OVER my sugar and protein level....help?

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MrsPong
MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
alright, I have gone "over" my "suggested" sugars and protein levels and have 530 calories left for the day... I believe I'm eating healthy? whats the deal?... Is what I'm eating okay, and shouldn't worry...or should I be focusing my food choices elsewhere??
When I lost my weight before I just counted calories....now I'm lost.


If you have any Ideas... I thank you!!
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Replies

  • rico1923
    rico1923 Posts: 32
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    alright, I have gone "over" my "suggested" sugars and protein levels and have 530 calories left for the day... I believe I'm eating healthy? whats the deal?... Is what I'm eating okay, and shouldn't worry...or should I be focusing my food choices elsewhere??
    When I lost my weight before I just counted calories....now I'm lost.

    Hard to have an opinion about whether or not your diet is okay if you don't allow folks to see what you are eating. If you are getting at least 25g of fiber, take a multi-vitamin supplement, are reaching your daily protein goal, are staying within your calorie goal and have no health conditions where you have to modify your diet my opinion is you should be fine. When you say, "When I lost my weight before..." it kind of implies that however you were eating before was not a lifestyle you could sustain; hopefully MFP will give you the tools/support to stick to a diet/lifestyle you can live with for a long time.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    MFP sets your protien intake at 15% of your daily calories. This is pretty low for most people. "They" recommend eating at least 1 gram of protien for every pound of lean body mass.

    The sugar one is a little more tricky. I believe it doesn't matter if you go over on sugar as long as you stay under your calorie goals, get enough protien and enough fat (0.3 grams for every pound of total body fat).
  • MrsPong
    MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
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    Thank you!!! :)


    I have gained weight (after losing it) due to a medical reason, not really due to a change in lifestyle/eating/working out habits.
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    If you're over on sugar and protein (both of which are arguably too low), but not on calories, you might need to eat some fat.
  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
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    Check out if your sugar is from processed food or natural food, you can adjust it if you tend to go over by eating 2-3 servings of fruit per day. If you're at the MFP level of protein and going over you should be fine as long as you don't have over 20 or so grams per sitting.
  • cirellim
    cirellim Posts: 269
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    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.
  • cirellim
    cirellim Posts: 269
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    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.

    Sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories makes you fat. Plain and simple.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
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    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.

    Sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories makes you fat. Plain and simple.
    Exactly.
  • MelissaSue612
    MelissaSue612 Posts: 9 Member
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    If you have juice or lots of fruit with natural sugars, even at just one meal, that can put you over on sugars. If I'm not eating processed things or desserts, I usually don't worry quite as much about going over on sugars if they're from those natural sources. I do, however, try to limit myself to one glass of juice/serving of sweet fruit per day. I also think that if you're doing a lot of exercise - cardio or weights - you need more protein than what is suggested here.

    That said, if you get to the end of the day with a surplus of calories, and you're not still hungry, I'm never opposed to having a couple hundred left over. If you are still hungry, stick with veggies/a salad or something like a baked potato.
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    Protein levels are set quite low on MFP anyway, it should be seen as more of a minimum. Several people would recommend at least 1g per lb of lean body weight, especially if you are strength training.

    Sugar is slightly different. IMO this is still set quite low anyway - I think the GDA (guideline daily allowance?) in the UK is 90g for the 2000 calories, and MFP always seems to be a lot less than this. As long as you're under your calories, that's all that should matter when it comes to just weight loss. Health-wise (especially for your teeth) it wouldn't do any harm to have a quick look over what it is that's high sugar. If it's processed foods, or foods that have sugar added to taste etc then maybe consider cutting down a little on those. If it's fruit, don't worry, they're natural sugars and a lot better for you :)
  • MrsPong
    MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
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    Thanks everyone!! This has got me thinking and helped out. Thanks so much.
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
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    I don't watch sugar or sodium, but I changed my macros to get 40/40/30 carbs/protein/fat, which is different from MFP pre-sets. Let me know if you don't know how to change them.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
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    I don't watch sugar or sodium, but I changed my macros to get 40/40/30 carbs/protein/fat, which is different from MFP pre-sets. Let me know if you don't know how to change them.
    How exactly do you manage to get 110% in a day?
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
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    I don't watch sugar or sodium, but I changed my macros to get 40/40/30 carbs/protein/fat, which is different from MFP pre-sets. Let me know if you don't know how to change them.
    How exactly do you manage to get 110% in a day?
    oops! I meant 40/30/30!
  • vs1023
    vs1023 Posts: 417 Member
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    I would try to have more whole foods (veggies, fruits, lean meats and dairy if you eat it and good fats). I wouldn't worry as much over the protein since it's set low. I think the ratio that i've heard is good is 40, 30, 30 (Carbs, protein, fat), I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong ;)

