watching sugar intake - questions?

I'm trying to watching my sugar intake, I know the daily recommended amount is 40g.  Should I omit sugar from fruits, veggies, milk?  And is there any other food (for example no sugar added types) that I can omit from that 40g or is it all included???

I believe you should be watching the processed sugar intake, not the fruits, veggies, milk since they are all natural, and I don't think our bodies reacts to them the same way it does to the other

The 40g limit is very hard to keep under, even when you do cut out processed foods, so I think girlfighting27 is absolutely right.  Don't worry about naturally-occuring sugars in fruits and veg, but do worry about processed food which is packed with nasty crap like sat fat, glucose-fructose corn syrup, sodium, etc.

There are lots of low-sugar or sugar-free alternatives out there.  Be careful with artificial sweeteners, because then you'll still crave sugar.  Once you go low sugar for a while, your mouth gets used to the lack of sweetness.  If you stick to sweeteners a lot, I find I still crave high sweet snacks.  Almonds and dried cranberries are good because there's no added sugar, but still naturally sweet.  I've recently switched from regular skim milk to unsweetened soy milk.  It is higher in fat than regular milk, but is high in protein and has virtually no sugar.  Similary, low-fat hard cheeses have NO sugar and lots of protein as well. 

Whole-grain breads and whole grains in general have few simple sugars and lots more complex sugars which are better for your blood sugar levels and keeping them steady.  White bread is evil - tastes good, but is bad for you because it causes spikes in your blood sugar, which prompts bad snacking habits because you crave more of what you don't need - sugar and fat.

These are some things I've been doing and they've really helped with sugar cravings.  Lots of alternatives out there if you're craving sweets.  Sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes, etc.

Is it for medical reasons??

"No sugar added" usually means Splenda or the like. Those products are evil to me cause they make me crave more sugar. You'd have to see how your body reacts.

If you are someone, like me, who needs a little sweet treat everyday, try REAL dark chocolate. I eat either 72% or 85%. There is very little sugar in the packaged squares you can buy now. I think 3-5 grams, per piece, depending on the brand.

My sugar grams usually comes out at around 23 grams per day. I eat no processed foods (besides an Atkins protein bar if I have no time to cook myself breakfast), one piece of chocolate and 1 cup of blueberries/strawberries every day.

Aside from what you mentioned, don't count whole grains or plain yogurt.

I don't eat sugar or sugar free products [edit: I mean the products with sugar substitutes] at all and most of the time I still am around or a little over 40 grms a day intake, just from bread, fruit etc.

I think trying to eat exactly 40 grms a day will only drive you nuts, I'd just stick to cutting out the obvious sugar sources, but keep eating the healthy foods with natural sugars (like what girlfighting said ) and don't stress over it too much.

Original Post by sherea:

"No sugar added" usually means Splenda or the like. Those products are evil to me cause they make me crave more sugar. You'd have to see how your body reacts.

If you are someone, like me, who needs a little sweet treat everyday, try REAL dark chocolate. I eat either 72% or 85%. There is very little sugar in the packaged squares you can buy now. I think 3-5 grams, per piece, depending on the brand.

My sugar grams usually comes out at around 23 grams per day. I eat no processed foods (besides an Atkins protein bar if I have no time to cook myself breakfast), one piece of chocolate and 1 cup of blueberries/strawberries every day.

 I love dark chocolate! My favorite is intense orange. What I love the most is one or 2 squares is enough to satisfy the craving because of the richness.

I personally do not eat sugar from milk or fruit and feel pretty wonderful... But for you, you should probably keep the fruits & veggies but omit the milk. Milk really is not healthy for ANYONE as much as people don't want to believe me and think I am weird for saying this. Milk is not meant for human consumption! But keep eating all the veggies & fruits you want, they both have lots of antioxidants.... But I would recommend you eat more vegetables than fruits because new studies are coming out that state fructose as being really not good for the human body either, and fruit has A LOT more fructose than vegetables. 

