Keeping to sugar limits?

forthespiderqueen
forthespiderqueen Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Hiya,

I changed the settings on my diary to show my sugar and sugar limit goal and with my ridiculously high sugar cereal (special k - did not realise it was quite so high) or just 3 cups strawberries (I eat a lot of this sort of fruit) I am almost at my limit! My other days I have gone over by quite a lot. Does anyone stick to their sugar limit? What are the effects if I don't (such as less weight loss and why)?

Even a few snack a jacks put me over. I am really wondering what to do about snacks.. I know I always eat far far to much sugar but I was shocked how high it apparently is now I am on a diet :(

I cant stand salad or nuts, even if I want to like them xD, I tend to go for sweet things such as tomato.

Feel free to check my food diary if it helps anyone with ideas.
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Replies

  • kari574
    kari574 Posts: 99 Member
    If you just try to take it easy on the added sugar, I think you'll be fine. My limit is 25 grams - I buy NO SUGAR ADDED applesauce, and that is 24 grams of sugar right there!

    Just checked out your diary and that is a pretty high sugar content for cereal. One serving of my favorite cereal has 6 grams of sugar, so you're 4x that. Might look for a lower sugar cereal, and maybe smaller portions...? One serving of my cereal is 3/4 cup - I'm not sure how many grams that is.
  • TXPaul
    TXPaul Posts: 74 Member
    I noticed the same thing with mine. I hope someone with some knowledge answers because I would like to know how important this is. I used to drink 5 or 6 sodas a day. I would hate to see what those numbers would look like.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    i track my sugar with fiber to ensure that i'm getting enough.

    an average whole food will be less than 5:1 sugar to fiber ratio, so i try to keep my diet under that. i don't worry about sugars found in unprocessed or whole foods, but i keep processed sugars down to minimal, or at least i try.
  • MDawg81
    MDawg81 Posts: 244 Member
    I have the same problem. My favorite fruit is a banana, and when I eat that I am 2/3 of the way to my sugar limit already. FROM A BANANA!
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
    I eat fruit so I am always over on sugar.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Are you diabetic? If the answer is no, why are you stressing sugar?
  • andreamkelly
    andreamkelly Posts: 169
    Right now I'm worrying more about sodium than sugar, but I guess I need to start looking at sugar too. My husband had me buy Turbinado (sp?) sugar for him to use in smoothies. Like a lot of the others posters, I try not to buy food with added sugar and stick to the natural sugars.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Sugar is Sugar......
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
    Are you diabetic? If the answer is no, why are you stressing sugar?

    Diabetes is not the only disease you need to worry about sugar intake on. Many overweight people suffer from insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, PCOS and others that you will NOT lose weight on if you eat carbs whether they come from a banana or a Snickers bar. SUGAR IS SUGAR does not matter where it comes from. Your body will metabolize it the same.

    I urge those of you who have not seen your MD to go and get blood work done to check for this. You do not monitor it now, it can lead to diabetes.

    It is very irresponsible to tell people to stuff their faces with something that may hurt them.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
    I don't think I've had a single day yet where I've been below 150grams, hasn't hurt my weight loss one bit. I am working on slowly getting my sugar down, but only because I have a family history of diabetes that tends to show up in the mid 30's, however my blood work every single time for the last 10+ years has been perfect.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Agreed.....This is all true.....There are also many people without such conditions that stress sugar intake for no reason or because they heard it is bad for you.......or to only have "good" sugars like there is a difference. .
    Are you diabetic? If the answer is no, why are you stressing sugar?

    Diabetes is not the only disease you need to worry about sugar intake on. Many overweight people suffer from insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, PCOS and others that you will NOT lose weight on if you eat carbs whether they come from a banana or a Snickers bar. SUGAR IS SUGAR does not matter where it comes from. Your body will metabolize it the same.

    I urge those of you who have not seen your MD to go and get blood work done to check for this. You do not monitor it now, it can lead to diabetes.

    It is very irresponsible to tell people to stuff their faces with something that may hurt them.
  • GinaMauricio17
    GinaMauricio17 Posts: 69 Member
    i havent really been eating fruit lately because of how high the sugar will go up. my friend said the extra sugar will turn into carbs, so if thats true try to leave room in your carbs if your going over sugar?
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I have been on mfp for 165 days and I have been over for sugar every one of those days. Maybe one day I'll consciously try to meet it, but I honestly don't know what I would eat to make that happen.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    i havent really been eating fruit lately because of how high the sugar will go up. my friend said the extra sugar will turn into carbs, so if thats true try to leave room in your carbs if your going over sugar?

    sugar doesn't turn into carbs. sugar is carbs. calories are made out of carbs, protein, fats, ethanol(alcohol)
  • GinaMauricio17
    GinaMauricio17 Posts: 69 Member
    its a percentage, not every carb is sugar
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    its a percentage, not every carb is sugar

    reading comprehension.........every gram of sugar is a carb.....not the other way around.
  • palmerig88
    palmerig88 Posts: 623 Member
    I don't track it because the fruit makes mine go over so maybe deduct that as naturally occurring if you want an idea of how much extra you are really taking in
  • 12skipafew99100
    12skipafew99100 Posts: 1,669 Member
    I ignore milk sugars and fruit sugars. I try to keep yogurt sugars to a minimum. All other sugars like candy cake and such I restrict a lot. Beware of cereals.
    If you like chocolate, truffles are amazing ly low in sugar and are something I just discovered. :bigsmile:


    I took sugar off mine and replaced with carbs.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    Agreed.....This is all true.....There are also many people without such conditions that stress sugar intake for no reason or because they heard it is bad for you.......or to only have "good" sugars like there is a difference. .
    Are you diabetic? If the answer is no, why are you stressing sugar?

