30 Day Logging/Limiting Added Sugar Challenge
Replies
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Dinner was un-loggable, since it was a potluck. No added sugar in breakfast or lunch. I don't think there was sugar in any of the savory dinner dishes, but as usual, who knows, I didn't grill people about their ingredients! I did have one small chocolate (someone brought mixed chocolates), so a little added sugar from that.2
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One of my challenges last time was the 9 grams of added sugar in my chocolate protein powder, which is what I use in my coffee/PP smoothie that I love. Whole Foods has a sale ending today (1/5) - 25% off all supplements, including protein powder. I use Prime Now and ordered 5 jugs of a brand that sweetens with monk fruit and stevia. Stevia is hit or miss for me - sometimes I can tolerate it, but in some foods it has an unpleasant after taste. Fingers crossed that I like this brand.1
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Total sugar 40, added 162
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I had another single piece of chocolate -- seems like everywhere I go this weekend I'm being offered chocolates! ;-) I don't know the amount of added sugar, but it can't be that much since the chocolate was small.
I had actually planned to say no and did initially, but I also made this my first day having no coffee other than one cup in the morning (I am trying to see if cutting way back helps with sleep), and I started crashing during the gathering at which the chocolate was offered, so had the one piece. It did help.
No other added sugar, but man I am wiped out this evening -- I decided to take a rest day (which had been planned for tomorrow) when I was just hit by a wave of exhaustion once I finally got home. I guess cutting back on coffee might be a good idea.2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »One of my challenges last time was the 9 grams of added sugar in my chocolate protein powder, which is what I use in my coffee/PP smoothie that I love. Whole Foods has a sale ending today (1/5) - 25% off all supplements, including protein powder. I use Prime Now and ordered 5 jugs of a brand that sweetens with monk fruit and stevia. Stevia is hit or miss for me - sometimes I can tolerate it, but in some foods it has an unpleasant after taste. Fingers crossed that I like this brand.
Well the sugar-free Garden Of Life, Protein Powder Sport Whey Grass Fed Chocolate was a big disappointment. The more I drank my coffee smoothie, the less I liked it. When I finished, I had to cleanse my palate with a nice cookie, lol.
Blech, I feel slightly nauseated. Wish I knew if it was the stevia, monk fruit, or combo.
I'm going to have to rethink this. I think my real goal is to moderate baked goods/snack foods with added sugar, so maybe I will just work on that rather than messing with staples that are not a problem.1 -
Total sugar 38
Added 81 -
Monday I had no added sugar, and so far none today.kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »One of my challenges last time was the 9 grams of added sugar in my chocolate protein powder, which is what I use in my coffee/PP smoothie that I love. Whole Foods has a sale ending today (1/5) - 25% off all supplements, including protein powder. I use Prime Now and ordered 5 jugs of a brand that sweetens with monk fruit and stevia. Stevia is hit or miss for me - sometimes I can tolerate it, but in some foods it has an unpleasant after taste. Fingers crossed that I like this brand.
Well the sugar-free Garden Of Life, Protein Powder Sport Whey Grass Fed Chocolate was a big disappointment. The more I drank my coffee smoothie, the less I liked it. When I finished, I had to cleanse my palate with a nice cookie, lol.
Blech, I feel slightly nauseated. Wish I knew if it was the stevia, monk fruit, or combo.
I'm going to have to rethink this. I think my real goal is to moderate baked goods/snack foods with added sugar, so maybe I will just work on that rather than messing with staples that are not a problem.
Although I am tracking everything at the moment just for the experiment, this is the conclusion I came to too. For me, non dessert added sugar tends to be pretty small amounts in savory foods or, most commonly, some sauces or rubs, and I really see no reason to care about that. Plus, it would be hard for that to add up to all that many cals. I really think these no sugar challenges that start by assuming you are eating some huge amount of sugar and then tell you to avoid these incidental sources are rather silly. I think it makes more sense to have people track their sugar, understand where it is coming from, and then consider reasonable changes if it is, in fact, higher than expected, which for most will be reducing snack/dessert foods or sugar-added drinks, with some maybe having more than expected in sugary cereals or trail mixes or granola bars or flavored yogurt. But if someone really loves adding, say, a bit of sugar to coffee or oats, I don't think that's something to be bothered about if the overall nutrition of the day and percentage of added sugar is fine anyway.
