SUGAR - The culprit!
LAC73167
Posts: 114 Member
Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
Anyone else have these experiences?
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Replies
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I have bee eating low sugar for month now. The other day I went significantly over my sugar limit and felt like crap. It felt like I swallowed a huge rock and it couldn't be digested. I guess it has to do with the sudden insulin spike. Don't know.1
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Are you restricting all carbohydrates? And if just "sugar", are you specifically referring to sucrose, fructose or glucose?
I ask because your body converts most carbs into glucose and stores it in the muscles or liver. Fruit contains high levels of fructose, and I wouldn't advocate cutting down on that.
Do you mean just table sugar? This is sucrose.1 -
biggsterjackster wrote: »I have bee eating low sugar for month now. The other day I went significantly over my sugar limit and felt like crap. It felt like I swallowed a huge rock and it couldn't be digested. I guess it has to do with the sudden insulin spike. Don't know.
Sugar makes you produce more insulin which throws your entire body into defense mode. I feel fab since I lowered my sugar - (it takes me 5 hours to grocery shop now (HAHA) but I read EVERY label and I must know 100 different names they use on labels to disguise the sugar in the ingredients.
Good luck to you!! Feel free to add me. I love to have others following the same path to compare diaries and chat with.0 -
Are you restricting all carbohydrates? And if just "sugar", are you specifically referring to sucrose, fructose or glucose?
I ask because your body converts most carbs into glucose and stores it in the muscles or liver. Fruit contains high levels of fructose, and I wouldn't advocate cutting down on that.
Do you mean just table sugar? This is sucrose.
Hi, No way!! I love my carbs -in Moderation
50% (150g) of my calories are consumed in carbs. I'm no nutritionist, and this has been trial and error - but where I am at now is working for me.
Edited to add: I have cut my fruit intake drastically - but have not eliminated it. I eat tons of organic veggies and grass fed meats - I defiantly don't add table sugar to anything. I don't ingest anything bottled/canned or boxed and if I do- I read the heck out of that label and if there is added sugar, I don't get it.
This may not work for everyone -but gosh darn it, Its working for me
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Yes, I've greatly reduced the sugar in my meals & snacks. Right now in the fridge, I have cherries--- they're delicious but I won't eat simple carbs and rarely eat processed foods. Saying goodbye to sugar has been a huge help overall.3
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LisaClifford731 wrote: »Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
There's a million threads about this already-you can use the search function to find them (though many of the threads end up getting locked).3 -
Sugar was "the culprit" when I was eating ridiculous quantities of it. And I maintain that it is devilish in that it's possible for me to consume ridiculous quantities. Everything else fills me up before I can hit ridiculous. But in small quantities (comparatively small to me, often deemed moderate to others), I seem to be doing just fine with it. I tend to feel a little hungrier again when I go over my MFP sugar goals (but not over in calories), but I rarely do anymore.2
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ReaderGirl3 wrote: »LisaClifford731 wrote: »Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
There's a million threads about this already-you can use the search function to find them (though many of the threads end up getting locked).
I didnt realize that. I don't post much. Thanks
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LisaClifford731 wrote: »ReaderGirl3 wrote: »LisaClifford731 wrote: »Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
There's a million threads about this already-you can use the search function to find them (though many of the threads end up getting locked).
I didnt realize that. I don't post much. Thanks
No problem. Sugar is the current 'bad guy' in the dieting market, so sugar is one of the more popular topics right now on MFP. You're going to pretty much get the same people jumping in, and will get the same arguments, so it might save you some time to just browse through those threads 2 -
Thanks for the heads up!0
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Nope. Cutting calories is what causes the weight loss, not cutting "sugar".
By the way-fruit and veggies also contain sugar.8 -
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No. I don't have any medical problems or allergies over sugar. If it works for you, good. 1
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Nope. Cutting calories is what causes the weight loss, not cutting "sugar".
By the way-fruit and veggies also contain sugar.
This is true and should be understood but it's also true that sugar is a weak point for many people, that it is rediculosly easy to sink your goals with sugar and lastly entirely apart from calorie count, many people find that reducing sugar intake noticably improves their general sens of well being.