    Diabetes is not the only disease you need to worry about sugar intake on. Many overweight people suffer from insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, PCOS and others that you will NOT lose weight on if you eat carbs whether they come from a banana or a Snickers bar. SUGAR IS SUGAR does not matter where it comes from. Your body will metabolize it the same.

    I urge those of you who have not seen your MD to go and get blood work done to check for this. You do not monitor it now, it can lead to diabetes.

    It is very irresponsible to tell people to stuff their faces with something that may hurt them.

    a carrot is considerably sweet, but still good for you. there is an enormous difference between complex carbohydrates and simple sugars in how your body cares for them.

    a coca-cola and a carrot are not treated the same in the body; yes, they both have carbs (sugars), but a carbohydrate is made up of starch, fiber and sugar, so to not consider the other to factors of carbohydrates is ridiculous.

    agreed about speaking to a professional about it if you're concerned, but not necessarily a doctor. speak to a nutritionist or a doctor that has a focus on nutrition.
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
    The MFP sugar limit is misleading. It is trying to track ADDED sugars, but obviously there are naturally occurring sugars in foods too.

    Pretty much all of my reading says that the FDA suggests no more than 40g of ADDED sugar per a day. That means sugars in milk, fruit, etc don't factor into this equation. From what I can tell, unless you're diabetic or have other blood sugar issues, there is no recommended amount of natural sugars that you should stay under.

    I aim to keep my sugar under 100g with most of it being from natural sources.
  • GinaMauricio17
    GinaMauricio17 Posts: 69 Member
    this link seems helpful

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/511457-how-much-natural-sugar-should-you-take-in-a-day/
  • myraknits
    myraknits Posts: 81 Member
    I'm so glad to read all this. My sugar limit is blown by breakfast. I eat lots of fruit and can't see how that's a bad thing as long as I don't abuse it. I think I'll take my sugar monitor off the ticker too.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
    I don't eat any sugar....unless it natural in strawberries, raspberries, & apples. No processed stuff.
  • bedinky1207
    bedinky1207 Posts: 53 Member
    This is one reason I pretty much had to give up cereal for breakfast. I was consuming a lot of sugar that way. I eat 1 egg scrambled with 3 egg whites for breakfast every morning now. I still eat 1/2 a banana every day which is one of my favorite fruits but natural fruit sugars don't bother me as much as processed sugars found in cereals and flavored oatmeals.
  • piratesaregrand
    piratesaregrand Posts: 356 Member
    I'm type 1 diabetic, I don't really take into account sugar from fruit, I just make sure I eat fruit earlier in the day. As I see it there are benefits to eating fruit, not so much cake.
  • jacqui1612
    jacqui1612 Posts: 128 Member
    Not all sugars are the same. Try to stay away from sugars added in foods (but you also need to be careful there cause if you buy no added sugar things they could be much higher in other things such as salt and fat).

    My mother has a book that is really informative about sugar. Its called 'Sweet Poison" by David Gillespie. I haven't had a chance to read it yet cause she keeps lending it to other people, but I'm going to read it shortly. My mum learnt lots about the differences in sugars found in different producted such as fruit and processed goods. It could help you to understand where your sugar should be coming from and what you should avoid.
  • Kymmu
    Kymmu Posts: 1,650 Member
    Sugar raises insulin and converts to fat to be stored or used up. How much you need depends on your lifestyle. Unless you are running or burning a lot of cals I'd keep it low- natural or otherwise.
    Think of fruit as a dessert. A special lovely treat. Don't go nuts with it.
    You'll do better with more vegies..You can marinate them and bake them to make them delicious if you don't like them raw.
    The less sweet food you have to eat, the sweeter the vegetables will seem!
    I go low sugar and am quite used to it .
    good luck.
  • forthespiderqueen
    forthespiderqueen Posts: 6
    Thanks for the replies! I will stop with the cereal. Breakfast has always been a troublesome meal for me because I usually cant stand cereal/toast/egg etc. I guess I liked special k because it was so sugary xD I will also try not to count fruit sugars too much.

    I am more concered about sugar as this diet is also largely about getting much healthier and I know its terrible but my diet before was pretty much just sweets (and just to mention you cant get diabetes just from too much sugar it is more to do with a larger waist line, but too much sugar still isn't good for you).
  • Jigglebewie
    Jigglebewie Posts: 336 Member
    I'm not so sure you need to worry too much about the sugar.

    I go over on sugar every single day, it's inevitable if your eating plenty of fruit. Fruit is very good for you and people shouldn't be avoiding fruit when it has so many benefits such as lowering certain health risks (cancer, high blood pressure), keeping your digestive system in good working order because of the fibre you obtain from fruit (& veg) it's also low in calories and can keep you feeling fuller for longer which is a plus if your watching your weight and tend to snack often.

    If your that worried about sugar, don't add extra sugar to things like cereal or your tea/coffee and keep it to fruit and things with lower amounts of sugar =]

    Hope that helps.
  • lady_in_weighting
    lady_in_weighting Posts: 196 Member
    When it comes to sweeteners, the importance is in how they are "packaged" by nature and thus how they are metabolized. Whole sweeteners, or natural sweeteners, have their vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients intact. These nutrients, along with the good bacteria in the gut, might slow down the digestion of the food so that blood sugar doesn't spike and the pancreas is not strained.

    http://www.real-and-healthy-food.com/types-of-sugar.html

    hope this is helpful!

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