Gut Buster: Drinking Your Calories

If you cut back on fatty foods and sweets but you haven't noticed the difference in your waistline it might be because you're still drinking your calories.

Calories from liquids are sneaky. You don't even notice when you're putting them in your body. They don't fill you up or give you the energy you need to go through your day. They truly are "empty." And if you're an average American at least one fifth of your calories come from what you drink.

One fifth! Meaning if you're on a 2,000 calorie diet you are consuming 400 calories from sodas, juices, sweetened teas or coffees, alcohol and other drinks. If you cut back on all of those and only drink water you're bound to notice a difference almost immediately.

Let's look at some of the worst offenders and healthy alternatives:

Coffee/Tea:
Everyone likes a little pep in the morning, so you stop off at the local coffee chain to grab a drink, but beware, most coffee chain drinks are crammed with calories. A Mocha Ice Blended with whipped cream from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has a whopping 310 calories! A Sarbucks Frappacino isn't much better at 210 calories with whip.
Better Alternative: A cup of unsweetened coffee or tea. An unsweetened Starbucks Tazo tea has 0 calories. A much better alternative.

Juices/Smoothies:
You shouldn't be looking to liquids for your nutrition. In a healthy diet you should get all of your essential vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. So you can ignore anything you've heard about "protein shakes to build muscle," or "one glass of this equals a serving of vegetables," etc. Popular smoothie chains may promote their drinks as healthy, when they're actually riddled with calories. A Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d Power Smoothie has 1,170 calories! That's over 50% of the calories an average person should consume! A Starbucks Venti Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino has 750 calories.
Better Alternative: If you have to drink juice have 100% pure fruit juice. A glass of Tropicana Orange juice still has 110 calories, but it's a far cry from 750.

Sports Drinks:
The best liquid to drink to stay hydrated, whether you're running a marathon or sitting at home on your couch is water. Sports drinks are riddled with sugars and are not going to work better than a clean, cool glass of H2O. A 20 oz. bottle of Vitamin water has 130 calories, and a bottle of Powerade has 120. A 12 oz. serving of Gatorade has 310 calories!
Better Alternative: Pure Water. It will work better at keeping you hydrated and it is a calorie free alternative.

Soda:
And don't even think about soda. It's tasty, but a, 8 oz. can of Coke will run you about 110 calories. A can of Pepsi is about 100. Let's be honest, most people don't drink only 8 oz.s of soda at a time. A large Coke at McDonalds is 310 calories.
Better Alternative: If water doesn't cut it then you can go for a diet soda, or something like Coke Zero or Pepsi One. The calorie count in diet drinks is negligible because they use artificial sweeteners. The jury is still out on the lasting health effects of artificial sweeteners, so don't overdue it. Keep in mind that too much cola can cause kidney problems.

Alcohol:
People love drinking alcohol for *ahem* various reasons. Alcohol isn't all bad, in fact, if you drink it in moderation it can actually be very beneficial to your mind and body. The key is to drink it in moderation. It's very easy to let the calories get out of hand during a night of drinking, even if you don't. Remember, the sweeter the drink, the more calories it's likely to have. A Pina Colada will add about 625 calories to your daily total, a Frozen Margarita will be about 250 and a Gin and Tonic will come in at around 200.
Better Alternative: Wine is always a good choice. A glass of dry red wine is only around 80 calories, and a glass of dry white wine is about 75. Plus wine has other positive health effects. Light beer is obviously a better choice than regular beer. Just beware, Miller Genuine Draft 64 only has 64 calories, but it also has about half the alcohol content of a 110-calorie Miller Genuine Draft Light. So if your goal is to drink to excess then it's actually better to go with the higher calorie options in some cases.

So there you have it! Beware of the calories in what you drink. If you only have a few pounds to lose you could probably drop to your desired weight in a month if you drink nothing but water. The body doesn't need any liquids except for water (and maybe a little milk, if you're adventurous, but try to keep it 2% or lower.)