Is suger itself fattening or is it the calories in the suger?

[Gizmo j]

I hear a lot of people say that weight loss is all about calories in/calories out but I also hear that you should avoid suger.

 

[whm1974]

Refined Sugar is bad for you anyway.

 

[whm1974]

@Gizmo j Sorry I should have provided more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar#Health_effects

 

[Ichinisan]

Question doesn't make sense. A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body stores extra energy (calories) as fat when you consume more calories than you burn. Compared to most foods, sugar is basically pure energy / calories.

 

[deadlyapp]

Sugar (and other simple carbs) have a propensity to increasing fat volumes in your abdomen. But to answer your question, sugar is no more fattening than anything else on a calorie basis. You can get fat from eating too many calories of protein (although you'd probably die).

 

[mike8675309]

Neither Carbs, Fat or Protein by themselves create body fat. It is excess consumption of any of those which will result in the body converting (where necessary) the excess to body fat. Processed sugar, like oil, is calorically dense, yet not very filling making it very easy to have excess consumption of processed sugars and oil.

My point is there are not necessarily any bad macronutrients, it's an excess of those nutrients that create the problem. If you have a diet primarily based on whole plant foods, you won't have to worry about "excess consumption".

 

[FeuerFrei]

Back in the mid-20th century, they pitched sugar as a way to get your daily calories without consuming much food. Woohoo, eat less fatty food. Health++!

(Yeah I have some old Reader's Digests)

I think if you went that route you basically wouldn't grow larger than a child.

 

[Muse]

I hear a lot of people say that weight loss is all about calories in/calories out but I also hear that you should avoid suger.

People will weigh in here, but the skinny is that sugar isn't a good way to get your calories. It's sometimes called empty calories because it lacks everything you need except for calories. If you ate nothing but sugar you would die and it would be nasty.

A diet high in sugar will mess you up. Your metabolism will go haywire. They say it causes inflammation, something you don't want. In a sense, it's downright poisonous. However, I must admit, it tastes good! I prefer to get sweet taste from fruits. They are pretty darn good for you.

 

[RichUK]

Diabetes

 

[deadlyapp]

People will weigh in here, but the skinny is that sugar isn't a good way to get your calories. It's sometimes called empty calories because it lacks everything you need except for calories. If you ate nothing but sugar you would die and it would be nasty.

A diet high in sugar will mess you up. Your metabolism will go haywire. They say it causes inflammation, something you don't want. In a sense, it's downright poisonous. However, I must admit, it tastes good! I prefer to get sweet taste from fruits. They are pretty darn good for you.

I mostly agree with you, however it should be noted that sugar itself isn't necessarily bad and serves a very important purpose of getting immediate glucose rather than your body converting to glucose. I dare say most people don't need an immediate glucose boost, but some (eg high performing athletes) benefit from minor/moderate intake.

 

[ElFenix]

I hear a lot of people say that weight loss is all about calories in/calories out but I also hear that you should avoid suger.

it is, but it isn't. your body has the ability to adjust its metabolic rate.
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories

 

[Muse]

I mostly agree with you, however it should be noted that sugar itself isn't necessarily bad and serves a very important purpose of getting immediate glucose rather than your body converting to glucose. I dare say most people don't need an immediate glucose boost, but some (eg high performing athletes) benefit from minor/moderate intake.

I'm not recommending it, but must admit that sometimes if I'm about to go to my workout and feel a hunger pang, I will drop a chocolate ball in my mouth on the way out. I should add that I am not a "high performing athlete." I do enjoy my chocolate. I try not to overdue it. Other than that, my sugar indulgence is some jam (about once a week) and some beef teriyaki. I put a little sugar in my homemade bread, but they say to do that to please the yeast beasties, it's not enough to make my bread taste sweet.

 

[piokos]

The problem is not how much calories sugar has. It's the lack of anything else.
Your body needs many substances and elements it can't produce itself.
If you eat a lot of sugar, you'll quickly saturate your energetic needs, but you'll keep eating.

If you only eat sugar and don't go too much over your energetic needs, you won't get fat. You'll be slim, just very unhealthy.
This is in fact what's going on in poor countries in Asia and Africa (but was also true for communist European countries until 30 years ago). People have easy access to sugar-rich products (rice, crops, local fruits), but don't eat expensive but healthy stuff: vegetables and meat.

 

[Kaido]

I hear a lot of people say that weight loss is all about calories in/calories out but I also hear that you should avoid suger.

