How do you watch your sugar intake?

Try replacing sugary treats with fruit. A serving of prunes or a snack container of mandarin oranges in juice are two of my go to fruits when I really want something sweet. For you, it could be apple sauce or a banana. Try different ones until you find what works.

Meanwhile, sugar is hard to track effectively because there are recommended numbers for "added sugars" but not for all the other sugars we consume naturally as part of many foods. For example, milk and even celery have natural sugars. Unfortunately, the database entries and many food labels do not distinguish between the two and folks may be trying, inadvertently, to keep their added sugar numbers low while the count includes their natural sugars. For most of us, watching our carbs (mine are set to 40% of intake) while aiming toward natural sugars and keeping things with added sugar to a minimum works for keeping sugar in check.

Look at where your sugar is coming from. If mostly fruit, veg, and dairy, and your fiber and protein are good and you get plenty of healthy fats (fatty fish, olives/olive oil, avocado, and nuts and seeds), I would not worry about it. If a lot is from added sugar in pop, candy, or sweet baked goods or ice cream, cutting portions or amounts of those seems obvious.

Seconding (thirding?) the comment that it matters what your sugar sources are.

When I was losing weight, I went over my MFP sugar goal every day, when the only added sugar I was eating was a little bit of concentrated apple juice well down the ingredient list in a single daily 30-calorie tablespoon of all-fruit spread. The rest of my sugar consumption was from no-sugar-added dairy foods (nonfat yogurt, skim milk, cheese, etc.), and whole fruit/vegetables. Once I realized that, I dropped sugar from the tracking columns in my MFP diary as irrelevant to me, and started tracking fiber instead.

If more of your sugars are coming from high-sugar but not nutrient-dense sources, then it might make sense to try to shift more to fruits, if you still want some sweet foods (doing so helped me reduce cravings for cookies, candy and such, at an earlier point in life).

Get enough protein, get enough healthy fats, hit your calorie goal, eat plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits daily, and sugar will tend to fall into its proper place, in my experience.

I don't limit sugar. I focus on getting sufficient protein and fat while hitting my calorie goal. If I'm doing that and choosing a variety of foods that keep me satiated and meet the rest of my nutritional needs, I don't consider sugar consumption to be a relevant metric.

ritzvin wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

LockdownLoser23 wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

I don't limit sugar. I focus on getting sufficient protein and fat while hitting my calorie goal. If I'm doing that and choosing a variety of foods that keep me satiated and meet the rest of my nutritional needs, I don't consider sugar consumption to be a relevant metric.

That's incredibly helpful, thank you!

In UK they have the sugars detailed on the packaging, dunno whether the US do that. Personally I just try and keep
sweet stuff out of the house best I can except for cheat day

Well, I was addressing OP and many people do find focusing on what they WANT to eat and ensuring they get enough of that to be a more helpful approach than a focus on eliminating/limiting other things. It's just another way to approach the situation.

This. Quite a few of us that have been at this a long time take this same approach. If it has a lot of calories, but not providing something I still want to get in for the day and might come up short on (like protein/fiber/fat/stuff-with-adequate-micro-nutrients) and/or I think it'll leave me still hungry without many remaining calories, then it very likely gets nixed - otherwise fair game. (In practice, this means that many of us will wind up limiting our sugar intake on low-exercise days).

Exactly. It's not specifically avoiding high-sugar foods, but the practical application is that I'm mostly only having these items in small portions or on very active days. I'm not avoiding a 600-calorie slice of cake due to the sugar, I'm not choosing it most days because dedicating 600 calories to cake and still hitting my calorie goals would usually result in me being hungry for a good portion of the day (and very likely short on protein).

But if I want a lower calorie sweet item, I'll usually have it -- a serving of chocolate, a sweetened coffee . . . things like that. 50-100 calories isn't that hard to fit in most days and it isn't going to keep me from meeting my nutritional needs.

I never pay attention to my sugar goal. I just try to hit my protein goal. Most of my sugar comes from fruit and vegetables, but I also put sugar in my coffee and I eat sweets just about every day. I just eat them in portion sizes that fit my calorie goal.