I'm always going over my daily sugar allowance on MFP

rrjs
rrjs Posts: 46 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
One can of tomato soup for lunch today put me way over my sugar - and ever since I've started keeping track of sugar in my food diary, I've noticed I go way over every day. My carbs/protein/other nutrients are always on target, but sugar's always way too high. Should I be concerned? I have no health problems that make monitoring sugar a priority, but it's always alarming to see red numbers in your food diary haha.

Replies

  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    ditto
  • Missevanston
    Missevanston Posts: 361 Member
    WELCOME to the club! I don't think I have ever been under or at my sugar....Starbuck's vanilla lattes...The way I look at it, when I started MFP I was drinking 3 venti's a day. It took MFP for me to see that I was using up so many calories and sugar on that, and some would argue that I still do. I'm an everything in moderation kinda girl. I am willing to give up certain things, but not others. I have cut waaaaay back. It is sometimes really hard as there is hidden sugar in so many things. I try to hunt for things that are lower in sugar, but when I eat strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, any fruit really, and add in the things you don't expect to have a lot..it adds up. I say get a good work out in, eat lots of protein and fiber, drink as much water as you can and forget the rest. Do your best, it's all anyone can ask!

    Good luck!
  • johnsummerton
    johnsummerton Posts: 86 Member
    always go over
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,674 Member
    Unless you've been warned by your doctor to watch your sugar intake, I wouldn't even bother. A single apple could make you go over MFP's daily allowance suggestion. :) When it comes to weight loss, I've found that going over on sugar, sodium, carbs, fiber, protein, blah, blah, blah doesn't matter a bit. It's the calories that really matter. I found myself getting really obsessive over counting sugars and whatnot 8-9 months ago. I was so anal about not going over that I actually stopped eating. I got rid of everything but fat and calories on my diary page, and I have been losing weight perfectly fine ever since. In fact, I've lost most of my 126 pounds just counting calories and fat.
  • rrjs
    rrjs Posts: 46 Member
    WELCOME to the club! I don't think I have ever been under or at my sugar....Starbuck's vanilla lattes...The way I look at it, when I started MFP I was drinking 3 venti's a day. It took MFP for me to see that I was using up so many calories and sugar on that, and some would argue that I still do. I'm an everything in moderation kinda girl. I am willing to give up certain things, but not others. I have cut waaaaay back. It is sometimes really hard as there is hidden sugar in so many things. I try to hunt for things that are lower in sugar, but when I eat strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, any fruit really, and add in the things you don't expect to have a lot..it adds up. I say get a good work out in, eat lots of protein and fiber, drink as much water as you can and forget the rest. Do your best, it's all anyone can ask!

    Good luck!

    Great advice, thank you! I'm not too worried about it because usually everything else is on target. (:
  • AllyS7
    AllyS7 Posts: 480 Member
    Ideally, you want to be under on your sugar. From what I hear "word on the MFP street" is that if you overdo the sugar, the excess sugar is converted by the liver into fatty acids and returned to the bloodstream, where is taken throughout your body and stored as fat.


    Now, am I ever under on my sugar? No. I'm picking my battles now and focusing on protein, fiber and sodium. Once I have mastered these guys I'll work on my sugar.
  • andreabjarnson
    andreabjarnson Posts: 29 Member
    i also go over my sugar everyday. i think MFP should track what is natual sugar and what is processed sugar. what i do is subtract the natural sugars i eat (fruits and veggies) from the total and that number is the sugar that i shouln't have eaten.
  • rrjs
    rrjs Posts: 46 Member
    Unless you've been warned by your doctor to watch your sugar intake, I wouldn't even bother. A single apple could make you go over MFP's daily allowance suggestion. :) When it comes to weight loss, I've found that going over on sugar, sodium, carbs, fiber, protein, blah, blah, blah doesn't matter a bit. It's the calories that really matter. I found myself getting really obsessive over counting sugars and whatnot 8-9 months ago. I was so anal about o going over that I actually stopped eating. I got rid of everything but fat and calories on my diary page, and have been losing weight perfectly fine. In fact, I've lost most of my 126 pounds just counting calories and fat.

    I read a study once that had people eat nothing but junk food but still keep their calories within a certain limit and they still lost weight - calorie counting is the only thing that works for me, and I'm convinced calories are what truly matter when it comes to what to pay attention to. I'm probably going to take sugar out of my food diary because I'm not concerned about it and seeing red numbers drives me nuts haha. Like you said, when you see that you go over and get anal about keeping track of things, it's easy to start to get overly obsessive and unhealthy! Thanks for your input and CONGRATS on losing 126 pounds!!

    Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's noticed this. I'm hiding sugar on my food diary now - out of sight, out of mind. (;
  • rrjs
    rrjs Posts: 46 Member
    Ideally, you want to be under on your sugar. From what I hear "word on the MFP street" is that if you overdo the sugar, the excess sugar is converted by the liver into fatty acids and returned to the bloodstream, where is taken throughout your body and stored as fat.


    Now, am I ever under on my sugar. No. I'm picking my battles now and focusing on protein, fiber and sodium. Once I have mastered these guys I'll work on my sugar.

