episode 193: how much sugar is too much sugar?
In this episode, we dive into a hot topic that many people struggle with—sugar.
How much should you be eating?
Is it really as bad as it’s made out to be?
I share my thoughts on how to shift the focus from restrictive rules to a more nuanced approach that’s actually enjoyable and works with your life. We explore why sugar itself isn’t the real problem and how to enjoy the foods you love without feeling guilty or out of control.
I also talk about the importance of setting a strong nutritional foundation and making thoughtful choices without feeling deprived. Plus, I touch on the idea of “subtraction by addition,” a way to reframe how you think about your overall food intake.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in an all-or-nothing mindset around sugar, this episode is for you. Tune in to hear practical tips that make food—and especially sugar—feel easy and enjoyable again.
And don’t forget to check out the early interest list for one-on-one coaching this fall if you’re ready to dive deeper into making lasting changes. Add your name to get more info and a great discount mid-late September!
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193
[00:00:00] Hello friends. Thanks for being here. Welcome back to episode 193. I'm recording a little bit in advance right now. Just, I don't know, full disclosure, it's Friday, August 16th, and you're not going to be listening to this, I don't know, for like two weeks. I usually don't record this far in advance, but, um, as you will know, again, I announced this last week, but I'm recording it before it's happened.
It's like this weird time warp thing that happens. We are getting a puppy today. Um, and so life is about to get real lifey as I like to say. So I was trying to get a couple episodes, um, in the bank ahead of time. So then I just have to kind of edit and don't have to record, even though recording doesn't actually take that much time, but I was, I makes me feel good to have things kind of checked off my list.
So super excited for today's topic really quick. As always, you've been hearing me talk about, um, having spaces open for to bring on new one to one clients this fall, which I'm really excited about, um, to be able to [00:01:00] have space and bring on some new women, um, to work on all things related to nutrition behavior and body image.
So when I talk about behavior, basically like a lot of people will say like, I know what I need to do. I just don't do it, or I can't do it, or I can only do it for like a month or two months. And that is really so much of what we do. We close the gap between knowing what you need to do and getting a lot of clarity around that.
And actually making it happen without feeling like you are stuck in this like super rigid diet and following these like Rules that are just so strict that you either like you have just no room to live your life. Um So I have an interest list going for this so that people who are really interested can Um, book consults kind of ahead before anyone else can so that I'm just trying to prioritize and give folks who are really interested a chance to take action on that because the spots are limited.
And I'm also offering those people a discount because I appreciate your time and your support and your interest. Um, so it'll be 50 off the monthly rate, which [00:02:00] is like pretty significant. Um, There's a link in the show notes to add your name. Doesn't commit you to anything, just gives you options. So come like mid September, a few weeks from now, you'll hear from me, um, with an opportunity to book a consult if you want to.
Um, again, there's no commitment by having yourself on the interest list. It's just options. So let's dive in. So today I'm going to talk about a question that came up with a client a few weeks ago. And as always, if one person has the question, many people have it. And this is like a super kind of hot topic.
And her question specifically was, How much sugar should I be eating? Kind of worded another way that most of us are thinking, like, how much sugar am I allowed to eat? How much sugar is good, how much sugar is bad, right? Where, how can we figure out how much is okay? Now, if you've been listening to me for any length of time, or maybe this is your first episode, I will tell you right off the bat, if you don't already know, I am not a sugar is the devil kind of person.
Um, I believe in all food in moderation, unless you are [00:03:00] allergic or have a medical contraindication to that food. So, Um, or you know that it makes you feel a certain way, which is really bad. But aside from that, um, and I've talked about this before, and I think there's an episode I did, which I'll try to link it when I edit this, but sugar itself is not the problem, right?
Nobody sits there and eats spoonfuls of sugar. So when people say, Oh, I'm addicted to sugar, I can't stop eating sugar. It's not the sugar. It's the experience of eating, it's what the sugar is combined with, it's the texture, it's the flavor, it's the sugar combined with the fat, and whether it's crunchy, or salty, or sweet, or gooey, or warm, or all the different textures and flavors and temperature combinations that make the sugar.
That create the experience of a food, that's what makes that stuff easy to overeat. It's not innately the sugar itself, if it was the sugar itself, you'd be sitting in your pantry taking a teaspoon and scooping out white granulated sugar. Or powdered sugar. Ew. Which nobody does. Literally, nobody does that.