Weight loss is simple: calories in vs. calories out (CICO). This guy did it:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

If you have a couple hours available, check out the "Fathead" documentary:

However, if you actually want to get in good shape & feed your body better, then you need to eat according to your macros. The 3 macros (macronutrients) are protein, carbs, and fats. Here's the basic formula:

Proteins + Carbs + Fats = Calories

If you want to get a bit more technical about it:

* 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
* 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories
* 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

So that's the magic formula for coming up with a calorie count. In a normal, healthy adult, you need all 3 macros to feed your body properly. Now, imagine if you just ate Twinkies all day, but followed CICO instead of Macros...sure, you could still lose weight, but that's all carbs - you'd be neglecting your protein & fat intake. Macros is a better approach than CICO because then you're giving your body a better fuel story. The best macro calculator is available here: (note: requires an email address to get your numbers, recommend using a dummy email; also, they sell personalized coaching & meal plans, which are not required - the calculator is free)

https://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

IIFYM, also known as "flexible dieting", means you can eat anything you want "if it fits your macros". That means there are no cheat meals or cheat days & no guilt to deal with. Now, that's not a free pass to eat junk food 24/7, because that will probably melt your insides over time, but it does mean you can enjoy some donuts or ice cream or whatever & still get results, like this lady did:

https://nicolecapurso.com/2014/08/31/how-donuts-gave-me-abs-an-80kg-snatch/

So sugar = carbs, which is just another macro. If you have 300 grams of carbs available for the day and you eat 600 grams of sugar, then obviously you're not going to get the results you want over time if you keep doing that day after day. But should you avoid sugar? I mean, anything with carbs contains sugar - pasta, bread, fruit, etc. - not just candy, soda, and junk food. Notice earlier I mentioned that a normal, healthy adult requires all 3 macros to feed your body properly; if you have insulin issues (diabetes, PCOS, etc.), then you're going to need to adjust the carbs. If you have kidney issues, then you're going to need to adjust the protein. If you have ulcerative colitis, then eating fatty foods may trigger a flare-up. You have to adjust your macros to your body's particular situation.

Barring a particular health situation like that, then if you want to get in great shape, I would recommend eating according to your macronutrient requirements. You only have 3 options when eating against a plan, whether it's CICO or IIFYM:

1. Gain weight
2. Maintain weight
3. Lose weight

If you want to build muscle, then you'd set your macros to gain weight. If you want to keep what you have, then you'd set your macros to maintain your weight. If you want to lose fat, then you'd set your macros to lose weight. It's not exactly rocket science...you don't need fancy supplements or superfoods or anything like that. It took me a long time to figure all of this out because there's so much misinformation out there. I started into H&F back in 2008 (there's a bunch of threads of mine throughout the years floating around). I started out with the "clean eating approach", where I blindly ate what I perceived to be "healthy food": plain chicken, broccoli, brown rice, sweet potatoes, etc. I felt better & I got results over time, but because of CICO, not because of any magical properties inherent to eating meat & vegetables.

Over time, I experimented with many dietary approaches: paleo, keto, vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, fruitarian, and even complete foods (liquid diet, a la Soylent). They all worked fine, because they all worked off CICO. The best results I have ever gotten, however, have been on IIFYM, which is where I eat whatever I want, but I eat according to my daily macro numbers every day. Again, that isn't a license to eat crap food non-stop, but it means I can have dessert after dinner every day & still stay in great shape. So regarding food in general:

1. If your only goal is to lose weight, then sure, go the CICO route
2. If you want to feel good & look good, then go the IIFYM route
3. If you want to feel great & look great, then go the IIFYM route & follow a proven workout routine

So to break your original question up into two pieces:

1. Weight loss
2. Sugar

Weight loss is simply CICO, but CICO is a dumb approach for your health. IIFYM is a million times better, because then you're feeding your body properly. You only have three choices regarding your weight: lose, maintain, or gain. You can literally do this simply by eating by the numbers. Regarding sugar, sugar = carbs. Carbs is one of the three macros. So sugar is just another macro. If you consume it within the constraints of (1) your weight management goal (lose/maintain/gain), and (2) within your macros (rather than CICO), then barring something like an insulin problem (such as pre-diabetes, diabetes type II, or diabetes type I), you'll be just fine.

