Sugar, uugghh!!

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bkew
bkew Posts: 5
in Food and Nutrition
Sugar is my weakness!! Does anyone have any helpful tips for cutting out/back on sugar?!?!

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  • Clarimusic00
    Clarimusic00 Posts: 96 Member
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    I know how you feel!! I've noticed it is so hard to stay under the suggested amount of sugar a day! I mean look at the sugar in fruits: banana (8 inch) = 19 grams of sugar, medium braeburn apple = 12 grams, 1 cup of strawberries = 7 grams, 1 cup of blueberries = 14 grams. I personally like the advice of many MFP users: Don't focus on sugar as much as other values such as calories, fat, carbs and protein. I plan on doing this more and getting frustrated by sugar less (especially when I know I'm making healthy choices).
  • Michiganbaby9297
    Michiganbaby9297 Posts: 2
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    I have found it really easy to cut back on sugar by adding things that are naturally sweet to my meals and snacks already. One killer thing for me is waffles and pancakes for breakfast. They are pretty decent in calories alone, but when you add the syrup to it, that is when you get overload. A simple thing I do is put strawberries (fresh or frozen) and puree them in a blender, adding yougurt to it, I put it on my pancakes and it is way less calories!
  • emilymci94
    emilymci94 Posts: 8
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    If most of the sugar you're eating is in fruits/veggies/non-processed foods, then it's not such a big deal! I would try to cut back on foods that have lots of sugar that isn't from these (soda/ice cream/baked goods...ect). I eat a fruit and nut bar sometimes and it has about 18g of sugar. However, the only ingredients in it are dates/apples/cashews...ect so I just try to focus more on eating foods lower in sugar instead of cutting out natural foods!
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
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    I wasn't able to cut back. I went cold turkey for about 3 months. Then I slowly reintroduced sugar into my life in a more healthy way. I don't feel like it's out of my control anymore. It's been 4 years since I did that.
  • honukala203
    honukala203 Posts: 3
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    From everything I've read the sugar you need to worry about is the 'added sugars.' I'm not sure if the limit they post on here takes natural sugars into account? I try to do the math and add up the number of added sugar that my day lists and have that below the daily limit. Not sure if this is right but it seems so? :)
  • princessnik7
    princessnik7 Posts: 144 Member
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    I find it really hard to stay under the daily allowance of sugar even when i dont' eat any "sweets" (cookies, cakes, etc....) I am trying to eat more fruits so that the sugar is natural and not processed added sugars, but I don't know if that really makes a difference or not. Its amazing the foods that have added sugar or "hidden" sugars.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Everything I've read says you need to worry about the amount of added sugars in your diet and not the naturally occurring sugars found in whole foods like fruits and vegetables. The less added sugar the better since your body doesn't need any at all but it should be kept under 6 teaspoons (24 grams) for women and 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men.

    I've noticed there's added sugar in almost EVERYTHING I buy that's processed. Even things I consider ingredients and not something to eat separately--like tomato paste--have dextrose (sugar) added! And foods that are labeled organic are no better when it comes to added sugar and salt. It's pretty frustrating. Here's a list of some of the names of added sugars to be mindful of from Harvard's website:

    Agave nectar
    Brown sugar
    Cane crystals
    Cane sugar
    Corn sweetener
    Corn syrup
    Crystalline fructose
    Dextrose
    Evaporated cane juice
    Fructose
    Fruit juice concentrates
    Glucose
    High-fructose corn syrup
    Honey
    Invert sugar
    Lactose
    Maltose
    Malt syrup
    Molasses
    Raw sugar
    Sucrose
    Sugar
    Syrup

    http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/added-sugar-on-food-labels/
  • paeli
    paeli Posts: 295 Member
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    Sugar is my sweet spot too! Haha sweet spot?! I try not to think too much of being up on sugar as long as it's naturally occurring sugars mainly in fruits.

    In the case of cutting back, for things like cookies which I used to love - I just gave them up totally until I had the control to just have 1 serving at a time.
  • vs1023
    vs1023 Posts: 417 Member
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    Honestly cold turkey is the thing that works best for me. Also if I want sugar I have real sugar, not processed stuff in a lot of packaged goods. I do use stevia extract in my coffee. I find when I eat some cake or cookies or something from a store that I just want more and more and more, so I cut it cold turkey and add in a lot of protein and veggies and it helps. Dark chocolate covered almonds or dark chocolate in general is my "go to" for something sweet.

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