    Ahhh everyone has something different to say about too much vs too little of something and how it does or doesn't turn into fat. It drives me nuts! I wish there was an ultimate 100% true guide to what works and what's bull**** haha. But like you said, you have to pick your battles and since I'm just starting out I'm going to focus on calories and a couple other nutrients that are important to me. Trying to keep 2093480293849234 different things on target can get too overwhelming for a newbie. One step at a time!
  • ruststar
    ruststar Posts: 489 Member
    I was obsessing over the sugar for a while and struggled to stay close to the allotted number, but I had headaches and felt generally yucky because I had to cut fruit to make it possible. After getting some advice about sugar from others on here I've started focusing more on the amount of added sugar in my diet and not worrying about those from natural sources - even vegetables have sugar and there is no good to come from cutting the good stuff out! Now I'm making smarter choices - switching to soy lattes with sugar free vanilla syrup, using coconut or almond milk in my coffee at home, looking at the sugar content in my whole wheat bread, etc...Just being aware of the sugar content of something causes me to pause and really think about whether I want whatever it is I'm considering.
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,674 Member
    Unless you've been warned by your doctor to watch your sugar intake, I wouldn't even bother. A single apple could make you go over MFP's daily allowance suggestion. :) When it comes to weight loss, I've found that going over on sugar, sodium, carbs, fiber, protein, blah, blah, blah doesn't matter a bit. It's the calories that really matter. I found myself getting really obsessive over counting sugars and whatnot 8-9 months ago. I was so anal about o going over that I actually stopped eating. I got rid of everything but fat and calories on my diary page, and have been losing weight perfectly fine. In fact, I've lost most of my 126 pounds just counting calories and fat.

    I read a study once that had people eat nothing but junk food but still keep their calories within a certain limit and they still lost weight - calorie counting is the only thing that works for me, and I'm convinced calories are what truly matter when it comes to what to pay attention to. I'm probably going to take sugar out of my food diary because I'm not concerned about it and seeing red numbers drives me nuts haha. Like you said, when you see that you go over and get anal about keeping track of things, it's easy to start to get overly obsessive and unhealthy! Thanks for your input and CONGRATS on losing 126 pounds!!

    Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's noticed this. I'm hiding sugar on my food diary now - out of sight, out of mind. (;

    Of course. A calorie is a calorie. You can eat whatever you want as long as you stay in your calorie goals. Just keep in mind that you'll feel a lot better and stay fuller longer if you use those calories on healthy foods. Everybody jokes about the twinkie diet or krispy kreme diet... But, it can be done. True, you won't get many twinkies or donuts a day, but as long as you maintain a calorie deficit, you'll lose the weight. This is what I love about counting calories. I don't know why, but before MFP... It had never occurred to me to count calories. I thought I had to follow some program where I could eat all the fruits and veggies I wanted... Or just eat a bunch of lean cuisines. Haha. It's so much easier now. I had pancakes at IHOP today for goodness sake! Who would have thought?
  • WifeMomDVM
    WifeMomDVM Posts: 1,025 Member
    It's true, once your liver hits the ceiling of 40 grams of metabolic fructose, it will convert the excess into fatty acids, mind you though, it takes ALOT of fruit to do this - more than most people consume.

    Here is a helpful table on the amount of metabolic fructose in fruits:

    http://thepaleodiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Fruits-Sugars.html

    In general, watch your refined sugars and try to keep your sugars between 6-10% of diet, or 30% of your carbohydrates. For me on 1400 cals/day this is about 35 grams sugar day.

    I too, tend to go over, but I am learning by watching my diary which foods have the high sugars, which educates me where I can make a change.

    Hope this helps!
  • leomentlines
    leomentlines Posts: 440 Member
    I don't stress about sugar limits either.. I took it off my diary because I'd constantly end up in the red from it.

    I try and keep my calories, carbs, and fat in the green, and my protein and fiber in the red :)
  • korgscrew
    korgscrew Posts: 99 Member
    I'm also always over my sugar! My breakfast which consists if a sachet of oats, muller light and a handful of frozen summer fruit mix only gives me about 3 grams left for the day! I used to look at this and think I must look out for the sugar but have since stopped doing this.

    I'm not drinking sugary coke or eating cake and I'm not diabetic either. My plan is working I'll stick to it as it's pretty much all natural sugar.

    Besides when did slimming world which worked wonders for me I used to have about 4 or 5 muller lights a day, along with fruit, veg etc as it they were classed as free food.

    Also fact attack!

    100g of garden peas 5.5 gram of sugar
    100g of sweetcorn 5.5 gram of sugar
    Etc etc!
  • light_shimmer
    light_shimmer Posts: 118 Member
    I was curious how my sugar intakes were, so added in the sugar total column...HOLY CRAP! My sugar is almost at it's limit after I've had two cups of coffee in the morning ( French vanilla creamer). So I'm going to hide it again.....jeez. I refuse. That's one thing that's not going anywhere, already cut it back to two cups, used to be most of a pot of coffee. So...baby steps and what not eh? Everything else is looking ok, so I'm not gonna worry about it.
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