the McDonald's of the fruit world. Try nectarines! Plums! Apricots!

    Anyway, back to the main point, fruit is OK. The sugars are metabolized differently than refined sugars which stay longer in your system. Fiber helps a lot with this, too.

    I think you need to worry about sugars when your diet is full of processed foods like HoHos and Cap'n Crunch.
  • capster
    capster Posts: 5
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    All sugar is not created equal. Sugar gets a bad wrap because most people for some reason seem to lump sugar from things like soda, in with natural sugar found in things like fruit. There is zero comparison. You can eat tons and tons of fruit and not worry about the sugar content. I never have. Sodas, cakes, etc. filled with fake sugar aka high fructose corn syrup is an entirely different story as is processed sugar that you would put into coffee, for example.

    I consume about 60-70, sometimes 100 grams of sugar a day through juicing and eating various fruits & vegetables and it hasn't effected my weight loss at all. It speeds things up actually as fruits/pulp/fiber get things going gastrointestinally and help move things along...lol.

    Fruit is awesome and the human body needs it. Eat it, eat a lot of it and don't sweat the sugar content.
  • LianaG1115
    LianaG1115 Posts: 453 Member
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    THANK YOU for this post!! I am negative just eating a pear or an apple even carrots and it is just boggling my MIND!! I'm glad I'm not crazy!!
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
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    Don't count the sugar in your fruit. I stopped tracking my sugar and just started tracking fiber instead. Just watched the refined sugar. You shouldn't have to cut out healthy food that contains natural sugars. i think the sugar tracker is meant more for refined sugar.
  • AlreadySkinny95
    AlreadySkinny95 Posts: 1
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    that happens to me too! but oh well, i don't need to lose much weight or i'll become underweight :/
  • cyndycyn1965
    cyndycyn1965 Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi!! I recently came back to myfitnesspal, I must say I've been doing great!! However I'd like to know how much fruit is too much fruit?? I've been adding a small banana, 1/2 cup of strawberries, and a 1/2 cup of mango to make my morning smoothie; too much sugar!!! Today I added a kiwi for an evening snack and my sugar intake is way over; someone please help! Thank you :huh:
  • carlosmitchell16
    carlosmitchell16 Posts: 7 Member
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    test
  • asciiqwerty
    asciiqwerty Posts: 565 Member
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    take the sugar meter off of your macros bar, replace it with something else. You can eat as much fruit as you want. Sugar does not make you fat, fat makes you fat. I eat 200-300 grams of carbs/sugar a day. Don't worry about fruits.

    http://www.30bananasaday.com/

    Excess calories make you fat. Fat does not make you fat. You could eat 3500+ calories in bananas and you will gain weight.

    ^^ HIGH 5!!

    ^^^
    sugar and calories from fruit don't just dissapear into a black whole becasue fruit is *good* for you

    How much is too much? log it all, if it's over your calorie target it IS too much for you to expect to reach the weight loss goal you want. Eating above your calorie target and sugar is a calorie provider wherever it comes from, will stop you loosing weight .

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