So I always love [00:04:00] that as like a reframe around what we think, what we perceive to be our kind of our issues around sugar. So here's the thing. I, you know, when someone says, how much sugar should I be eating? I like to think of this a little bit differently rather than saying you can have X grams of sugar a day or X servings of sugar a day, which kind of gets a little bit tricky.
The servings less so than like grams of sugar, um, because who wants to be counting grams of things for the rest of their life? Nobody. And while it can definitely be beneficial to spend a little bit of time reading some labels and get an idea of what portion sizes are for more calorie dense foods.
which sugar usually plays a big role in, and I'm talking about like sweets, desserts, um, things like granola, trail mixes, obviously cookies, cakes, ice cream, all of that stuff, baked goods, snack cakes, um, and even things that are labeled as like, you know, quote, the healthy version that are made from coconut [00:05:00] sugar or agave or maple syrup.
It's all sugar, right? Your body breaks it down into the same components. It gets broken down into glucose. And so as it gets digested, your body doesn't know the difference ultimately, whether it came from cable sugar or whether it came from coconut sugar or agave or maple syrup or whatever. Glucose is glucose is glucose in its molecular form.
So, um, Ultimately, all that to say, and I want to keep this focus in on the shorter side today, but clearly I think there's a lot more content that we could do around this, um, much like I talk about other areas of nutrition and eating, I talk about subtraction by addition. So rather than thinking about how much sugar am I allowed to eat or how much is bad or can or can't have, which kind of feels restrictive and limiting and starts to really, for a lot of folks, trigger that like diet, panicky, urgent mindset around food.
This is my last chance. I can't have this. I had too much. Now I'm bad. Now I have to restart. [00:06:00] All that stuff. If you think about subtraction by addition. Things get easier, and here's what I mean by that. If you prioritize your core skills around eating in your meals, in terms of having an efficient protein, a ton of veggies, a starchy carb, and some fat, you will feel full.
And if, and making sure that you're prioritizing your enjoyment, right? That those are foods that you're enjoying and prepared in a way that you enjoy is huge. You're getting your nutrition, you will feel full. Right off the bat, that is going to make it a lot easier to make thoughtful choices around more calorie dense foods and snacks where sugar often plays a bigger.
So if you are not eating efficient protein at every meal, if you're not eating enough veggies and getting enough fiber. then you're going to have, you're going to have hunger going on. Like you're going to feel kind of snacky and you're never going to feel totally full. And that's going to make it, make you much more prone to be going for those snacks and then much more prone to overeat them.[00:07:00]
So kind of the, the old school way of doing it is just saying, I'm not having sugar. I'm not having sweets. I'm not having desserts. And then as soon as you get an urge for it, you're like white knuckling through it and telling yourself no, no, no, no, no, which most people are able to do for a period of time until it gets to be too much.
Stress, work, life, circumstances happen. And suddenly it's like, I got nothing left. I got no willpower left. I'm just going to eat the fucking thing. And then we end up back at square one. And a lot of that is driven in part because the foundation of your eating your meals are not. They're not like in lockstep, they're not where they need to be.
So you're, you're not setting yourself up for success. So if you really prioritize an efficient protein at every meal, half a plate of veggies at lunch and dinner. So you're getting a ton of fiber, some type of fiber source at breakfast, whether that's berries or chia seeds or flax, and you're eating enough of those foods at your meals, then it's going to be a lot easier to have a dessert or some type of, you know, [00:08:00] sugary snack.
in a portion that works. So then the sugar, the, the, the kind of the amount of sugar that you're eating and the answer to that question kind of happens by default. So you have like a really filling meal. Like let's say you have like for lunch, like a big salad with some frozen breaded chicken and tons of veggies.
And you put in, um, you know, you got a little bit of cheese or salad dressing in there and, um, maybe some croutons. It's like a really filling, you've checked all your nutritional boxes. And then you're like, you know, I'm kind of in the mood for a dessert, cool. So then it's a lot easier once you're full and satisfied and you've had a meal that you enjoyed to take a portion of whatever it is that you want, a candy, a cookie, chocolate, ice cream onto a plate, a napkin, a bowl and eat it.
Whereas if you haven't eaten a meal that was filling, you get those urges, you're still hungry and you're going to be more likely to take bigger servings, to not be able to pay attention, to eat more than you want. This is, I think, a very [00:09:00] different way of approaching things than setting, like, a rule, like, a specific rule in place.
