Rethink Your Drink

The first thing I tell people who are interested in dropping fat and slimming down is to ditch the liquid calories. Check out the photo below to see the amount of sugar contained in various beverages.

We all know that beverages like soda are simply empty calories. They provide no nutritional value. However, even drinks that people think of as "healthy" like fruit juice is not a good option if you're trying to shed excess pounds.

Many of the nutrients found in fruit juice are added back in later because they are stripped out during processing. It's far better to eat a piece of fruit than to drink fruit juice. Besides the vitamins, you also get the fiber and phytonutrients that will be missing from juice.

So ditch the empty liquid calories and stick mostly to fresh, unprocessed foods if you're trying to trim down.

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Don't Drink Your Calories

One of the first things I tell people who are trying to drop excess fat is to ditch the liquid calories. Here's an excellent reminder article from Alicia & Carrie, The Boot Camp Girls.


Don’t Drink Your Calories

You’d be amazed at how easily calories can pile up in liquid form. There are many “hidden” calories in your favorite beverages, including those that you may think of as healthful.

A tall glass of orange juice has around 200 calories. This may not seem like a lot, but when you convert this to a small boiled potato and several chicken strips, it suddenly seems like just too much, since the solid meal just-mentioned has the same calorie total – and is apt to be far more satisfying. This doesn’t mean give up juice, but if you’re calorie conscious, settle for a small glass.

Do you know the local Starbucks barista by name? If so, this is a warning sign you may be getting tons of calories from your favorite Starbucks concoctions. For example, a Venti Peppermint Mocha with whipped cream and 2 percent milk has 480 calories. You don’t even want to know how much fat’s in it.

Omit the whipped cream and use skim milk, it’s 360 calories. Do you realize how much solid food you can eat for 360 calories? How do two pieces of toast and two eggs sound?

Smoothies
Beware of smoothies prepared at smoothie stands. A lot of calories get dumped in in the form of juice, sherbet and even ice cream. You can make a much lower calorie smoothie at home by blending some berries, yogurt, and crushed ice with a scoop of vanilla protein powder.

Soda
Why not just eliminate soda altogether? One can contains 150 calories of useless drink. Diet soda is not a smart alternative since it contains an artificial sweetener which can trigger hunger.

Coffee and Tea
Cut calories by using Stevia instead of sugar. Stevia has zero calories and is a natural herb with a good safety record.

Alcohol
Many people don’t realize how the calories in alcohol can quickly add up. Just 1 ounce of the following contain around 65 calories: rum, vodka, whiskey, gin and brandy.

Four ounces of sweet wine are 105 calories; 4 ounces of sherry and port are 75 and 90, respectively; a 3.5 ounce martini is 140; a 4 ounce margarita cocktail is about 170. Need you read more to be rudely awakened? You can see how “a small drink here and there” can strongly factor into your daily caloric intake.

Chocolate Milk and Hot Chocolate
One tablespoon of some chocolate powders is an unforgiving 50 calories. This may not seem like a lot, but for anybody who loves chocolate drinks, one tablespoon to 8 ounces of milk is a slap in the face.

For most chocolate lovers (if not all), even three tablespoons don’t quite cut it. This isn’t heaping tablespoons, either, assuming that if it were, the nutrition label would state “heaping.”

Four tablespoons of powder plus 8 ounces of skim milk mean almost 400 calories – all for a beverage that’s gone within moments if it’s cold.

Beware of chocolate syrups; they’re just as loaded with calories. A tall glass (two cups) of chocolate milk with whole milk can pack in 500 calories if you use only four tablespoons of the better tasting powders or syrups, and if you like a richer chocolate flavor, you’ll need to add six tablespoons total (at least) to satisfy your chocoholic requirements: That’s a 600 calorie glass of liquid.

Calories are just as formidable a force in liquids as they are in solids. To get a firm grip on just how many of your calories are coming from beverages and how to cut back on these calories without feeling deprived, call us today.

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Water, Water, Everywhere

You’ve heard it before, drink water. Staying hydrated will make you healthier and can help you lose weight. Water is involved in almost every bodily process (including metabolism) and now, a study had shown that regular water drinkers consume 9% fewer calories a day than non-water drinkers.

Why? According to the study, water drinkers have healthier eating habits and also seem to consume fewer high calorie and sugary drinks like soda, sports drinks, designer coffees, alcohol (especially mixed drinks), fruit juice, etc. For fat loss, dump the liquid calories.



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For Fat Loss, Limit Liquid Calories

If you're interested in fat loss, the first thing you should do is eliminate liquid calories. Soda, ice tea, lattes, "energy" drinks, etc. are just full of nutritionless, empty calories.

However, if you simply can not function without your designer drinks, check out the article below from Men's Health so you can at least choose the lesser of the evils.

Worst "Healthy" Drinks - And What You Should Drink Instead

Estimating Your Liquid Calorie Intake

Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating has come up with a "10-20" rule for guesstimating the number of calories in a drink when a nutritional label is unavailable.

For most “thin” liquids such as juice, milk, soda, etc., figure 10 calories per ounce; for thicker drinks like shakes and smoothies, figure 20 calories per ounce.

For example, according to the 10-20 rule, a 20-ounce Pepsi from a convenience store soda fountain would contain approximately 200 calories.

This is a great tool for when you have no way of knowing the actual figures but remember, it's just an estimate. A quick online search turned up a calorie count of 250 for a 20-ounce Coke and 400 calories for a 32-ounce Pepsi, both higher than the 10-20 rule estimates.