Milk really is not healthy for ANYONE as much as people don't want to believe me and think I am weird for saying this.

So how about those people with osteoporosis? If you want to restrict your own diet - fine. But don't dole out your unprecidented tripe to others.

To the OP: Personally, I'd look to cutting out refined sugars or sugars found in processed and prepackaged food, or rather, cutting back on them, and getting most of your sugar from sources like fruit, honey, dairy (lactose is a sugar), and other natural sugar sources as has been suggested. But it doesn't hurt to have a bit of refined sugar once in a while, no a little bit of chocolate (dark is very good as has been said by others here!)

Hello,

I've come here desperate for some help with sugars myself. I aim to keep sugars below 90g per day, but that's ALL sugars, including natural ones. After keeping a daily food log for a few months it became clear that for me the issue is sugar, not fat. I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat fried foods, so other than the obvious cakes, chocolate and cheese there's not a huge amount of fat that I can eat.

My biggest problem is when I'm at work. My job is quite repetitive and requires a lot of concentration, so I tend to eat either for a boost to get me through the rest of the day or out of boredom. After 2pm the canteen is closed so the only option is the vending machine which only has chocolate and crisps in it.

I can't drink any more - I have 10 large cups of tea every day and 2 cups of plain water as it is, any more and I'd be sick.

There's only so much snack cheese you can eat in a day.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't mention fruit to me - a piece of fruit is over 20g of my daily allowance, I need to avoid the stuff. Also it's not filling.

Only the plainest of yogurt would be suitable, and it's too sour for me. All flavoured yogurts are definitely off the list.

I'm quite consious of people at work seeing me eat a third lunch at 3pm (I already have 2 healthy lunches, one at 11.30 and one at 1.30), I've brought in microwave rice before to have when I'm hungry but I'm too self-conscious for people to see the morbidly obese girl having 4 meals a day, and that's just in work time.

I've looked for suggestions on dealing with "emotional eating", but it's: go for a walk, read a book, listen to music, do something else generally frowned on during work time.

Any suggestions on snack foods that are low in all sugar, including natural sugar?

Thanks,

Jane

Original Post by lalabanana:

Milk really is not healthy for ANYONE as much as people don't want to believe me and think I am weird for saying this.

So how about those people with osteoporosis? If you want to restrict your own diet - fine. But don't dole out your unprecidented tripe to others.

To the OP: Personally, I'd look to cutting out refined sugars or sugars found in processed and prepackaged food, or rather, cutting back on them, and getting most of your sugar from sources like fruit, honey, dairy (lactose is a sugar), and other natural sugar sources as has been suggested. But it doesn't hurt to have a bit of refined sugar once in a while, no a little bit of chocolate (dark is very good as has been said by others here!)

 

http://www.4.waisays.com/ExcessiveCalcium.htm

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/w hat-should-you-eat/calcium-and-milk/index.htm l

http://www.milksucks.com/osteo.asp

http://babyreference.com/MilkingYourBones.htm

*Please read if you are interested in the comment I posted the other day. 

Shocker - too much calcium is bad for you. So is too much iron, too much zinc, too much of ANY mineral and nutrient just as much too little is.

And you saying "cut out all dairy!" could EASILY lead to malnutrition if following by the unknowing of how to supplement one of the most calcium-rich food groups a human can consume. Sure, you could eat sardines or leafy greens for extra calcium but knowledge of sources beyond dairy takes researching and a LOT of dieters are out for the quick fix and the faddy. Which is what you are essentially giving out.

In turn the sugars in milk are not bad - only if you are lactose intolerant, or allergic.

And sugar is what this topic is about, so we should likely keep it on that.

Who are you? And why are you so mean? My goodness. 