I mean, you're, quote, rule. is eat filling nutritious meals, have an efficient protein, a shit ton of veggies, and a carb at every meal, right? That's what you're going for. So this isn't about how much you're allowed or what your limits are. This is thinking about all the things you can and need to eat that will feel good, and then the sugar piece kind of happens By default.
That doesn't mean it happens automatically. It doesn't mean it happens without work. It means you are primed and setting yourself up for success to be able to make much more thoughtful choices around those foods that tend to feel scary, that tend to trigger all or nothing thinking, that we tend to overeat.
And that's that framework for success. is approaching meals in the way that I've talked about. And then you're pulling in other skills, right? Putting sweet snacks on a plate in a bowl on a napkin, not standing in front of a cabinet, right? Putting that portion on a plate, sitting [00:10:00] down at a table, trying to eat without distractions, not eating your dessert while you're scrolling TikTok, listening to a podcast, watching a TV show, because then you're not paying attention to what you're eating.
You're eating, you're totally zoned in on TikTok, and then suddenly it's gone, the dessert's gone, and you're like, what the fuck happened? Where'd it go? I want more! Because you weren't able to enjoy because you weren't paying attention. Because multitasking is not a real thing, it's a myth. We are constantly switching between things, but we are not actually paying attention to two things at one time.
And if this food that you love and enjoy and want so much, then it deserves your attention, right? More than the TikTok does. Um, right. And the ironic thing is that both the dessert and the TikTok are hitting like the dopamine centers of the brain, different mechanisms. Um, so that's kind of like a whole other topic, but anyway, so there are, this is really about thinking less about how much sugar am I allowed to have and feeling restricted and limited and more about working your skills.
And then the sugar [00:11:00] piece, quote unquote, takes care of itself because you're working the skills. Again, it's not automatic. The skills take work, they take effort, they take practice. But the sugar piece is kind of built in. If you are practicing those skills, this, the how much sugar should I have, how much is too much, how much is whatever, is built in and you will find what feels good for you.
when you are paying attention and working these skills around the nutrition piece, around the fullness piece, around the attention piece, like the behavioral stuff. So that's really what I wanted to share today. Um, let me know your thoughts. What have you struggled with around sugar? Sugar is a big topic for people.
Um, and there's a lot of extremism, and the reality is that yes, what your diet, my diet, I mean, way of eating needs to be made up mostly of like nutritious, nutrient dense foods. And then we are human beings, and we don't just eat for energy, we don't just eat for nutrition, we eat for pleasure. And so to [00:12:00] me, sugar has to play a role in that, if you enjoy it, and if you want it to, which I do.
And so, it is very, very possible to feel comfortable and at ease around food with sugar, and desserts, and sweets, and all that yummy stuff. as part of your, I'm going to say daily routine in different ways. Um, and all this, this gets very personal too, right? Like I'm speaking in big generalities, the way this applies to your life, your history, your relationship with food, your preferences all plays a huge role.
Yes. But if you're looking for kind of a perspective shift and a place to get started and to kind of Give yourself a little bit of like a breather from all of the like, oh my god, I had too much sugar. I'm only allowed to have like 20 grams a day and this has X grams of sugar. This has so much sugar, like all that stuff.
Like I said, read labels. Yes, like yogurts, like Greek yogurt, flavored Greek yogurt is a place where you're gonna find a lot of added sugar in some varieties and it's like, [00:13:00] well, do I really need it here, right? This is a food that's meant to be nutritious and filling and also enjoyable. So is this really a place where I'm going to want to have a whole bunch of sugar?
That's not really the job that I need this food to do. I'd rather have the sugar in a dessert that's purely meant for pleasure. That's job is not to provide any nutrition or fullness. It's just for pleasure. So let's have the sugar in there. Whereas a food that's meant more for nutrition and fullness.
Maybe just a little bit of extra for the flavor, but not, you know, however, some of these you'll see if you look at like a single serve yogurt will have like 15 20 grams of added sugar, which is a decent amount. It's small, teeny, tiny yogurt. You could get a Snickers bar with like 15 20 grams of added sugar, right?
So definitely I mentioned that up front, but like reading labels can be helpful. Maybe I'll do a whole episode about reading labels and what to do with it and how to think about it. I'm gonna make a note of that right now. So I'll come soon. All right. Um, that's all. Thanks for listening. Uh, one to one early interest list for coaching.
Add your name if you're [00:14:00] interested and you want to, this is like stuff you want to dive into and you know you need support or you're curious about what support looks like. And I'll see you soon.