Help, Sugar goal is killing me

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rscunu
rscunu Posts: 37 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really trying my best to stick within the goals that MFP has set for me. But I'm struggling with the sugars. I'm eating small portions 5 times a day, but finding fruits are killing me with sugar counts.
My breakfast this morning isn't terrible, cup of cantalope w/1% cottage cheese with my cup of coffee which I just splash with no fat lactose free milk. my sugars for the meal are 21g...my goal is 47g. one meal ate up half my goal :neutral_face:

I can hear the simple solution of "cut down your fruit" but what do I replace it with, and keep variety in my diet? snacks I usually pair raw vegetables with hummus, handful of nuts or fruit w/piece of low fat cheese.

Any suggestions are appreciated :smile:

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.
  • MeInWonderland
    MeInWonderland Posts: 4 Member
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    Well personally, I don't really care if I went over my sugar goal because I ate an apple. But maybe try raspberries, they are low in sugar compared to apples. It won't fill you up as much but you get your portion of fruit. I love eating them as a snack or with oatmeal as breakfast :smile:
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.

    ^^This
  • rungirl1973
    rungirl1973 Posts: 2,559 Member
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.

    ^^This

    X 2
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    MFP's goal is 15% of calories as sugar (total sugar of all sorts).

    The WHO recommendations are well below that but are for added sugars. EU and Aus have a 90 grams a day total sugars recommendation.

    If you had less of the very low fat stuff you would probably have less sugars too.
  • penneysfit
    penneysfit Posts: 97 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I don't count macros. I try to make this as simple as possible :). I figure that I'm eating, for the most part, pretty healthy foods which don't have a lot of sugar. I eat fruit and yogurt, and then shoot for proteins and veggies. I do eat a lot of TV dinners because they're convenient ... which are pretty high in sodium but drinking 2-3 liters of water a day helps to offset that. I know someday the TV dinners are going to have to go, but right now they help me stay in my calorie goal.

    Fruit is really good for you. It has sugar but also other nutrients. Berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries) are the lowest in sugar. Apples aren't too bad. Bananas are high in sugar and calories, but they have tons of potassium :). Also, in the summer, melons are the bomb!

    I feel that avoiding foods like pop, desserts, and fried foods will keep most people in a healthy sugar range. Those foods, much more than fruits, will cause the sugar overload.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    rungirl1973 wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.

    ^^This

    X 2

    X 3
  • Amanda4change
    Amanda4change Posts: 620 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.

    X 4

    I go over my sugar limit every single day, however the vast majority of my sugar intake is fruits. If I were to stick to MFP recommendations I would likely end up in the hospital. I'm hypoglycemic and have to have fruits and carbs to increase my glucose levels. Going overv on sugars hasn't stopped me from losing 30 pounds. What matters is that you consume less calories than you burn, period.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Yep, if you have no medical reason to watch your sugar, just quit tracking it. Fruit will put you over every time, and it's not a big deal. I don't even track sodium anymore. I know if I've eaten something that's sodium-heavy - just from experience, and because I'll have raging thirst by bedtime if I don't drink plenty of water. :smiley:
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Simpler solution: stop tracking sugar. Unless you have particular medical or health reasons that you're tracking it, sugar won't halt your weight loss. And MFP's goal is particularly low. It's based on the recommendations for added sugars, but doesn't differentiate between added sugar and natural sugars. If you want to cut it down, then you're right that cutting the fruit will be necessary, but you don't have to.

    this times a thousand...
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Seriously, yeah. Stop tracking the sugar.

    Want a laugh? I went over the sugar allowance without having any added sugar or fruit one day.

    Want to know what the biggest source of sugar was for my day?

    Wait for it.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    .
    Cauliflower.

    I had roasted it without oil and had a huge portion. There were 10 grams of sugar in it. The rest of my daily sugar came from plain yogurt, cottage cheese, pumpkin (surprisingly little sugar) and oatmeal.

    Moral of the story?

    You can't win.

    Track fiber.
  • rscunu
    rscunu Posts: 37 Member
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    Overwhelming response of Don't Track Sugar. Noted, and advice taken :smiley:
    I do not have a medical reason to watch sugars. I carry my weight in my midsection, and through my hips a bit. I was told that cleaning my eating habits will help me with inches, not just weight, and that sugars and refined flours make doughy midsections...I have a lot of dough there people! Obviously with weight loss comes the inches.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    rscunu wrote: »
    I can hear the simple solution of "cut down your fruit" but what do I replace it with, and keep variety in my diet? snacks I usually pair raw vegetables with hummus, handful of nuts or fruit w/piece of low fat cheese.

    Any suggestions are appreciated :smile:

    More vegetables and low sugar fruit (many berries), less higher sugar fruits.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Good news, @rscunu, fat cells are not discerning with their food sources. You gain all over and you lose all over, no matter what you are taking in. It has to do with reducing overall calories, not any particular type of calorie. I've lost 90 pounds of dough and I've never tracked my sugars.
  • ewhip17
    ewhip17 Posts: 515 Member
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    rscunu wrote: »
    Overwhelming response of Don't Track Sugar. Noted, and advice taken :smiley:
    I do not have a medical reason to watch sugars. I carry my weight in my midsection, and through my hips a bit. I was told that cleaning my eating habits will help me with inches, not just weight, and that sugars and refined flours make doughy midsections...I have a lot of dough there people! Obviously with weight loss comes the inches.

    I turned my sugar tracking off a long, long time ago. To date I've lost 132lbs. So for me it worked out fine. :wink:
  • projecthotbel
    projecthotbel Posts: 32 Member
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    I don't pay any attention to the sugar or salt goals.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I am a T2 diabetic so you would think I would be tracking sugars. Nope. Per my doctor's recommendation (a certified diabetic educator) I am monitoring my total carbs to manage the diabetes. Tracking sugars is important for those on insulin, otherwise total carbs is the thing to watch.

    Switch out sugar and track fiber instead. People frequently don't get enough fiber and it is essential for intestinal tract health among other things.
  • hamoncan
    hamoncan Posts: 148 Member
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    rscunu wrote: »
    Overwhelming response of Don't Track Sugar. Noted, and advice taken :smiley:
    I do not have a medical reason to watch sugars. I carry my weight in my midsection, and through my hips a bit. I was told that cleaning my eating habits will help me with inches, not just weight, and that sugars and refined flours make doughy midsections...I have a lot of dough there people! Obviously with weight loss comes the inches.

    Meh - fat is fat and burning more calories than you consume (whatever kind they are) is what you do to lose the fat. Doughy midsections and all the other sections are pretty much all lost the same way.
  • rscunu
    rscunu Posts: 37 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    Switch out sugar and track fiber instead. People frequently don't get enough fiber and it is essential for intestinal tract health among other things.

    This sounds like a good idea, then I won't obsess over the red number :smiley:
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    rscunu wrote: »
    Overwhelming response of Don't Track Sugar. Noted, and advice taken :smiley:
    I do not have a medical reason to watch sugars. I carry my weight in my midsection, and through my hips a bit. I was told that cleaning my eating habits will help me with inches, not just weight, and that sugars and refined flours make doughy midsections...I have a lot of dough there people! Obviously with weight loss comes the inches.

    Nope. Just eating less overall is what helps you lose weight. I don't track sugar and I'm always over it anyway.

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