How to hit my carb target without going over on my sugar tar

Low sugar carbs eh? Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, corn to name a few. Why are you limiting your sugar so low?

Using MFP has been a real eye opener for me in the sugar allowance - I have been regularly eating Kellogs Sultana Bran as a breakfast for about a year, and when I plugged it into MFP I was STUNNED to see how much sugar it has! So no more of that, had cooked rolled oats today, with 2 teaspoons of sugar and still heaps under what the Sultana Bran was. I have also noticed it is very easy to go over the sugar allowance, but I tend not to eat much fresh fruit, which I should. What kind of fruit do you eat Jackie? I'm off to see what an apple is ..... and walk around the backyard 10 times!

Hi Jackie I just went & looked and an apple is 14 - so two apples equals my entire sugar allowance as well. I think that everything we eat needs to be counted, but its obviously better to get natural sugars in fruit than a bag of lollies or added sugars! (Lollies = sweets/candy - I am an Australian!)

Edited to say I just had another look and kiwi fruit and strawberries come in at less than 10g sugar per serve so that's a good choice :-)

Eat egg whites...has a good amount of carbs and a good source of protein as well.

Carrots are also high in carbs and low sugar

I always heard that unless you are diabetic or have some other health problem, then you shouldn't really count the sugar in fruit or fruit juice. I would focus more on keeping your added sugar levels low.

Anybody think 28g is unreasonable? Should I try to stick to that or not worry about it? Or should I be setting a different target?

I have my food diary set at
protein 50%
carbs 40%
fat 10%

I slightly went over my sugar today b/c I ate too much bread. You can look at my food diary if you want...mine is open to the public.

I have noticed that I consistently go over my daily sugar target even though I usually hit or stay just under my carb target. Is anybody else finding the same thing? How can I get enough carbs without going over on sugar? Any food suggestions?

MFP says my carb target is 190g and my sugar target is 28g. Eating just two fruits a day is enough to put me at 28g!!

Why are you concerned with a sugar target? Carbs are carbs, They all get converted to glucose. Frutis are good for you. Eat them as long as you have the carbs available in your diet to do so.

I can't seem to wrap my head around how I could stick to 28g of sugar per day without cutting out healthy fruits. I make my meals from scratch an dont add sugar to my cooking. But if I eat a banana for breakfast and have an apple later in the day, I am already at my limit without even including any grains in my diet yet and I am still way under my carb target. Is anybody out there actually hitting their carb target without going over on the sugar? And if so are you eating a balance of fruits veggies, grains and breads? Or are you getting your carbs from one source and is that healthy?

I wouldn't ignore the sugar. Sugar is not something you should have a lot of regardless of its source. While it is important to maintain your caloric goal, eating the proper foods will get you to your goals quicker. Refine sugars and bad carbs will make you feel and look more bloated. They also affect your blood sugar levels, which even if you do not have diabetes it does matter because it affects your mood in a negative way (i.e., may make you more depressed, etc)

Are you sure that your settings are right? That sounds a little weird to me? Regardless, I would not worry too much about the sugar coming from fruits, but limit the sugar from other areas. All I'm saying is that you should be aiming for A LOT more servings of vegetables than of fruits. Another good source of carbs is sweet potatoes...they're delicious. Definitely make sure you are meeting your carb requirements!

VEGGIES!!!

I don't track my sugar normally but I looked it up after I read your post. If I am good on a particular day I can meet my carb goal with out going over my sugar goal. But these guys are essentially right, carbs are carbs. As long as you're not going over your carb goal and you're meeting the fiber goal, I wouldn't worry about it. Just don't get your sugar from a soda can or a candy bar. 2 pieces of fruit a day is perfectly healthy, though I wouldn't make it much more than that. I really like Eggo waffles and frosted mini-wheats as snacks. They are pretty low on sugar, high on fiber, and take basically no preparation!

The fruit you are choosing may also be user-entered. You can research the fruits you eat and then enter your own apple or banana into the database. I've done that with several items. Especially between American and Canadian food chains where the portion size is different.

I have noticed that I consistently go over my daily sugar target even though I usually hit or stay just under my carb target. Is anybody else finding the same thing? How can I get enough carbs without going over on sugar? Any food suggestions?

MFP says my carb target is 190g and my sugar target is 28g. Eating just two fruits a day is enough to put me at 28g!!

Why are you concerned with a sugar target? Carbs are carbs, They all get converted to glucose. Frutis are good for you. Eat them as long as you have the carbs available in your diet to do so.

I figured the targets were there for a reason and to exceed the would be unhealthy so I am trying to stick to all targets and have been successful with all except sugar.

Just read an interesting article that says the sugar intake target refers to added sugars and not those occuring naturally in foods such as fruit. So I think I will not worry about MFP saying I am going over on my sugar and just target to keep within my carb target.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/474832-recommended-grams-of-sugar-per-day/

Yep, unless you have a specific reason for worrying about it. Don't. Just worry about filling your diet with whole, nutritious foods and hitting your macro-nutrient goals.

Good advice. Don't try to overthink it. When you try to track too many nutritional values, your diet plan can become overly complicated leading to frustration and a strong desire to throw up your hands and walk away from it....at least, that's been my personal experience. I have found that a good, common sense approach to eating works best. I think about food enough as it is, I don't need a diet plan to make my food obsession worse. Track your calories, certainly, but unless you have health problems (i.e. high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes), the other nutritional values shouldn't be as big a concern. Just stay away from fast food and processed foods as much as possible, and learn portion control. These two basic guidelines and regular vigorous exercise should be sufficient for most people.