Sugar!

I've started just "pretending" I'm a diabetic. If I drink soda (which I try not to but sometimes I just gotta), I make sure it's diet. Use a sugar substitute where you would normally use sugar. I make gallon jugs of tea every day and use Splenda instead of sugar. If something with sugar passes my nose, I just turn the other way. If I absolutely think I need to eat a cookie, I'll eat a small one, or half of one. Sugar's not the enemy - just turns into one if consumed in excess (I'm still convincing myself of this one too)

Try to have more veggies than fruit each day. Juice is extremely high in sugar. Try drinking plain water and adding sliced lemon for flavor. You're better off just having a piece of fruit instead of the juice. Try not to have sodas. Stay away from the obvious sugary foods like cookies, candy, etc. Consider using a 0 calorie sweetener lie Truvia, Stevia, or Splenda.

just check the nutrition facts! if it has too much leave it! fruit is ok because its natural sugar its those added sugars that are bad.

This is true. Natural sugar like honey, agave or truvia (stevia) is the best. Any processed sugars and artificial sweeteners will make you crave more sugar. As suggested in the thread, fresh fruit will be your friend. In addition to being high in sugars, juices don't have the fiber fresh fruit have, so you should opt for the fruit instead of juice.

It seems like everyday my sugar consumption is over too. I had the same question as you.

I'm cutting back here and there, but I'm not worrying too much about it because my total calories for the day ( and fat) are within limits. And besides, I'm eating healthier than ever so I know I'm on the right track.

As time goes on - I'm slowly learning what to do about each category and making those changes. This is an ongoing process.

Baby steps. : )

Yep always read the label. And remember if you don't buy it, it can't hurt you!

Cold cinnamon apple sauce has saved me a few times, it still has sugar but not nearly as much as a candy bar or brownie.
You also want to look at the carbs. Each meal should have carbs but make sure they're from "real" food and not processed. Good carbs like your fruits, veggies, beans, things like that. Try to avoid crackers, chips and candy, 'whole wheat' doesn't mean a thing, it usually has the same sugar/carb rates as white bread. The high fiber breads are actually a lot better for you, just have to watch it.

And whoever posted about diet sodas was right on! Don't even buy the "leaded" kind, I know I don't like diet coke but the caffeine free diet coke tastes a LOT like the regular so I go for that.

Just by being aware of it I'm sure you're doing a lot better!

Timely topic for me, as I noticed I have been over my sugar goal every day for the last week. Despite not having had a soda, too. That 1/4 cup of raisins nearly puts me to my goal all by itself. I'm drinking light OJ (only 10g of sugar, so not too bad), but even a serving of baby carrots has 5g of sugar. The 1% chocolate milk has 30g, too. I had no idea.

I'm doing really well on most everything else, and my sugar consumption has to be down massively relative to what I was consuming before (at least 2-4 sodas a day, easily). So I'm not worrying about going over that much as long as I'm keeping it down and not overdoing it every day.

Hi - Be careful with the zero fat items, in most cases they replace the fat with lots of sugar. I like adding spices to my oatmeal and splenda.