People make the argument that it's easier to consume calories when doing something like drinking soda (sugar), and sure, that is partially true...but if you don't have a weight goal (lose, maintain, gain) and you aren't tracking your macros, then you're going to get slower & less-great results than if you were to simply track your macros & eat according to your macros for your weight goal. It's really not that hard, and it took me many years to realize how simply it really is. Speed-wise, you don't want to lose more than about two pounds a week on average for a healthy weight-loss approach. One reason is that you risk getting "loose skin" (go ahead & do google image search for that!). One of my old roommates lost 150 pounds in 6 months (6.25 pounds lost per week, on average) & ended up with over six inches of loose skin on his belly. It took a long, long time for his skin to normalize again, because he lost weight too fast.

A lot of people don't like to hear the "max 2 pounds a week" thing for weight loss, because it's easy to get impatient & want to get skinny fast! The problem is that it's not just about getting skinny, it's about staying thin. Without improved eating habits, most people just go right back to being overweight. That doesn't mean that you have to follow IIFYM forever, but personally, I do, for several reasons:

1. IIFYM is the most efficient way to lose weight in a healthy manner.
2. IIFYM forces me to do meal prep (because I don't want to be doing math all day, every day - I figure it out ahead of time, lol), which means I actually eat, instead of running out the door in the morning skipping breakfast, or being so busy that I work through lunch.
3. IIFYM lets me eat a varied diet...I still enjoy fast-food & stuff from the vending machine, as well as home cooking. Eat whatever you want, If It Fits Your Macros!

Yes, it is annoying to have to weigh food & count your macros. But, I feel great, I look great, and it's also helped (forced) me to learn how to cook, which has ended up saving me a ton of money in my budget (literally hundreds of dollars a month). I mean, think about the metrics involved:

1. You have to eat basically every day for the rest of your life
2. You & only you are responsible for how you feed your body; no one is holding a gun to your head
3. If you eat 3 square meals a day, then you are on the hook for 21 meals a week - what's your plan for that? Especially if you want to lose weight & keep it off permanently?

Some other benefits of macros include:

1. There are no special foods to buy
2. There are no special supplements to buy
3. There is no special diet to follow - it's not vegan or keto or paleo (but it can be, if you want to it be!), it's just numbers
4. No one is trying to sell you anything special...set your goal (gain/maintain/lose), get your numbers from a calculator (daily requirements for protein/carbs/fats), and setup your diet to meet that every day. You're in charge of what you eat, and that's all there is to the whole system!

Hop on the Facebook group sometime & spend an hour or two scrolling through & seeing the before & after pictures:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/iifym/

Nutrition doesn't have to be complex. Total meatheads get in great shape at the gym all the time.

My recommendation goes like this:

1. Decide what your goals are. Specifically, decide on what type of body you want to have: lean, muscular, bodybuilder, powerlifter, etc. This will allow you to tailor your actions towards specific goals. You don't have to be a gym rat if you don't want to be!
2. Decide if you want to lose weight, maintain your weight, or gain weight. Use the IIFYM calculator to get your macro numbers.
3. Create a diet approach to allow you to hit your macros accurately every day, whether this involves fast food (chains like BK all have their macros available on their websites) or cooking at home or whatever.
4. Select a proven workout plan to achieve the body you want (personally I am a huge fan of calisthenics bodybuilding, aka bodyweight workouts - no gym required!). At bare minimum, check out the American Heart Association's recommendations

So that's the weight-loss story: if you want to lose weight, make it easy on yourself & go the fastest & most efficient route for proper fat loss - eat according to your macros! Don't give up your favorite foods, just eat within your macros! One extra note: meal timing doesn't matter. I've done one meal a day (just dinner - for over a year) & I've done 7 small "meals" throughout the day. Aside from a few weeks of having to adjust to the new eating schedule, both yielded the same results. The bottom line is your macro intake within each 24-hour "day" period of time. Set your weight goal (lose/maintain/gain), get your macros, eat according to your macros strictly & consistently over time, and you WILL get results!

Here's a simple way to look at it:

I didn't get in shape because (insert excuse here).

IIFYM removes the excuses: it tells you exactly what to do (eat according to your macro numbers) for your goals (lose/maintain/gain) as well as what to eat (anything you want, If It Fits Your Macros!) & when to eat (whenever you want!). You can project out your weight-loss target pretty easily as well (max of ~2 pounds per week). All that's left is to pick a goal, run the calculator, and setup your kitchen or food purchasing plan to meet your daily numbers so that you actually stick with it over time. RIP to boring, bland foods or fad diets!

 

[rstrohkirch]

I was bored and input my info into the macro calculator you posted for my weight gain plan and it's undershooting my required calorie intake by over 400. I'm using a generic weight gain calculator I found online that includes body fat %. After 8 weeks I've found it to be rather accurate for me at the settings I'm using. My body fat percentage is probably around 12% to 14% right now. To get similar results I have to input around 35% into that macro calculator.

