2 apricots and a banana = over the recommended sugar?

ncturtle68
ncturtle68 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been away from fitness pal for a while and just came back. Love the changes and updates, but surprised to see that by eating a couple of pieces of fruit a day, I'm "over" for sugar..
I have been trying to cut out processed food and added sugars. I'm well aware that sugar occurs naturarlly, but was still surprised.. that 3 pieces of fruit is "over the limit"..
Thoughts?

Replies

  • djshari
    djshari Posts: 513 Member
    I think the issue with MFP is that it doesn't differentiate between sugars - for example a piece of fruit vs a candy bar. It's kind of up to you if you are trying to be under a specific sugar total or not. I think most people would just keep going with the fruit because of other benefits.
  • JustPeachy044
    JustPeachy044 Posts: 770 Member
    I am ALWAYS over my sugar, if not after breakfast then easily at lunch. 3 suggestions I have for you:
    1. stop tracking sugar. track sodium or something else.
    2. up your allowable sugars in your goals.
    3. don't worry about it, just try to keep the number reasonable, especially in the summer with all the lovely fresh fruit on hand! I love fruit, but I do try to avoid processed sugars. A banana is a powerhouse of good stuff, but it has stinkin' 14 g of sugar!

    I personally do all three to some extent:
    1. I do track sodium and am more concerned with that than sugar.
    2. I increased my sugar allotment to around 50 grams, but I still go over often.
    3. I aim to keep my sugars at 75 g or less in a day.

    I could just change my goal to 75 g or less, but that red number alerts me when I've hit 50 and I like the reminder. The only reason I started tracking sugars again is because I am having trouble getting rid of the last 8-10 stubborn pounds and fat "pouches". My coach advised me to limit sugars, so I started tracking again.

    Hope you find a solution you can live with!
  • MsDrJuris
    MsDrJuris Posts: 41
    I stick to the "if it's been processed, I (try to) limit it" and "if it's naturally occurring within the food I'm eating, I don't worry about it" theory. :) I love sugar, but any processed sugar makes me CRAVE other foods (typically more sugar and carbs). I know some people like to limit all sugars (naturally occurring and not) because of the potential insulin spikes, but, by Gosh, I need the fiber and the vitamins, so I eat my fruit.
  • lazerbirdgirl
    lazerbirdgirl Posts: 9
    Glad to see this! I am new to fitness pal, and after tracking my calories just for breakfast and lunch alone, I was over my sugar. Then I realized it was because of a banana at breakfast and grapes at lunch. I didn't know how to take it so I am glad to have other opinions!
  • ShannonKirton
    ShannonKirton Posts: 304 Member
    This weekend for me was a bit bad on the food side, so I decided to clean up my act with some more fruit and veggies on a day. My gym assessment also tells me that I should be eating more fruits and veggies. This morning for a snack I had some mixed berries and this afternoon before my gym time, I'll have my banana and a small Activia yoghurt. I'm over my daily sugars by 19g and I've entered all my foods as I know what I'll be having for dinner. Will this over the limit sugar stop me from kick starting my weight loss again? I've hit a little plateau and would like to start going back down the hill again but really don't want fruit (of all things) to stop me! Am I heading in the right direction?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    MFP's recommendation = World Health Organization and American Heart Association's recommendation for ADDED sugar. If you eat fruit, you're going to go over the sugar goals.

    If you don't have diabetes or any other medical condition that warrants tracking sugar, then don't worry about it. The recommendation is primarily due to people drink 5 100 oz sodas and **** every day...not too many apples in their diet. Eat your fruit...it's good for you.
  • tbodega
    tbodega Posts: 186
    It's very easy to go over sugar depending on what fruit you have. Mango's, apples, and bananas make it almost too easy.
    Thing is that they also bring a ton of benefits such as fiber, nutrients, antioxidants, etc unlike most processed sugars.

    In most cases there is a vegetable that can substitute for a fruit if you are looking for the nutrients but not the sugar.

    Unless you're diabetic, I wouldn't worry about it much. At worst, keep the fruits for dessert and substitute with veggies for your meals.
  • ShannonKirton
    ShannonKirton Posts: 304 Member
    I'm not diabetic, so from that point of view I have nothing to worry about. I'm just a bit concerned that after sticking to the recommended 24g of sugar for so long (and occasionally going over) that my body may be overly interested in all of this extra sugar all of a sudden and store it away somewhere as fat. But I will try this plan for a week or two and see if there's a massive difference in weight.

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