First day of tracking food has been a learning experience.

All sweet fruits have carbs because of the sugar content. Keep in mind though that we DO need at least some carbs, and there is certainly a difference between simple carbs (donuts, cookies, cake, etc) and complex carbs (apples, berries, bananas, and so on).

Thankfully I started tracking when I started trying to keep my calorie intake down. There's no telling how many calories I was intaking before MFP.

All sweet fruits have carbs because of the sugar content. Keep in mind though that we DO need at least some carbs, and there is certainly a difference between simple carbs (donuts, cookies, cake, etc) and complex carbs (apples, berries, bananas, and so on).

Apples are mostly fructose. Some berries will be lower in sugars and carbs.

This from the web may help you

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• Simple carbohydrates are sugars—glucose and fructose from fruits and some vegetables, lactose from milk, sucrose from cane or beet sugar, and others. Table sugar is pure sucrose. Much of the simple carbs we eat are sugars added to processed foods such as sodas, cookies, etc. These added sugars are the main reason why sugar now accounts for 16% of all calories consumed by Americans; 20 years ago, it supplied 11%. Soda alone supplies about one-third of this added sugar.

• Complex carbohydrates, which are chains of simple sugars, consist primarily of starches as well as the fiber that occurs in all plant foods. Starch is the storage form of carbohydrates in plants. Foods rich in complex carbs include grains and grain products (such as bread and pasta), beans, potatoes, corn, and some other vegetables.

I was one of those " I dont understand why Im overweight, I eat healthy things" before MFP... after my first day of logging I was all kinds of :noway:

Now my skin feels better, my mind is sharper, I have more energy and my PORTIONS are under control... Good job getting through your first day!!! Its the first one of the rest of your life!

All sweet fruits have carbs because of the sugar content. Keep in mind though that we DO need at least some carbs, and there is certainly a difference between simple carbs (donuts, cookies, cake, etc) and complex carbs (apples, berries, bananas, and so on).

Sorry, but in spite of the marketing you've been inundated with, apples, berries, and bananas are all actually simple carbs (monosacharides) and donuts, cookies, and cake are all complex carbs (flour is a starch, all starches are complex carbs.)

There are a number of different types of sugars/ carbs- Lactose is milk sugar; fructose is fruit sugar; sucrose is refined white sugar; dextrose is corn sugar; glucose is blood sugar- or what your body converts all of those other "-oses" into- and our brain uses a lot of it! What matters the most, as someone has noted, is whether the carbs you take in are of the simple variety or the complex variety. The latter help curb hunger, fills you up, and usually has a decent amount of fiber. Here's a good article to help: http://www.whathealth.com/sugar/

And I agree- this food tracking think is hugely eye-opening, even for someone like me who has a degree in exercise science! I'm starting to remember what I told all of my personal training clients when I was in my 20s. I'm in my 40s now, and finding out first hand how/ why my middle aged clients struggled with weight, kids, diet, work, & spouses!

Good luck!

I tracked everything today. Apples have carbs? Seriously? Had applesauce at lunch, an apple for a snack and then a salad with apples in it for supper. Let's just say... I'm way over my carbs allowed. Do all fruits have carbs? For some reason, I only thought it was food like bread, pasta, baked goods.....

All fruit has carbs. You should eat fruit but stick to the ones that have more fiber (the more fiber and protein the less the carbs impact you. Apples, pears, berries to name a few. Bananas are horrible! Unless you are working out heavy or running long distances and need carbs and potassium. They have alot of carbs and sugar, citrus fruits should also be kept to a minimum as they have alot of sugar. Yes natural sugar (such as those in fruit is better than added sugar in foods) but if you eat them all day it is not good for weight loss as it will mess with insulin release.
Veggies have sugar and carbs too believe it or not. Carrots are one of the worst. You should stick to leafy greens and cook them as al dente as possible to keep the fiber and nutrients in them. And never eat canned veggies all the nutrients and fiber are lost when they are processed, cleaned and then sit in water.
I'm no expert but a diabetes doc, cadiologist and 2 regular docs have all recommended South Beach because it is basically the way healthy people re supposed to eat. I lost 70 lbs on it 6 years ago and it didn't come back til this last 2 years when I started cooking for my man and not my health
I learned this from the South Beach diet book and completely obliterated my borderline diabetes by learning more about what goes into my body and how my body works. I re-read it sometimes as a refresher when I see myself going back to my old ways.

I tracked everything today. Apples have carbs? Seriously? Had applesauce at lunch, an apple for a snack and then a salad with apples in it for supper. Let's just say... I'm way over my carbs allowed. Do all fruits have carbs? For some reason, I only thought it was food like bread, pasta, baked goods.....

All fruit has carbs. You should eat fruit but stick to the ones that have more fiber (the more fiber and protein the less the carbs impact you. Apples, pears, berries to name a few. Bananas are horrible! Unless you are working out heavy or running long distances and need carbs and potassium. They have alot of carbs and sugar, citrus fruits should also be kept to a minimum as they have alot of sugar. Yes natural sugar (such as those in fruit is better than added sugar in foods) but if you eat them all day it is not good for weight loss as it will mess with insulin release.
Veggies have sugar and carbs too believe it or not. Carrots are one of the worst. You should stick to leafy greens and cook them as al dente as possible to keep the fiber and nutrients in them. And never eat canned veggies all the nutrients and fiber are lost when they are processed, cleaned and then sit in water.
I'm no expert but a diabetes doc, cadiologist and 2 regular docs have all recommended South Beach because it is basically the way healthy people re supposed to eat. I lost 70 lbs on it 6 years ago and it didn't come back til this last 2 years when I started cooking for my man and not my health
I learned this from the South Beach diet book and completely obliterated my borderline diabetes by learning more about what goes into my body and how my body works. I re-read it sometimes as a refresher when I see myself going back to my old ways.

Carbs (even white sugar) have no impact on weight loss or health if calories are controlled, unless you have a metabolic disorder.

Like I said I'm no expert- If I was I wouldn't have gained weight back the last 2 years by eating like crap and becoming lazy. Just saying what worked for me and helped me feed my body properly. 70 lbs in 6 months and I felt amazing and got rid of insulin resistance that made me pass out and go to the hospital. Yup I will stick to mostly lean meats, whole grains, low fat cheese and steamed veggies with a few pieces of dark chocolate when I have a craving. It works for me and if eating sugar works for you Awesome!

Banana's in and of themselves are not "bad" but need to be part of your plan - calorie wise, or carb wise or what ever plan you are following.

BUMP - is something people use to bring the thread to the top of the category making it easier to find again. Some of these forums get a lot of activity and some of the post quickly move to page 5 or 6.

The ticker is something you can activate yourself if you want it to appear in your posts like the one I have below.

Everyone is different and has different opinions, especially about the carbs. A lot of people push low carb, high protein.

In my nutrition class, we are learning that optimally you want 60-70% or more of your calories from carbs, 10% protein, and 20% or less fat.

If they don't have lots of added crap, eat your granola bars, and eat your apples and bananas!

Thanks so much everyone! I'm learning so much I didn't know. This food tracking thing is really going to help me out a lot along with the community. Bananas are bad too? I have one everyday. lol Also, just checked my granola bars I have every morning. They have 23g of carbs each! I won't be buying those anymore! Didn't do good with exercise or water today. I was doing alot of errands since it was my day off. I did park far from every stop I had to make though. :happy: And didn't go thru any drive thrus at all.

Since I'm new... what is a ticker? and why do some say... bump?

I would suggest checking the grams of sugar in foods rather than the grams of carbohydrates to start...