    Most fruit will log a lot of sugar, but you can add in some blueberries, strawberries (lower sugar things) that will keep it down.

    I like to keep my sugar low and not because I think it makes me fat ;) but i don't like the way i feel when I eat too much sugar and what it does to my body.

    Looking at your diary makes me think you need more food-food. Add some salsa or veggies to your egg whites or bring along some grape tomato or something. I don't see many veggies, good fats or protein from food sources like beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc.
  • stylistchik
    stylistchik Posts: 1,436 Member
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    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.

    Sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories makes you fat. Plain and simple.

    It does play a large part in your overall long term health how you consume your macros. At first, only caloric deficit will make a difference but the chemistry is much more complex than that if you want to remain healthy and not just skinny.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    fruits have a lot of sugar and would not worry. people will say sugar is sugar, in that case give me a box of snickers over bananas please. :noway:

    protein, eat up or drink up; however you get it in.

    you can ignore watching sugar and change your protein goals to your liking.
  • rico1923
    rico1923 Posts: 32
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    [/quote]

    It does play a large part in your overall long term health how you consume your macros. At first, only caloric deficit will make a difference but the chemistry is much more complex than that if you want to remain healthy and not just skinny.
    [/quote]

    I just took a look at your profile and think that the base protein figure is too low. When someone loses weight the weight loss comes from burning fuel that is already in your body; if you do not get enough protein you will lose muscle as well as fat when you reduce. The problem comes when you gain the weight back, which will be all fat.
    As for sugar, I am someone who has developed type 2 diabetes so I am a bit more careful than some others on the site when it comes to totally disregarding sugar consumption. There are sugars in beans/whole grains but your body works harder to get to them and these sugars are released into your system much slower than white sugar/white flour which means you get hungry later rather than sooner after eating them.
    I like how you spread your meals out through the day but think more fresh produce and less processed food (bread and cookies) would help you eat larger meals that satisfy your hunger with the same caloric load. That would also increase your fiber over 25g/day, increase the vitamins/minerals in your meals without supplements and decrease your daily sugar number.
  • sweetoblivion314
    sweetoblivion314 Posts: 55
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    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.

    Sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories makes you fat. Plain and simple.

    Not entirely true. Due to hormones activated (namely insulin) by the intake of sugar (fructose excluded, which has been shown to control insulin) it can easily cause your body to deposit calories into fat cells as opposed to using them or storing them in the liver or muscle glycogen. This is where the glycemic index emerges from.
    Personally I avoid simple sugars (even fruit) 6 out of 7 days of the week. I get all of my carbs from very low glycemic sources, mainly legumes.
  • cirellim
    cirellim Posts: 269
    Options
    Disregard it if your only concern is maintaing or losing weight you can be over any of the "suggested" macronutrients and it will make no difference so long as you don't exceed your daily maintenance or deficit levels for calories.

    Sugar doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories makes you fat. Plain and simple.

    Not entirely true. Due to hormones activated (namely insulin) by the intake of sugar (fructose excluded, which has been shown to control insulin) it can easily cause your body to deposit calories into fat cells as opposed to using them or storing them in the liver or muscle glycogen. This is where the glycemic index emerges from.
    Personally I avoid simple sugars (even fruit) 6 out of 7 days of the week. I get all of my carbs from very low glycemic sources, mainly legumes.

    The glycemic index is completely irrelevant do some real research not information found off google.

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