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Too many calories, the culprit!3
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It definitely comes down to calories.
That said, some very sugary foods give a terrible amount of satiety for their calories. Non-diet soda is a good example, it gives you almost zero satiety (in terms of giving almost no appetite reduction at your next meal) yet has a lot of calories.
So in that sense, you may reduce sugary foods in the pursuit of optimizing your "calorie budget" to be more filling. I don't think that requires a blanket ban on sugars - not all sugary foods are unsatisfying.6 -
I am watching amount of sugar I eat using Fitness Pal. I was wondering if that number indicates daily added sugar or total sugar. For instance, a soup may have natural ingredients that contain sugar and then also added sugar. You can tell this by reading the ingredients label. I wasn't sure what that sugar number represents in the fitness pal program.
chwtroutman0 -
I cut way back on sugar, and my total carbs too since they are converted to glucose (sugar) in the blood. My sugar intake is always belw 10g per day; often belw 5g. I feel so much better eating this way that I have no plans to ever go back to higher sugar or higher carbs.
Quite honestly, the hardest part about giving up sugar was the anticipation - just thinking about it. Doing it wasn't too hard after a couple of days.
Glad you are feeling better.4 -
Calories are calories is only part of the story. It's also about behavior and attitudes towards eating and food and hunger. Track your responses to various meals; are you hungrier two hours after an apple fritter and coffee breakfast, or two hours after eggs and bacon and some whole grain bread having exactly the same number of calories? And know yourself: if you tend to be very hungry throughout the day and into the evening are you more or less likely to say eff it and go to the fridge to eat that pint of ice cream that's been calling to you?5
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chwtroutman wrote: »I am watching amount of sugar I eat using Fitness Pal. I was wondering if that number indicates daily added sugar or total sugar. For instance, a soup may have natural ingredients that contain sugar and then also added sugar. You can tell this by reading the ingredients label. I wasn't sure what that sugar number represents in the fitness pal program.
It's total sugars. Since sugar is sugar is sugar...
I switched tracking sugar on MFP to tracking fibre, instead. I'm already tracking carbs and I don't have a medical reason to specifically track sugar.1 -
LisaClifford731 wrote: »Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
I've been trying to cut down on sugar, I aim for about 50g-60g as I do eat fruits. I have noticed I don't crave sugary foods at all and do have more energy, though that could be from just eating better in general, but I'm hoping to keep my sugar down through out my diet and beyond.
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I watch sugar because I have a bad reaction if a combination of sugar/carbs are too high. I still lose or maintain according to my calories though, no matter how high the sugar is.2
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LisaClifford731 wrote: »Is anyone else watching their sugar intake? I've been tracking my sugar like a bloodhound and have noticed significant losses (approx 2 lbs a week) and other changes - such as sleeping better, MORE energy (if you could believe that? and I generally don't feel like crap anymore.
Anyone else have these experiences?
I watch it, sure. It's not particularly high, so I don't worry about it. I certainly wouldn't fret about sugar from fruit and veg or dairy. If my added sugar were high (it's not) I'd probably consider whether those were calories that should be cut down some in favor of some more nutrition-dense options.
My sugar has been a bit higher than normal on recent weekends, since I'm training for some endurance events (including a half ironman in a few weeks) and am experimenting with my nutrition plan, which includes some gels and other forms of sugar. Haven't found any negative effects.
Back when I first started I tried cutting out added sugar and while it was an interesting experience and surprisingly easy, I didn't notice any particular benefits, so I went back to moderation. Sugar isn't really my main weakness, though -- savory stuff is.0 -
LisaClifford731 wrote: »biggsterjackster wrote: »I have bee eating low sugar for month now. The other day I went significantly over my sugar limit and felt like crap. It felt like I swallowed a huge rock and it couldn't be digested. I guess it has to do with the sudden insulin spike. Don't know.
Sugar makes you produce more insulin which throws your entire body into defense mode. I feel fab since I lowered my sugar - (it takes me 5 hours to grocery shop now (HAHA) but I read EVERY label and I must know 100 different names they use on labels to disguise the sugar in the ingredients.
