sugar sugar

As I've been tracking my food intake on myfitnesspal.com, I've noticed something.  Sugar is hidden in things you think are healthy...yes, I know this has been common knowledge for a long time and the evils of sugar have been rampant in the news lately but I didn't really get it until I saw it with my own eyes.  This is a major reason why I like myfitnesspal better than weight watchers online point tracking system.  Weight Watchers points system only figures in calories, fat and fiber when determining how many points various foods are.  It does not consider protein, sugars or other nutrients, which, in my opinion is a dangerous game to play.  Sugar, if not used in the body, turns into fat and can have other negative effects.  With weight watchers, Yoplait Fat Free yogurt is just one or maybe two points which leads one to believe that it is a good food choice.  But, while one serving of Yoplait light only has one hundred calories and no fat, it has fourteen grams of sugar!  "So what?" you might ask, "there's no fat and low calories so its all good!"  Ahhh but its NOT!  Based on my current weight and my weight loss goals, myfitnesspal calculated how many calories I should have in a day to reach my goal.  They also calculate the amount of protein, saturated fat, sugar, fiber, and poly fat.  (FYI you can also choose to have them calculate and track cholesterol, sodium, carbs, vitamin a, vitamin c, iron, potassium, and/or calcium...which is HUGELY useful to ensure you are getting what you need and really fueling your body.)  So, my daily goal of calories is 1950 and my sugar goal is 60 grams.  100 calories is only about 1/20th of my calories so no biggie, right?  Wrong!  It is 14 grams of sugar which is nearly 1/4 of my sugar intake for the day.  Chobani Greek is just as high, if not higher.  I don't know why yogurt is so high in sugar, but it is.  You are much better off just eating fruit directly or even eating meat or cheese.  Another big culprit of sugar is cereal!  I had some Kashi Go Lean Cinnamon cereal today thinking "its Kashi, its gotta be good for me!"  But again, ten grams of sugar per serving and we all know no one really sticks to just one serving of cereal!  I had two servings with soy milk (5grams of sugar) which means after breakfast, I have just 14 grams of sugar left for the day!  Grrrrrrrrr......

To put it into perspective, Bisquick pancakes prepared have NO sugar!  Yesterday I made some and tossed in a banana and blueberries for flavor.  One pancake (with the fruit figured in) has about 115 calories and 5 or so grams of sugar with 3 grams of protein!  Of course, pancakes become instruments of the devil in terms of sugar when you douse them in syrup.  By adding fruit to the batter, there is no need for syrup!  They are yummy just as they are!  You can also just mash up some fruit and use it as a topping instead of putting it into the pancake.  And when it all comes down to it, which is more filling a pancake or yogurt?  Pancakes always win!

What's my point?  You gotta look at more than just carbs, calories and fat to see how what you eat is affecting your weight and health.  By paying attention to what is in the food you eat and how those nutrients affect your body you can truly take control of your eating, health and weight.