Sugar and Fat Grams and carbs and calories, I NEED HELP!

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TheStefanieC
TheStefanieC Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
I feel like everything I eat has so much sugar in it!!! I'm trying to find things that I can sub for those things that are SO high in sugar grams as I really am trying to stay within the goal that MFP has set for me. I find myself going what can I eat with no sugar, or no carbs, or no fat when I see those grams start dwindling away. Like my cereal this morning 12 GRAMS! i was like really?!? How did I not see that before I poured it, or even in the store. and I love cereal.

I guess what my question is, is how important is it to stay within goal for everything (like sugar grams, carbs, fat, and sodium) to lose the weight that I want?

One more question while I have your attention too, how do I force myself to get all the calories I need. I find myself really lacking calories on the days that I work out? And if I don't eat them back is my body just going to store everything that I have eaten to fat and ruin what I've tried to do for the day?!? This weight loss thing has got my head all over the place, I'm just trying to understand what I need to do for the maximum results.

Replies

  • brittanikerns
    brittanikerns Posts: 14
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    I try to make it a balance. If I go over one day I try to stay under the next. I have lost 25lbs and have did it in 80 days. So I think it's just a balancing act. :)
  • TheStefanieC
    TheStefanieC Posts: 13
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    how many calories are you eating a day?
  • Sagitta13
    Sagitta13 Posts: 19 Member
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    I kept the goals that MyFitnessPal set for me, but I always go a little over something...usually sugar lol. But even on days I am eating healthy I go over, so unless it's a huge number I ignore it. If I have yogurt and an apple/banana it's too high....

    So maybe try and stay under, but focus more on eating healthy and staying within your calorie count.

    The first week I started working out and eating better, I wasn't meeting my net calorie intake. I just wasn't hungry. I was worried because I kept reading don't go under 1200...bad....you won't lose weight. This week though, it's back to normal. So maybe don't worry too much, but if you are consistently under you're calorie needs try and add some more substance to your meals. I eat around 1500-1700 calories a day (this week), but I also workout everyday for about an hour.

    I've only been at this for two weeks, so someone else might have some better advice.
  • Sagitta13
    Sagitta13 Posts: 19 Member
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    Try this: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    That and calculating my BMR helped a lot.
  • singer201
    singer201 Posts: 560 Member
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    MFP is a great tool for tracking macros, calories, and exercise, but I find their assigned macros are too carb-heavy, and fat and protein deficient. Sugar limitations compared to the default recommended carb allowance is just ridiculous. I customized my macros under "Goals" to better reflect my lower-carb eating plan. You can make it work for you.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq might help. Set your sugar to 90g per day if you're a fruit and cereal person.
  • Sushifish87
    Sushifish87 Posts: 40
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    I adjust my macros as well since the defaults are not in the range or way I eat. try reading this, it helped me a lot on figuring out my macros

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Sugar is just a carb. As long as you're eating enough fats and protein, your carbs/sugar aren't particularly important unless you have a medical issue that requires carbs/sugar to be monitored.

    However, it should be noted that fructose and sucrose can only be stored as liver glycogen and not muscle glycogen. The liver can hold 100-120g glycogen so anything more than that will be converted to triglycerides. As long as you still have a calorie deficit this will even out. Just try to make most of your carbs glucose and not sucrose or fructose. Fructose in particular has been shown to decrease exercise performance, increased likelihood of gastrointestinal distress, and increase perception of exertion.

    Here are some studies:
    http://www.setantacollege.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal_db/the effects of glucose....pdf

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3592616


    As long as you're under your calorie goal, you'll lose weight. Some people find that sugar (even from fruit) causes them to have more sugar/carb cravings so keep that in mind.

    For information on setting your macro target, read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911011-calculating-calorie-macronutrient-needs?page=1#posts-13821336

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