I used to use an example of a rhubarb sauce with a little sugar added vs. a homemade apple sauce. Why is the latter inherently preferable to the former? No good reason IMO. (Even Dr. Greger, who has other issues, no doubt, says that objecting to a little sugar or oil if that is how the overall diet becomes more sustainable and is able to incorporate nutritious foods like oats and veg, is not something to worry about.)1 -
Total sugar 55
Added 21
Not good.0 -
Not necessarly "not good." 21 g is less than 5% of cals for anyone with 1680 cal or above, and less than 10% for anyone over 840 cal (which of course I assume you are!). So it's actually in line with the WHO recommendations!1
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Hi Challengers!
I hope you have had a wonderful 2020 thus far. I’ve been away for a few weeks - took a e-mental health/MFP break.
Back to work in a few days and I thought I’d get back into the swing of things - including the less added sugar challenge. I rarely eat any added sugar- so maybe for me it’s a total sugar challenge. 🤷♀️ Maybe it’s the consistency of logging my sugar intake that keeps me on track.
I started on my no added sugar way of life a few years ago. Mostly as a way to try to keep my skin more youthful as I start to get older... trying to do it a more au natural way. I’m surprised I don’t see more conversation on MFP about sugar and it’s effects on skin. Maybe another thread!!? Lol
Wishing you a healthy January!
Oh - my stats for today. (I’m currently in Italy so - done for the day here...)
1.8.20- total sugar 6 grams
Added sugar - 0
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Monday I had no added sugar, and so far none today.kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »One of my challenges last time was the 9 grams of added sugar in my chocolate protein powder, which is what I use in my coffee/PP smoothie that I love. Whole Foods has a sale ending today (1/5) - 25% off all supplements, including protein powder. I use Prime Now and ordered 5 jugs of a brand that sweetens with monk fruit and stevia. Stevia is hit or miss for me - sometimes I can tolerate it, but in some foods it has an unpleasant after taste. Fingers crossed that I like this brand.
Well the sugar-free Garden Of Life, Protein Powder Sport Whey Grass Fed Chocolate was a big disappointment. The more I drank my coffee smoothie, the less I liked it. When I finished, I had to cleanse my palate with a nice cookie, lol.
Blech, I feel slightly nauseated. Wish I knew if it was the stevia, monk fruit, or combo.
I'm going to have to rethink this. I think my real goal is to moderate baked goods/snack foods with added sugar, so maybe I will just work on that rather than messing with staples that are not a problem.
Although I am tracking everything at the moment just for the experiment, this is the conclusion I came to too. For me, non dessert added sugar tends to be pretty small amounts in savory foods or, most commonly, some sauces or rubs, and I really see no reason to care about that. Plus, it would be hard for that to add up to all that many cals. I really think these no sugar challenges that start by assuming you are eating some huge amount of sugar and then tell you to avoid these incidental sources are rather silly. I think it makes more sense to have people track their sugar, understand where it is coming from, and then consider reasonable changes if it is, in fact, higher than expected, which for most will be reducing snack/dessert foods or sugar-added drinks, with some maybe having more than expected in sugary cereals or trail mixes or granola bars or flavored yogurt. But if someone really loves adding, say, a bit of sugar to coffee or oats, I don't think that's something to be bothered about if the overall nutrition of the day and percentage of added sugar is fine anyway.
I used to use an example of a rhubarb sauce with a little sugar added vs. a homemade apple sauce. Why is the latter inherently preferable to the former? No good reason IMO. (Even Dr. Greger, who has other issues, no doubt, says that objecting to a little sugar or oil if that is how the overall diet becomes more sustainable and is able to incorporate nutritious foods like oats and veg, is not something to worry about.)
Right, the rhubarb sauce would be inedible without something to sweeten it, as are cranberries.
I like your apple sauce analogy, but with the wrong apple, that can fail as well. My cousins recently brought over some apple sauce which was inedible because they had used Granny Smith apples and no sugar. A different apple would have been fine with no sugar, but not Granny Smiths, which are great for baking, but need sugar. (These cousins have also served me chocolate that was 100% unsweetened.)