Good luck to you!! Feel free to add me. I love to have others following the same path to compare diaries and chat with.
I can't imagine buying so much stuff with labels that it would take that long to read them, and I'm about as far from a clean eater as one could find. My main packaged stuff are things I'm very familiar with, like plain yogurt, smoked salmon, dried pasta, dried and canned beans, canned tomatoes (out of season), and steel cut oats. Oh, and the protein powder I like and use occasionally. Other than a tiny bit used for making the smoked salmon and, of course, the lactose in the yogurt, none of this has sugar.
I do buy fancy chocolates from a restaurant near my office that sells local artisan and European chocolates. Those, of course, have sugar. Oh, and ice cream/gelato sometimes.0 -
Athletes of all sports "carb up" before a game. This is essentially sugar. They feel worse if they don't carb up and have reduced energy.LisaClifford731 wrote: »biggsterjackster wrote: »I have bee eating low sugar for month now. The other day I went significantly over my sugar limit and felt like crap. It felt like I swallowed a huge rock and it couldn't be digested. I guess it has to do with the sudden insulin spike. Don't know.
Sugar makes you produce more insulin which throws your entire body into defense mode. I feel fab since I lowered my sugar - (it takes me 5 hours to grocery shop now (HAHA) but I read EVERY label and I must know 100 different names they use on labels to disguise the sugar in the ingredients.
Good luck to you!! Feel free to add me. I love to have others following the same path to compare diaries and chat with.
The issue here is that most people who OVER CONSUME sugar, don't do enough to burn it off.
So it's not really the culprit. It's just a macro nutrient that one needs to be sure that they don't over consume for their particular metabolism. People who are less active will need less of it.
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I don't specifically watch my sugar, but I don't really consume in substantive quantities anyway. A good 90% of my diet is derived from whole foods so most of my sugar comes from things like veggies, fruit, dairy, etc...my consumption is nowhere near anything needing to be worried about. I would only bother watching my sugar if I was accustomed to eating a lot of it and typically ate a lot of sweets and whatnot...I don't really, so it's not much of a concern.0
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lemurcat12 wrote: »LisaClifford731 wrote: »biggsterjackster wrote: »I have bee eating low sugar for month now. The other day I went significantly over my sugar limit and felt like crap. It felt like I swallowed a huge rock and it couldn't be digested. I guess it has to do with the sudden insulin spike. Don't know.
Sugar makes you produce more insulin which throws your entire body into defense mode. I feel fab since I lowered my sugar - (it takes me 5 hours to grocery shop now (HAHA) but I read EVERY label and I must know 100 different names they use on labels to disguise the sugar in the ingredients.
Good luck to you!! Feel free to add me. I love to have others following the same path to compare diaries and chat with.
I can't imagine buying so much stuff with labels that it would take that long to read them, and I'm about as far from a clean eater as one could find. My main packaged stuff are things I'm very familiar with, like plain yogurt, smoked salmon, dried pasta, dried and canned beans, canned tomatoes (out of season), and steel cut oats. Oh, and the protein powder I like and use occasionally. Other than a tiny bit used for making the smoked salmon and, of course, the lactose in the yogurt, none of this has sugar.
I do buy fancy chocolates from a restaurant near my office that sells local artisan and European chocolates. Those, of course, have sugar. Oh, and ice cream/gelato sometimes.
Ok. I was exaggerating the amount of time. Thought thatchers obvious. I too, eat clean (about 90/10) so if I'm wrong about anything I've said here, I beg of all of you "experts" try educating someone before insulting them.
Now I remember why I don't EVER come to these boards.2 -
I'm definitely watching the sweets I eat too, but it all comes down to how much you are eating overall. I avoid them for their lack of nutritional value, not because of losing weight. Yes, the healthier the better, but most of the time people who claim to eat less sugar, carbs, etc, etc, and lose weight, are really only doing so because they are eating less overall. Carbs and sugar are not killers, but like anything should be an appropriate part of a daily diet, not the entire diet (or eliminated entirely)1
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