Original Post by giasbash6260:

Who are you? And why are you so mean? My goodness. 

she's a forum moderator, some who watches over the threads to ensure that cc members are getting good advice.  she responded to your post because you're not giving good advice.  the intensity with which she responded to your post is a reflection of frustration, no doubt, with what has become a very disturbing pattern of behavior.  you prance around these forums spouting your food phobias under the guise of providing healthful advice.  your level of food restriction places you well within the realm of obsessive and unhealthy.  that's sad.  incredibly sad.  your eating behaviors--saving your calories so that you can gorge yourself on two huge meals of no-calorie veggies and lean meats--are likewise disturbing.  doing two hours of cardio a day is not something to brag about on the fitness forum.  it's something to talk to your therapist about. the power you operate under is not "extreme willpower" as you claimed before.  it's fear.  so much fear.  and that's sad. 

but what's really upsetting is that you push your fears around this forum as if it were healthy advice, encouraging others to engage in unhealthy behaviors.  it's one thing to struggle with fears of gaining weight, being fat, and losing control.  i think there are many people on this site who can relate to those struggles.  but when you deny those fears and express your unhealthy behaviors as dictates that we all should live by it's really disturbing.  i think you would do yourself and the members of cc a huge service if you reconnected with a therapist and doctor to really evaluate your behaviors, rather than shoving them on cc members and asking us to join in your path to destruction. 

Original Post by janegriffith:

Any suggestions on snack foods that are low in all sugar, including natural sugar?

Do you like nuts?  I don't, personally, but many on this site swear by small servings of almonds or other nuts as snacks.

Do you like hummus?  Veggies dipped in hummus are a superyummy snack.  My personal favourites are either carrot or cucumber sticks, but any veggies you like would do.

I also enjoy cream cheese on Ryvita dark rye crackers.  That won't be quite as low-sugar as the options above, but it won't be as high sugar as fruit.

Soup can make a warm filling snack, particularly in the winter months.  If you get store-bought, watch the sodium though.

Original Post by laura916:

Original Post by giasbash6260:

Who are you? And why are you so mean? My goodness. 

she's a forum moderator, some who watches over the threads to ensure that cc members are getting good advice.  she responded to your post because you're not giving good advice.  the intensity with which she responded to your post is a reflection of frustration, no doubt, with what has become a very disturbing pattern of behavior.  you prance around these forums spouting your food phobias under the guise of providing healthful advice.  your level of food restriction places you well within the realm of obsessive and unhealthy.  that's sad.  incredibly sad.  your eating behaviors--saving your calories so that you can gorge yourself on two huge meals of no-calorie veggies and lean meats--are likewise disturbing.  doing two hours of cardio a day is not something to brag about on the fitness forum.  it's something to talk to your therapist about. the power you operate under is not "extreme willpower" as you claimed before.  it's fear.  so much fear.  and that's sad. 

but what's really upsetting is that you push your fears around this forum as if it were healthy advice, encouraging others to engage in unhealthy behaviors.  it's one thing to struggle with fears of gaining weight, being fat, and losing control.  i think there are many people on this site who can relate to those struggles.  but when you deny those fears and express your unhealthy behaviors as dictates that we all should live by it's really disturbing.  i think you would do yourself and the members of cc a huge service if you reconnected with a therapist and doctor to really evaluate your behaviors, rather than shoving them on cc members and asking us to join in your path to destruction. 

COMPLETELY UNCALLED FOR: you can choose to listen to me or not. I do not have a therepist because I am completely healthy & happy.. so just leave me alone. You can do what you want with yourself as I will do with myself! 

And what are my fears? I am perfectly happy & content with everything in my life, thank you very much. I feel completely violated right now - wow. 

making you feel violated certainly was not my intention.  however, the information i commented on is based on everything that YOU have chosen put on this public forum. 