My mother uses Granny Smiths for pie and before she made one last time she was on the phone with her sister, and mentioned to her that she needed to go buy sugar for the pie. My aunt was disapproving about the concept of needing sugar for apple pie. Well, no, Granny Smith apples are NOT sweet enough. We often reduce sugar in baked goods recipes, but cannot eliminate it. I suggested to my mom that she never bring up sugar with my aunt, lol.
My uncle likes his sugar, but is a little overly concerned with organic these days, and that flour be both organic and stone ground. Neither my aunt or uncle are on my Christmas cookie mailing list, lol.2 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »I started on my no added sugar way of life a few years ago. Mostly as a way to try to keep my skin more youthful as I start to get older... trying to do it a more au natural way. I’m surprised I don’t see more conversation on MFP about sugar and it’s effects on skin. Maybe another thread!!? Lol
I've not heard much about sugar and skin (a quick search turns up some stuff in popular magazines that seems to slam fruit too). As someone who has gone without any added sugar for periods of time and, for about a year now, eats very little (since I've largely lost my desire for sweets), I've not noticed any difference with my skin, personally.
Anyway, no added sugar Sunday through Wednesday. I shouldn't have any today either, as my planned dinner is leftover stew that doesn't have any.1 -
Safari_Gal_ wrote: »...
I started on my no added sugar way of life a few years ago. Mostly as a way to try to keep my skin more youthful as I start to get older... trying to do it a more au natural way. I’m surprised I don’t see more conversation on MFP about sugar and it’s effects on skin. Maybe another thread!!? Lol
...
You could certainly start a thread, but be advised if you don't have scientific articles (not blogs or women's magazines) to back this up, you will get a lot of pushback
Even if there were science to back it up, you might want to post it in Debate as this would no doubt be seen as "sugar demonization" and get contentious.3 -
Total sugar 53, added sugar 12. Ate lots of fruits today.2
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Total sugar 48
Added sugar 6. Did much better today.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »One of my challenges last time was the 9 grams of added sugar in my chocolate protein powder, which is what I use in my coffee/PP smoothie that I love. Whole Foods has a sale ending today (1/5) - 25% off all supplements, including protein powder. I use Prime Now and ordered 5 jugs of a brand that sweetens with monk fruit and stevia. Stevia is hit or miss for me - sometimes I can tolerate it, but in some foods it has an unpleasant after taste. Fingers crossed that I like this brand.
Well the sugar-free Garden Of Life, Protein Powder Sport Whey Grass Fed Chocolate was a big disappointment. The more I drank my coffee smoothie, the less I liked it. When I finished, I had to cleanse my palate with a nice cookie, lol.
Blech, I feel slightly nauseated. Wish I knew if it was the stevia, monk fruit, or combo.
I'm going to have to rethink this. I think my real goal is to moderate baked goods/snack foods with added sugar, so maybe I will just work on that rather than messing with staples that are not a problem.
I really wish products with stevia or other such substitutes would take it easy on the amount of sweetener they add...some things are so sickening sweet PLUS there is a huge aftertaste when they add it by the bucket. Not sure who the taste testers are but they need a new career...yukko!3 -
Hi All. I'm in on this. Just saw your thread & I've been no added sugar or sugary foods. Since Dec 30/19. Just whole foods, some fruit & an occassional dark chocolate serving. I haven't read all the comments but would like to catch up.
One thing I notice when I cut the sugar is my food cravings bottomed out mostly after a week. I have also cut wheat due to Chiropractic advise to eliminate it...so I use some alternative grains like quinoa etc.
I also eat some kind of protein with my fruit; yogurt, p butter, nuts, which I find fills me for longer.
Glad to be here & hope to encourage & be encouraged. 😊2 -
Welcome!
No added sugar today, 49 g of intrinsic sugar (31 g from fruit, the rest mostly from veg). Tomorrow I'm having lunch during a meeting for an organization I'm involved with and they are bringing in sandwiches, so I'll no doubt have a bit of sugar in the bread. (I went grocery shopping before I saw the posts in another thread about homemade peanut butter cups, which is probably for the best!)1 -
Total sugar 45, added sugar 7. Getting better.0
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Me, yesterday: 56 g intrinsic sugar, added sugar=whatever was in the bread of my half sandwich from Panera.1
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