MFP is consistently showing too much sugar consumption?

dw7711
dw7711 Posts: 7
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I'm new here. I've been doing a 1,200-calorie diet (I'm 5'0" and not particularly active) for about a week and started using the MFP app three days ago. I'm noticing that MFP has said that I consumed too much sugar every day since I started using it and just wondering whether I should be overly concerned about that. My diet isn't perfect at all (and it kind of can't be given my current life situation), but I feel like I'm eating far better than I was before I began dieting, so I was kind of shocked to see it say my sugar consumption was so above where it should be.

Today, I ate:

Chick-fil-A cool wrap

Medium Chick-fil-A chicken noodle soup

Bowl of peas with margarine

Sliced green apple with peanut butter

A banana

Four cough drops (They have 10 calories each, so I counted them)

And that's it except some herbal tea and water

(I know, fast food. I normally wouldn't. I woke up sick, and CFA soup always seems to magically help.)

And this is what it's showing:

9lxvzimxet6s.jpg

Should I take out some fruit or something, or should I just not worry too much about it?



Replies

  • lolly715
    lolly715 Posts: 106
    edited November 2014
    If you eat high sugar fruits like bananas, you will probably always go over the sugar count. Unless you have a medical reason to restrict sugar, it's not really a concern as long as you're keeping within your carbs. I just turned off that column (in Food > Settings) and don't worry about it.

    PS - Try to reach that 1200 calories. I know deficits are harder when you're short and inactive, but it really should be a minimum.
  • sussexbythesea
    sussexbythesea Posts: 1,335 Member
    I am always well over in sugar as I eat loads of fruit and even veg like peas have some. It is annoying mfp cannot differentiate between sugars from that and added table sugar.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I swapped my sugar for fibre ...find it much more worthwhile tracking that
  • sussexbythesea
    sussexbythesea Posts: 1,335 Member
    Just noticed the PB make sure it is one without added sugar!
  • dw7711
    dw7711 Posts: 7
    edited November 2014
    Yeah, the 1,200 calorie thing is kind of weird because I'm not supposed to go over it, but I'm also not supposed to go below it according to the entire internet, lol. I always wind up in a situation where I have something like 87 calories left, and I'm not really sure what to do with that. I sometimes go on about 4.5-mile walks, and I allow myself to go over some on those days. That said, I did wind up eating a Lean Pocket and going over by 141 calories after I posted this. I was just too hungry; I normally eat more food items throughout the day, but that CFA sort of screwed me up.

    Anyway, thanks for the input! I'm new to MFP and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a major component of its weight loss formula. I'll try to stick mostly to natural sugars and not worry if they cause me to go over, and I'll look for a non-sugar-added peanut butter next time I shop. :)
  • lolly715
    lolly715 Posts: 106
    1200 was the original goal MFP set for me as well. And I had the same issue, was eating some weird food amounts to try and exactly hit it. I raised mine to 1400 which is much more comfortable and still seeing a rate of loss I'm happy with. What loss per week do you have it set to? Even bumping up to a custom goal of say 1250 will give you wiggle room without making too much difference to your deficit.
  • dw7711
    dw7711 Posts: 7
    edited November 2014
    I have it set to 2 lbs lost per week, although I don't think I can expect to lose that much, and it just recommended 1,200 because it obviously won't go below. I really like the 1,250-calorie thing, actually! Thanks! Might go ahead and bump it up to a daring 1,300. If weight loss is going to be slow-going anyway, I guess it can't hurt much, and I doubt I'll hit it often anyway.
  • angf0679
    angf0679 Posts: 1,121 Member
    I got annoyed at when it kept telling me I was going over my sugar all the time, so I simply removed it from showing up.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Unless you have a medical condition, I wouldn't worry too much about the sugar. I don't even look at that, as I've replace mine with a fiber column. You should be more concerned with getting to that 1200 calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    dw7711 wrote: »
    Yeah, the 1,200 calorie thing is kind of weird because I'm not supposed to go over it, but I'm also not supposed to go below it according to the entire internet, lol. I always wind up in a situation where I have something like 87 calories left, and I'm not really sure what to do with that. I sometimes go on about 4.5-mile walks, and I allow myself to go over some on those days. That said, I did wind up eating a Lean Pocket and going over by 141 calories after I posted this. I was just too hungry; I normally eat more food items throughout the day, but that CFA sort of screwed me up.

    Anyway, thanks for the input! I'm new to MFP and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a major component of its weight loss formula. I'll try to stick mostly to natural sugars and not worry if they cause me to go over, and I'll look for a non-sugar-added peanut butter next time I shop. :)

    What others said about sugar. I track fiber instead.

    When I started this I got the 1200 and changed it to 1250 just so I wouldn't be red lined or below no matter what. Made it easier mentally for me.
  • lsgibbs83
    lsgibbs83 Posts: 254 Member
    As long as the sugar is coming from natural sources, like your fruit/veggies, you should be OK. What you want to avoid is refined and added sugars.