of course you are "happy" with your life right now.  eating disorders are ego syntonic and it sounds like you've worked pretty hard to structure your life in a way that accommodates all of your unhealthy behaviors.  you're not being pushed to change or give up anything.  of course you're "happy" about that.  but on the otherside of happiness is fear.  for instance, how would you feel if you COULDN'T work out for two hours?  or what if you didn't have complete control over what you were eating?  so, yes, being in control makes you "happy" because you don't have to confront your anxiety about not being in control....which is rooted in anxiety about gaining weight.  check in with yourself: how small has your life become?  how many things have you given up just so you can eat and exercise the way you do?  friends?  romantic interests?  weekend trips?  when you are endlessly rigid about your daily habits, it HAS to come at the cost of the kind of flexibility that makes life worth living.  the flexibility that can make room for OTHER people in your life.  being "healthy" isn't about eating  x grams of lean protein or y servings of calcium; it's about creating sustainable habits that make room for things that REALLY matter in life: people.  check in with yourself and see whether your quest to be "healthy" has left little room for others.  and perhaps i'm making wrongful assumptions, but i'm not sure how much time you could really have for other people when you're spending 2+ hours exercising, cooking and eating two gigantic meals, and then spending hours recovering from feeling bloated after those meals.  and when you add the other demands of life like school and work, i just can't see where you've left room for humanity. 

i own that i am being judgmental and that it's probably not my place to comment on your lifestyle.  but i mean it when i say it makes me really, really sad to read your posts.  your level of denial is bordering on absurdity.  i wouldn't have said anything, though, if i didn't feel like your posts were doing more harm than good--both for you in terms of maintaining your denial and for other members.  you may not be as underweight as you once were, but eating disorders hang around forever unless you REALLY commit to changing. it sounds to me like you've done enough to keep yourself a bit under the radar (and it makes me really sad to think your family hasn't stepped in more).  but when you come on a forum and spout ED behaviors left and right, you're not going to stay under the radar for long.

Original Post by laura916:

 but when you come on a forum and spout ED behaviors left and right, you're not going to stay under the radar for long.

 I don't know what other posts you are referring to, but the belief that milk is not good for people is not ED behaviour. It may not be the mainstream belief, but many people believe that milk, especially in it's commercially made form, does more harm than good with all the hormones used on the cows now a days.

hmm....my response really wasn't about the milk issue.  you can click on a member's name and read previous posts.  try starting there.

Original Post by janegriffith:

Hello,

I've come here desperate for some help with sugars myself. I aim to keep sugars below 90g per day, but that's ALL sugars, including natural ones. After keeping a daily food log for a few months it became clear that for me the issue is sugar, not fat. I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat fried foods, so other than the obvious cakes, chocolate and cheese there's not a huge amount of fat that I can eat.

My biggest problem is when I'm at work. My job is quite repetitive and requires a lot of concentration, so I tend to eat either for a boost to get me through the rest of the day or out of boredom. After 2pm the canteen is closed so the only option is the vending machine which only has chocolate and crisps in it.

I can't drink any more - I have 10 large cups of tea every day and 2 cups of plain water as it is, any more and I'd be sick.

There's only so much snack cheese you can eat in a day.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't mention fruit to me - a piece of fruit is over 20g of my daily allowance, I need to avoid the stuff. Also it's not filling.

Only the plainest of yogurt would be suitable, and it's too sour for me. All flavoured yogurts are definitely off the list.

I'm quite consious of people at work seeing me eat a third lunch at 3pm (I already have 2 healthy lunches, one at 11.30 and one at 1.30), I've brought in microwave rice before to have when I'm hungry but I'm too self-conscious for people to see the morbidly obese girl having 4 meals a day, and that's just in work time.

I've looked for suggestions on dealing with "emotional eating", but it's: go for a walk, read a book, listen to music, do something else generally frowned on during work time.

Any suggestions on snack foods that are low in all sugar, including natural sugar?

 

Thanks,

Jane

 Lots of healthy people eat 6 smaller meals a day instead of 3 large ones - although I understand you might be self conscious about it as you lose weight people will also see that it works. A couple of options for good snacks would be veggies & hummus for dip (I love bell peppers cut up), cottage cheese, a protien shake might also be a great option since you can put it in a water bottle container and no one will know what you're drinking.  Protien is very important, and even as a vegetarian you can find good sources of protien to eat at every meal that will help you with hunger as well.