 

[Kaido]

I was bored and input my info into the macro calculator you posted for my weight gain plan and it's undershooting my required calorie intake by over 400. I'm using a generic weight gain calculator I found online that includes body fat %. After 8 weeks I've found it to be rather accurate for me at the settings I'm using. My body fat percentage is probably around 12% to 14% right now. To get similar results I have to input around 35% into that macro calculator.

Interesting. What's your current goal? What's your background prior to this?

 

[rstrohkirch]

My normal weight range is 140lbs to 144lbs naked depending on the time of the year and available activities. I decided to try and add 15lb this year. So my goal weight is 155lbs by 1-1-20. My current meal program adds roughly 1lb to 1.5lbs a month. This is actually week 9 of my program. I've gained 4lbs so far but I feel that will fall back a little bit over the next few months.

I don't understand how a calculator like that macro one comes up with it's numbers. It doesn't ask for your body fat % so it must take some average number. A 10% swing in body fat is around 200 calories per day to maintain weight. If I used its numbers I would lose weight at my normal 144lbs peak. I know for a fact that I need at least 2100 calories to maintain that weight. I suppose it's more accurate for an average person.

 

[Kaido]

My normal weight range is 140lbs to 144lbs naked depending on the time of the year and available activities. I decided to try and add 15lb this year. So my goal weight is 155lbs by 1-1-20. My current meal program adds roughly 1lb to 1.5lbs a month. This is actually week 9 of my program. I've gained 4lbs so far but I feel that will fall back a little bit over the next few months.

I don't understand how a calculator like that macro one comes up with it's numbers. It doesn't ask for your body fat % so it must take some average number. A 10% swing in body fat is around 200 calories per day to maintain weight. If I used its numbers I would lose weight at my normal 144lbs peak. I know for a fact that I need at least 2100 calories to maintain that weight. I suppose it's more accurate for an average person.

Dang, a 15-pound gain! Are you going for overall weight, or for muscle specifically?

Everyone's body is different, and ultimately, if you find something that works for you, then stick with that!

 

[Oyeve]

Way back in college (1984) I was 135lbs at 5'10". I was taking tons of weight gain pills at the time and never gained an ounce. Then I discover Hagen Daaz ice cream and ate a pint on strawberry ice cream a day. Put 100lbs on me, then I started working out to convert to muscle. That was over 35 years ago. Now I am just over 5'8" (you shrink as you get older) and my weight has been 165lbs for at least 25 years. I'm looking to grow more upper body muscle but hate working out. Don't eat much red meat anymore. I stopped counting calories ages ago and just try to eat better. My only real addiction is Altoids. I go through a tin in 2 days.

 

[whm1974]

Way back in college (1984) I was 135lbs at 5'10". I was taking tons of weight gain pills at the time and never gained an ounce. Then I discover Hagen Daaz ice cream and ate a pint on strawberry ice cream a day. Put 100lbs on me, then I started working out to convert to muscle. That was over 35 years ago. Now I am just over 5'8" (you shrink as you get older) and my weight has been 165lbs for at least 25 years. I'm looking to grow more upper body muscle but hate working out. Don't eat much red meat anymore. I stopped counting calories ages ago and just try to eat better. My only real addiction is Altoids. I go through a tin in 2 days.

You are getting you sugar from the Altoids.

 

[rstrohkirch]

You are getting you sugar from the Altoids.

Altoids use Sucralose as a sweetener and nothing else AFAIK.

 

[whm1974]

Altoids use Sucralose as a sweetener and nothing else AFAIK.

Double check?

 

[CarlaFit]

Well everything too much is bad, right? Our body eventually needs sugar but not too much. We need to burn it like calories, we need to move around. There is actually a thing called "good eating habit". No need to deprive yourself.

 

[Amandahelen]

I hear a lot of people say that weight loss is all about calories in/calories out but I also hear that you should avoid suger.

Yeah I agree with You If You Want To B Fit Should B Avoid From Sugar Thanks God I Dont Like Sweets Even I dont Use Sugar in Tea And Cofee

 

[Muse]

Yeah I agree with You If You Want To B Fit Should B Avoid From Sugar Thanks God I Dont Like Sweets Even I dont Use Sugar in Tea And Cofee

I do not as welI, but I did drop a single jelly bean in a 12 oz. cup of coffe today, only time I've ever done that. I've had those Jelly Belly jelly beans for ~4 years, rarely touch them.