So much sugar in ALL things! =(

heatheradey12
heatheradey12 Posts: 5
in Food and Nutrition
This is my first day trying myfitnesspal and I thought I was doing alright but it seems like it's very difficult to keep my calories where they should be without having my sugars too high. I enjoy fresh veggies as snacks.. carrots and cauliflower.. and I LOVE bananas. My banana today gave me 19 for sugar! My carrot/cauliflower snack was 5.. then a few melba toasts, a coffee.. in the end I'm 10 over.. but still under in my protein, calories and carbs. This is much harder than I thought... =/ Please help!

Replies

  • unknownwoman
    unknownwoman Posts: 11
    I know! I love this time of year as there are actually fresh fruit. Tired of eating root veggies and cabbage all winter. It's fresh fruit season!

    Might not be ok, but I've decided to ignore sugars from fruit for a little while until we get other veggies in.
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    Sugar in fruit is not evil....If you are not diabetic there is no reason to panic about sugar in fruit if you are within your calories - just avoid sugar in cookies, refined carbs and junk....
  • Monisfit4life
    Monisfit4life Posts: 228 Member
    Also try limiting your portion sizes try half a banana, half a slice of toast, etc. It makes a difference.
  • Netwalks
    Netwalks Posts: 36 Member
    My sugar always seems to be high too even if I only have a couple of treats
  • Time2Recognize
    Time2Recognize Posts: 14
    I would never worry about sugar from fruit unless you have blood sugar issues. It's not super refined white sugar, just sweet fruit sugars. Won't put weight on you. There are some who have a fruit diet and live off of mostly fruit, and I mean ALOT of fruit in a single day (we are talking 10 bananas for breakfast). All of the people who do that that I've seen look thin and lean, and super vibrant. One girl i know from school does the 80-10-10 and shes one of the most alive and happy people i ever met! Personally I like veg and nuts/seeds, can't do so much sweetness..tongue gets bored. But a banana won't hurt you, numbers are just numbers after all. They don't account for the source of the sugar, which from a banana also gives you other great things like potassium ect.
  • smilingirisheyes
    smilingirisheyes Posts: 149 Member
    My understanding is that the recommendation is for added sugars. I don't worry about fruits & veg.
  • Synapze
    Synapze Posts: 499
    Don't get all worked up about the sugar. I eat loads upon loads of Grapes, Bananas, watermelon by the kilo..strawberries..

    My sugar is through the roof, but my calorie intake is fine, and thats what matters.

    Dont over complicate it. Eat what you like, and just make sure you stay near your daily goal.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
    Also try limiting your portion sizes try half a banana, half a slice of toast, etc. It makes a difference.

    Unless you have some serious health issues (like diabetes) do you really want a life style where you're feeling that eating an entire banana is off limits?

    Worry more about eating clean. If your sugars are all coming from fruit and veg you're in great shape.
  • reebek82
    reebek82 Posts: 3 Member
    I've just started using MFP too and nearly choked when I saw there were 30grams of sugar in one apple!!! After having 2 weetbix+milk and an apple for breakfast I'd maxed out my sugar intake for the day, despite doing a 12.7km walk!

    So I think I'm just going to ignore the sugar from fruit/veg, especially seeing MFP's telling me I'm not eating enough calories.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    It's not going to hurt you. Stop tracking sugar to remove the stress. And eat the whole banana. Once you peel it, you have to eat the whole thing. I mean, really.
  • heatheradey12
    heatheradey12 Posts: 5
    Thanks SOOOO much everyone for all your replies and support! :flowerforyou:

    I was starting to feel like I was failing already and of course over thinking it all (which is what I do best) and feeling like I'd never be able to do this. But I feel much better now! Going to take my focus off the natural sugars and just be picky about the refined ones.

    My calories were under and my sodium was WAY under, which I'm really happy about.

    This is such an interesting little set up! I discovered that brewing coffee at home is SO much better for me than a Tim Horton's coffee of the same size! (Tim Horton's is a Canadian coffee company) And I very much prefer my at home coffee :heart: All these little things are great to know!