    Keep in mind that there are hidden sugars everywhere. Many condiments and salad dressings have added sugar and, as another poster pointed out, the peanut butter is likely a culprit as well.

    Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have a product that has reduced fat, often times sugar is added to enhance the flavor you are losing from the fat.

    Hope you feel better!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    edited November 2014
    If you eat fruit, you'll exceed the sugar MFP sets. The day I was almost over sugar after breakfast, I swapped it out for fiber. I needed to watch fiber and improve that and I don't care about the MFP sugar limit, so sticking fiber in there instead was helpful. :)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    sussexbythesea wrote: »
    I am always well over in sugar as I eat loads of fruit and even veg like peas have some. It is annoying mfp cannot differentiate between sugars from that and added table sugar.

    It's equally annoying that my liver can't tell the difference, or any other part of my body.
  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    edited November 2014
    yarwell wrote: »
    sussexbythesea wrote: »
    I am always well over in sugar as I eat loads of fruit and even veg like peas have some. It is annoying mfp cannot differentiate between sugars from that and added table sugar.

    It's equally annoying that my liver can't tell the difference, or any other part of my body.

    ^^ yep
  • olivia_june
    olivia_june Posts: 111 Member
    1,200 calories is too low anyway. MFP will automatically put any female (regardless of height or starting weight) at 1,200 calories if they select the "lose 2lbs a week" option.

    You need more food. Healthy fats, fruit, vegetables, lean protein. Find out your BMR (google it) and go from there. Counting calories involves a lot of guesswork, how much is too much or too little? If you're hungry, it's too little. Apparently I should be eating around the 2000 mark, but I personally find that a little high. I eat at 1600-1800 and it works perfectly for me. I'm getting enough food to fuel my body and I'm not hungry all the time. I did 1,200 when I first joined MFP a few years ago and it was just not sustainable and led to some really unhealthy disordered/obsessive eating.

    Food is fuel, not the enemy, and that's the first thing you need to learn if you want to lose weight for real.

    TLDR, google "BMR weight loss", find out how many calories it says you should be eating, adjust accordingly. Also, search "1200" in the forums and you'll see a ton of people having problems with 1,200/day, and lots of information why you shouldn't only eat that much.
  • olivia_june
    olivia_june Posts: 111 Member
    Also, obviously a banana is healthy sugar so don't get too hung up on one banana, FFS.
  • ithrowconfetti
    ithrowconfetti Posts: 451 Member
    Unless you have a pre-existing medical condition that compels you to track sugar, don't sweat it. And like most have said, track something more useful to you, like fibre. You'll be surprised as to how many struggle to meet their minimum goals daily.
  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Also, obviously a banana is healthy sugar so don't get too hung up on one banana, FFS.

    No such thing as healthy sugar and unhealthy sugar, your body can't tell the difference, it is all just sugar.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    olivia_june wrote: »
    1,200 calories is too low anyway. MFP will automatically put any female (regardless of height or starting weight) at 1,200 calories if they select the "lose 2lbs a week" option.

    Not true. If you choose 2 lbs/week, MFP will give you 1200 if your maintenance without exercise is 2200 or less (since 1000 calories/day=2 lbs/week). There are lots of women who don't fall in that category (taller and heavier ones, younger ones), but of course most do. It's the result of MFP not including exercise upfront but expecting people to add the additional calories as they exercise.

    I did 1250 when I was quite overweight and didn't yet exercise much, and have increased my calories consistently as I added exercise. It was right for me then, wouldn't be right for me now. It may or may not be right for the OP (although I generally think it's better to achieve some of the deficit through exercise and eat more if possible, just because it's better for overall fitness).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Amanda_Brit_Expat wrote: »
    olivia_june wrote: »
    Also, obviously a banana is healthy sugar so don't get too hung up on one banana, FFS.

    No such thing as healthy sugar and unhealthy sugar, your body can't tell the difference, it is all just sugar.

    But there are foods that happen to contain sugar that also have lots of other good things and foods that contain sugar that basically just supply energy (which is great if you need more energy, i.e., calories, and not so great if you don't). I'm not against eating some things just because you like them (and I do!), but I think there is a difference when deciding how much to include. The sugar in an apple doesn't bother me, since I don't think there's anything wrong with sugar and it is filling due to the fiber and has some micronutrients I need. The sugar in a cookie also doesn't bother me, but it's easy to overeat for many people. Typically the warnings about eating too much sugar relate to the idea that increased sugar in our diets is connected with stuff more like cookies than apples and thus results in overeating in general and not filling up on more nutrient dense items.

    This is also why it seems kind of irrelevant if you are tracking calories and even carbs already. That's why I prefer to track fiber.
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