Limiting myself to 1500 calories. Too much sugar though?

mercurystar999
mercurystar999 Posts: 12 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm on a serious cut down and am limiting myself to1500 calories. The app set me at 1930 bit I feel that is too high. I'm finding that many calories fine but when going into a detailed look at my breakdown for the day i'm taking in to much sugar. My day is pretty sugar free I feel other than fruit. I know fruit had sugar in but that is the only sugar i'm taking in as far add I can see. Errol it affect my weight loss?
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Replies

  • _stephanie0
    _stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
    sugar from fruit is fine when you have a lot to lose. you may find that cutting it out when your at your last 10 pounds will help, but dont worry about fruit from sugar...

    but more importantly.... i am 5'4 and 130lbs and i eat 1600-1700 to lose weight.

    eat more...if your goal is to lose weight, that is :P

    MFP is pretty good at determining cal needs...if it says 1930, eat 1930. i'd maintain at 2000...pretty sure you can get away with it ;)
  • butterfli7o
    butterfli7o Posts: 1,319 Member
    Have to agree, 1500 sounds way too low for you...
  • mishkat
    mishkat Posts: 99 Member
    Try the recommended calories instead of 1500. I think that will be best and not as hard of a crash. Do you know how many calories were you eating before though?

    Also, sugar from fruits is ok. I hear that the sugar preset in mfp is very low. Unless you have some medical condition to worry about sugar and carbs, you should be ok if you just worry about your carb/fat/protein ratio.
  • mercurystar999
    mercurystar999 Posts: 12 Member
    Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry
  • taeliesyn
    taeliesyn Posts: 1,116 Member
    If you set MFP up right (correct activity level) and your goals are letting you eat 3 meals a day and not feel like you're on a diet, then rejoice and give it a go.
    This is meant to be a lifestyle change, not a diet and if it's easy for you to do, don't go making it harder on yourself, just because it feels easy. If you find you're not losing the weight, then give it a go.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
    Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

    But, that's the great thing about MFP - if you can find the right amount of cals to eat so you "don't feel like your'e on a diet" - then that's perfect!
    I've loved to learn that losing weight doesn't have to be about deprivation. Moderation certainly goes a long way, but deprivation doesn't have to come into it.

    Anyway, back to your sugar query - my opinion is that if most of your sugar is coming from fruit, I wouldn't worry about it. If you feel like you want to reduce it a bit, try replacing some of that fruit with veggies. Either way you are getting lots of good nutrition (and fibre, vitamins, minerals etc) with your sugar.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all. I'm having three meals a day as it is and i'm not hungry

    Why do you need to feel like you're on a diet? :P
  • Hendrix7
    Hendrix7 Posts: 1,903 Member
    Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all.

    Sounds good to me, losing weight while not feeling you are on a diet?

    Have you even tried it yet?

    At least try it for a couple of weeks first before attempting to do your own thing.
  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 192 Member
    Thing is I need to loose a considerably large amount of weight. 60 - 70 pounds at least. If I ate 1930 calories I don't think i'd feel I was on a diet at all.

    Sounds good to me, losing weight while not feeling you are on a diet?

    Have you even tried it yet?

    At least try it for a couple of weeks first before attempting to do your own thing.

    Agreed. If you've been overeating for years, sometimes just logging your food makes you realise how much you can eat of healthy, nutrition dense food and still lose weight. If you can build in treats too, all the better. Your aim should be to find a way of eating you can sustain for the rest of your life, not just to lose as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.

    Remember: it may seem easy, but only about 5% of people maintain weight loss long term!
  • Bssh
    Bssh Posts: 123
    Stick with the higher 1900 cals and remember to eat your exercise cals. You have most likely been eating way, way more than this until now so you will definitely lose weight. Lower cals may not be sustainable for you in the longterm - you are more likely to fall off the diet. Your body may also get used to the lower cals, your metabolism may drop and you may find that you can never eat more than 1500 without putting weight back on.

    If I were you I would try 1900+ cals for a month and then review.
  • mercurystar999
    mercurystar999 Posts: 12 Member
    I started on Monday. My typical day is:

    2 weetabix with semi skimmed milk at 0730 with a cup of tea no
    A banana at 10 o'clock
    A multi seed roll with a slice of ham and low fat mayonnaise, a packet of baked Walkers crisps, and an apple at lunch time which is 1230.
    Then at dinner time ill have for instance last night I had a chicken breast with pasta peppers onion and a tomato sauce.

    I'm also drinking roughly 1.5 to 2 litres of water a day.

    Where would I put the extra calories and what. The only thing I feel i'm missing is some set things.

    Now before starting this plan I would of eaten crunchy nut cornflakes for breakfast probably eaten a chocolate by instead of an apple at lunch. And had a normal packet of crisps.

    Evening meal would usually be simmering home made also.

    My problem is weekends where if go mad and eat Curries, Chinese food and pizza on two of the nights!
  • supermoo2
    supermoo2 Posts: 77
    Men trying to lose weight should have about 2000 cals, so 1930 is not too high
  • mercurystar999
    mercurystar999 Posts: 12 Member
    Where should I add extra calories and what?
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
    Where should I add extra calories and what?

    I'd say add in another snack between lunch and dinner, I always need something about 4pm personally and usually have a big bowl of melon, strawberries, blueberries and whatever other fruit I can find.

    Also do you have any other drinks in the day other than water and the one cup of tea for brekkie? I have about 3 big mugs of tea a day with semi skimmed milk, which is about 25 calories per mug, and sometimes I'll have a glass of ribena which is another 20 calories or something. So the odd drink can also bump calories up.

    I find I am always over my sugar macro as well btw - just because I have a small glass of fruit juice every morning but its something I don't want to give up!
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
    You could, if you think it would work for you, look at calories weekly.

    So, 'if you want to keep one/two nights at the weekend for a curry you could stick with the 1500 on week days and then eat 3000 ish on weekend days.
  • SimonIsChanging
    SimonIsChanging Posts: 91 Member
    I have to agree with the rest of MFP, 1500 is way too low for you, you're on a road to illness with that low of calories. If you're worried about sugar intake, log it before you eat it :) Just advice, you can do what you feel works for you.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Where should I add extra calories and what?
    No need.
  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 192 Member
    Where should I add extra calories and what?

    Well, whatever you enjoy, I'd say! And if you can get more nutritional 'bang' for your buck then all the better.

    Some examples:
    Switch from skim to full fat milk (some studies show you absorb the nutrients from the milk better that way)
    Add a handfull of nuts to your morning banana snack (will help stabilize your blood sugar level)

    Another option is to calorie cycle and aim for a weekly cal total rather than a daily one. That way, you could still have your weekend splurges. It's all about finding a way of eating you can live with for the rest of your life...
  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 192 Member
    Where should I add extra calories and what?
    No need.

    Yeah, no need, apart from the fact he'll still lose weight eating more, plus probably enjoy it more and be better able to stick to it long term...!
  • 2Bgoddess
    2Bgoddess Posts: 1,096 Member
    my comment is strictly regarding sugars. Sugar did not make me fat, but it KEPT me fat. I was eating fat free crap, and not losing. the reason for that is because if there is sugar just floating around in my system, my body uses that for energy. If I keep my sugars pretty low, my body must burn more fat for energy. keeping my sugar low included limiting (not eliminating) fruit, bread, rice, pasta and some dairy products.

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