    Thanks again friends!!
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    Good for you for realizing that! Just a question - why is home brewed coffee better than Timmies - other than what you add to it? I brew Tim Hortons at home - and there is no difference between that and what I buy at Timmies....
    Off course, if you but the flavoured coffee there it is all sugar (and not the fruity kind! ;-)
  • heatheradey12
    heatheradey12 Posts: 5
    I have absolutely NO idea why there was such a difference! Maybe it's just because I couldn't specify my type of coffee..? I just entered it as Coffee-Brewed From Grounds, added the whitener and sugar applicable and it was much less. I thought it was odd too :huh: I think it's partly because I use whitener at home instead of creamer..?
  • EricCowperthwaite
    EricCowperthwaite Posts: 450
    Sugar is an issue, regardless of source. For starters, let's talk about the difference between "refined" sugar and "natural" sugar and "high fructose" corn syrup.

    "Refined" sugar aka the white stuff you put in coffee - 45% fructose and 55% glucose, in a crystal, granulated form. Refining just means that they took the impurities out of the sugar. It comes from sugar beets and sugar cane.

    "Natural" sugar aka fructose from fruits, veggies, etc - Definitely unrefined, all fructose, but your body must do the refining work. That is the fructose has to be separated from the other stuff - fiber, protein and fat - found in the natural source.

    "High fructose" corn syrup aka the stuff in processed foods - It's 55% fructose that has been "refined" from corn and 45% glucose that has been "refined" from sugar beets and/or sugar cane.

    In other words, at a chemical level, the difference between High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sucrose is the ratio of fructose and glucose found in it.

    So, what happens to sucrose and/or fructose when it hits your body and is refined (meaning separated) into just sugar? The sugars are then converted to glucose and/or glycogen. Glycogen is a storage mechanism for sugar, so that you have an emergency store of energy. Glucose is blood sugar, released in to the bloodstream. Insulin is released at the same time and tells your body to use the glucose for energy and store the fat for use later on. This is basic endocrinology/physiology. Ask any Type 1 Diabetic and they will likely tell you exactly this.

    It doesn't actually matter whether the sugar is "refined" or "natural" because your body refines the sugar out of the food and then processes it in to glycogen and glucose. The form is less important than the quantity.

    Please note, all that are saying eat fruit to your heart's content, a fruit diet is awesome, etc. that Steve Jobs ate a "fruitatarian diet" and died of pancreatic cancer and that Ashton Kutcher just ended up in the hospital and eats that exact same diet.

    Don't want to trust someone who is not a doctor? There's plenty of great sources on how the body processes sugar, the role of insulin, the pancreas, etc. Just google it and select "good" sources like the Diabetes Teaching Center at UC, San Francisco, for example.

    The human body uses sugar for energy. But too much sugar is toxic to the human body in a wide variety of ways.
  • Griffin220x
    Griffin220x Posts: 399
    Don't sweat the sugar too much, I always go over and still lose weight when I want to. its unavoidable.
  • mumtoonegirl
    mumtoonegirl Posts: 586 Member
    I do watch my sugars, if I am getting my sugars 99% from natural sources (fruits and veggies) I no not get overly concerned. I do try and limit myself to two fruits a day and get the rest from veggies.
  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    I like to limit my sugars (even natural ones!), because even if processed sugar is *worse*, an excess of sugar is still not good. But I'm also hypoglycemic (thyroid issues), so I do crave sugar a lot. I try to make my carbs/sugars all come from veggies, beans, nuts and other natural sources--very little grains (occasional brown rice and the very rare corn tortilla)--and then I do some portion control. Like, half an orange, with some protein (cheese, piece of meat, etc)--always paired with protein to help provide the sustaining energy and balance out the sugar spike.
  • heatheradey12
    heatheradey12 Posts: 5
    I don't want to go crazy with either type of sugar. Too much of anything isn't good. I'll never ONLY eat fruit.. I'll never ONLY eat anything.. I'll always eat meats and nuts and veggies. I'm not going to limit myself in that way but I honestly feel that in order to stay under my allowed amount of sugar I would have to make extreme changes in my diet. And I don't even eat that bad! And if I have to make extreme changes to my diet I know for a fact that it will not be sustainable. I want to be healthy but I also want to still be able to enjoy my food.

    I can't even think of what I could eat throughout the day that would keep me from feeling hungry, satisfy all the numbers AND stay below the sugars.. I really can't =(
  • khrys1
    khrys1 Posts: 444 Member
    I finally stopped tracking sugars, when an apple and a cup of milk put me over for the day! I wouldn't worry about it if it's "healthy" sugars- just worry about the "real/nasty" sugars in candy, cakes, etc. Good luck!

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