Two Questions?? If you can help with one or both, please do!
Italian_Buju
Posts: 8,030 Member
These are two totally different topics, looking for some comparisons please.
1. Does anyone here use energy shots of caffeine drinks to power through a work out? One bottle of either is only equivalent to a cup of coffee, which I do not drink...
If you do, do you find it helps with pain and/or motivation at all?
2. How many grams of sugar do you get allotted in a day? I get 2500 calories, which means I am allowed 64 grams of sugar. I have been trying to snack on fruit instead of junk, but keep going over my sugar allowance....I am already 10 over today, From yogurt and berries and some cherries at lunch. I wanted a snack of fruit before bed....I do not get it....any other fruit eaters have this problem? Truth be told, I do not even eat THAT much fruit!!
Thanks folks!
1. Does anyone here use energy shots of caffeine drinks to power through a work out? One bottle of either is only equivalent to a cup of coffee, which I do not drink...
If you do, do you find it helps with pain and/or motivation at all?
2. How many grams of sugar do you get allotted in a day? I get 2500 calories, which means I am allowed 64 grams of sugar. I have been trying to snack on fruit instead of junk, but keep going over my sugar allowance....I am already 10 over today, From yogurt and berries and some cherries at lunch. I wanted a snack of fruit before bed....I do not get it....any other fruit eaters have this problem? Truth be told, I do not even eat THAT much fruit!!
Thanks folks!
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Replies
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Energy shots = Avoid! My advice to you is, find your energy from within, and build it from there. A great positive attitude, good sleep and lots of water are the best energy boosts out there (and cost nothing!!)!
SUGAR
Concerning your question about sugar: I looked it up, and 75 cherries = 64 grams of sugar. Hmmm… you mentioned you were not eating a ton of fruit… so it makes me think that you have sneaky sugar-hiders in other foods you are eating. (Unless you really did have 75 cherries. No judgement here! They ARE awesome
Take a look at your Food Diary… it will tell you where the other sugar is coming from. Take a look at the nutritional labels on your food. It will tell you how much sugar is in ONE SERVING. Hmmm… Maybe your yogurt is sweetened? (Yogurts have a famous reputation to be filled with added sugar!!). Maybe your bread? or cereal? Or spaghetti sauce?? There are sneaky sugar-hiders out there, so you gotta check it out and inform yourself.
I have 62g of sugar a day as a target. I eat very few processed foods and I still have a tough time to stay on my sugar target, but I get pretty close!
Here is what I do to help myself:
. Always read the label before buying bread, cereal, etc. AND THEN...
. Try to choose bread/cereal/spaghetti sauce/yogurt/etc with 10g OF SUGAR OR LESS PER SERVING… that way it doesn't add up to 64g too quickly in a day!!
. Don't add any white or brown sugar to anything. You taste buds will eventually adjust.
. Low to high sugar list for fruit: berries, summer fruits (peaches, apricots), winter fruits (apples, pears, citrus), tropical fruits (pineapples, bananas) and dried fruit (raisins, dried figs, etc). Try to choose more from the berries and summer fruits list, less from the winter & tropical fruits, and not very often from the dried fruit list.
LAST THING:
I have found this website excellent for learning about sugar:
http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/healthy-living-resources/diet-nutrition
And here is the link for info about sugar in fruits:
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/Fruits/qt/Fruits-Lowest-And-Highest-In-Carbs.htm
Good luck!0 -
I had a physical last year and I told the doc I drink one large Monster drink a day, 24 oz I think. He told me point blank to stop right now. At my weight and blood pressure, it was a ticking time bomb. I of course did not listen and one day after drinking one my chest began radiating pain and my heart rate accelerated. I quit them cold turkey!
As for sugar, it is good to follow your macros and all, but as long as you are within your calories, things should. work. Now if you MUST limit your sugar, by all means follow that. I use my macros to keep track of things and use as reference to plan my menu and meals. If something gets too high, I just tweak it.0 -
I used to drink an energy drink mix by advocare. It missed into a bottle of water. I felt better about it because it used vitamins and some caffeine to give energy, but I am still not sure if how good it really is for you. I switched to caffeinated tea and coffee. I really like cold brewed teas in the morning third time of year. Green Tea by tazo being a favorite.
As far as sugar goes, I am usually over for the daily intake with very little added sugars in my diet. I figure the fruit is also giving me vitamins, nutrients and fiber, so I don't worry about it as much.0 -
My 2 cents;
Energy drinks that have low or no caffeine have high sugar. The risk of being large and consuming extra caffeine to exercise is heart problems. If you are caffeine free, then energy drinks are not for you. There are some 4-hour energy drinks that have no-sugar and no-caffeine, but they have sugar alternatives which are suspicious at best.
Exercising will tire you, and it's difficult to get through a workout, but after a short period of time, you'll find you have more energy due to exercise - you only need to push through the wall to get there.
As for pain, I personally found it helpful to learn more about muscles and water and why my body works against me. That information helps me psych myself into pushing through the pain of doing that one extra core workout.
Sugar. As I'm sure you've discovered, some fruit has more sugar in them than others. The reality is that there is a difference between eating healthy and eating for weigh loss; that difference being portion control.
It's good that you make healthy snack choices, but for weigh loss those choices are further limited by how much sugar you intake. Our bodies are designed to process a moderate amount of fat, and it gets used or expelled in the process. But we are not designed to process sugar, and after the sugar is used, the leftover is turned to stored fat. Extra sugar is a bigger enemy than extra fat.
The good news is that there is a way to minimize sugar cravings, and that is to eat more protein. You can customize your macronutrient settings - I have a mean sweet tooth, so I turn down my carbs a notch, and put that 5% toward protein portions. It works like magic. Even with the fewer carb grams, I don't miss them because I'm sated by the protein. The key is to remember to eat enough protein!
Good luck!0
