How Much Sugar/snacks Do You Eat Each Day?

Due to food allergies I went for years without sweets, and I really missed them. Finally I found some chocolate chips I can eat. Every day I make some chocolate chip pancakes. I also usually guzzle some chocolate chips in the afternoon. But I watch my weight and adjust my daily chocolate intake accordingly.

Dont feel too bad. I have to have chocolate every day. Doesnt mean Im not healthy. I workout and eat well otherwise. Wish I had that salty tooth every is talking about here. Its less fattening!

On average, none. Most of my sweets are from Fresh Fruit. I will rarely eat a dessert, which now that I've gone Gluten Free limits me. (I highly recommend going off Gluten, your health will improve overall) But that's OK. I recently watched a Doctor on the news. He stated that our bodies do not need sugar. If you have any bacteria, yeast/candida, fungus, or cancer (or the potential to), just remember that they FEED on sugar.

There are great natural sweeteners out there, like Agave, Stevia, xylitol, and more. So, there are ways to "get your sweet on" with healthier options. An organic vanilla yogurt w/ some fresh fruit is wonderful.

I can't go a day without sweets. I'm not an overeater - but I don't make healthy choices. I nibble on small sweets at work (I keep different candies in my drawer depending on current cravings. I usually eat a cookie at work too (we serve them to clients). At night, we always have dessert at my house. I know it's not the popular trend - but I grew up that way and I love to bake. I'll eat some cookies or a bowl of ice cream most nights. i will give up lunch before I'll give up sweets.
ps - not myself or children are overweight and they do eat three well balanced meals a day. we are very active.

I have tried to cut as much sugar OUT of my diet as there are hidden sugars in many pre-packed foods. I am using blue agave nectar in place of my regular sugar and have gotten down to half a teaspoon in my coffee. Yes I do occassionally crave a sweet but try to limit it. You will find sugar in many foods we eat such as white grains, pastas, and wine. Sugar that is in fruit is not the same. These are healthier sugars. I also keep dates in the house to eat when I crave sugar. One of those and I no longer have a sweet craving. They are also healthy and fiborous. Try to start with some healthy snacks as snacking is fine but just see WHAT it is you are eating. Check the labels for the sugar content especially on ice cream (which is my downfall) . Also stay away from artificial sweetners. They are very bad, even Splenda. It is causing thyroid problems. Also be weary of sugar alchohols. Bad. Try some fruits or a date, but it is ok to have some sugar occassionally, just make it a treat and not a regular part of the diet. Hope this helps.

i will eat a dessert if i go out to a buffet for lunch with my gma (about 2 times a week) i normally do a soft serve ice cream or pudding. then sometimes if im really craving something at night i will have about 5 hershy kisses

WOW! I'm surprised too! I'm right there with you. I definitely have to have sweets at least once a day. My mom always had cookies and candy around the house so I guess I got used to it. None of us had or have weight problems so it was not ever a concern. Luckily my husband's family is the same...probably worse with them because his mom always served dessert after dinner. We almost always have ice cream and it's not unusual for us to pick up a cookie cake for no reason. We also bake a cake, cookies, or brownies at least once a month. I tried once just buying cookies that our kids would eat, but that I didn't care for and it just made me go crazy wanting something sweet. I haven't ever done that again :o)

Way too much.
This is my downfall...
I am embarrassed to admit here with all the "I'm not really a sweets person" responses.

I've got a sweet tooth! I usually have have some form of dessert everyday in small amounts. It may be a small dish of ice cream, a cookie, piece of chocolate, etc. I try to limit it to one a day! I do use my smallest bowls for dessert usually to limit portions, so a dish of ice cream is one small scoop. I do eat fairly healthy the rest of the time, so I figure one little dessert a day isn't going to hurt. The last couple of nights it has been a small piece of angel food cake with strawberries and a little ice cream. I do buy Beyer's half fat ice cream, if I make cookies I use at least 50% whole wheat flour and little things like that to make desserts a little healthier.

So I vote for enjoy a little each day.

Hi,
If you are trying to figure out if you are on target, I would go to www.mypyramid.gov and enter in your info. It will give you a basic food plan. Each calorie level allows for so much junk/foods with added fats/sugars. These are in the discretionary calories group. I hope this helps.

Take care,
G.

When my sons were young we did not have cookies/cakes hardly at all. For snacks we did mostly fresh fruits and veggies. We would mix plain cheerios, honey nut cheerios, maybe some gold fish crackers or cheese its, sometimes dried fruit like raisins, dried pineapple, banana chips etc...
During the colder months I would make cookies, usually oatmeal, peanut butter, choc. chip with less sugar and chips than the recipe called for. I don't remember how much I cut down though. I would also usually add more flour than called for. As my children got older they had friends who would offer tons of snack stuff like hostess cakes, soda, cookies etc... Then came home and asked why we never had things like this. I explained that there are healthier choices and those things are treats like birthday cake. When they were very young this was okay but as they got older it was not enough. They would take their money and buy it. I compromised by offering to make more, that way I could control how much sugar, salt etc.. went into it.

I have 1 -2 sodas a day and generally eat something sugary at work randomly during the day, I keep candy in my desk, for the last couple of months it's been peanut butter cups. I also eat a bowl of ice cream after the kiddo goes to bed while I watch my shows.

Unless you have certain healthy issues, I would think a bowl of ice cream or a piece of cake each day would be okay. Congrats on giving up soda, that is a biggee! If you want to make an improvement in your diet, you could buy your ice cream or cake at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and thereby avoid any transfats, high fructose corn syrup, additives, preservatives, or genetically modified ingredients - especially if you look for organic brands. I am a late onset Type 1 Diabetic, so I try to avoid all sweets.

The amount varies.
Types:
Toast with jam.
fruit.
Yogurt with granola sprinkled on it.
Sometimes ice cream or a muffin if they are in the house.
Rarely chocolate.

I am sort of a grazer, if I have a lot of time I might have free. If I am busy, I eat less.

I think the key is to recognize when you are HUNGRY, not just bored and wanting stimulation.
Research has shown that people eat more if they are watching a movie than if they are not.
I have also heard (from my MIL who read it) that research showed that a certain combination of Sugar/Salt/Fat results in overeating, and that mice or rats would overeat almost to the point of death, if given these elements together in the right proportion, in an unlimited supply. Scary. I think it must be some kind of biological instinct. I have noticed that when I eat food that has all three, it can feel like I always want more of it. If I start to catch myself eating a lot of one food, I think Sugar/Salt/Fat, and if the food has those, I stop eating, or eat something else that doesn't have all three.

I am not one for much sweets. If I get snack hungry I prefer salty things like chips, cheese crackers or dips. Odd huh?

But I like creamer in my coffee. I like some Nutella on my English Muffins (probably once a week for that), yogurt daily, fruit about 3 times a week, candy maybe twice a month.

Like I said, I don't have a sweet tooth. On road trips you'll find me with Chex Mix or CheezIts or chips. BTW the Hot & Spicy Chex Mix is awesome, the Turtle one...is interesting but not one I'd buy again, most likely.

I'm not a sweets person, but I do snack on Cheez-its or chex mix sometimes (couple times a week) in between meals if I get hungry. I only have sweets when I'm pms-ing.

When I have PMS or when I don't. That totally affects my answer. lol