PrintBy Shawn McKee
eDiets Contributor
The slogan “think before you drink” doesn’t just apply to alcohol.
One way that excess calories slip into your daily life is through sneaky soft drinks and juices. Most people don’t even consider how many calories are in what they drink, and they don’t eat less to adjust.
Consider this: You’re at a restaurant and eating a salad so you go ahead and have a soda. No big deal, right? Wrong. You get free refills and so you double up — you’ve just added roughly 300 calories to an otherwise healthy lunch — assuming the salad isn’t loaded with fatty dressing, bacon bits and cheese.
Hidden calories lurk around every crouton and under pop tops everywhere.
A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola packs 140 calories and 39 grams of carbs. If you have one can a day, as an afternoon pick-me-up, with dinner or any other time, over the course of the year that adds up to over 51,000 calories — that’s roughly 14 pounds!
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There is a conspicuous correlation between U.S. soft drink consumption increasing simultaneously with the U.S. obesity epidemic. Americans drank 22 gallons of non-diet soft drinks per person in 1970, and by 1997, that number nearly doubled to 41 gallons per person — and obesity ballooned 112 percent.
If you need a caffeine fix, your best bet is to switch to coffee or tea to save calories and carbs. However, stay away from too much sugar and creamer to keep the calorie count down as each teaspoon of sugar will add about 16 calories.
Sports drinks are another unnecessary source of calories in your diet. The casual exerciser does not need them. If you are exercising for 45 minutes or less, water will be just fine to replenish your fluids. Most of these drinks pack over 100 calories per serving and can undo a lot of the exercise you just did.
If you still need flavors in your fluid, a lot of new sports drinks pack little or no calories and are pretty tasty. But just like diet sodas, you’ll see a lot of unpronounceable ingredients listed on the package which may be a cause for concern in the long run.
The best thing to do is stick with that fantastic weight loss miracle drink of the stars — water. No secret there — and no calories either. Drinking a glass of water before meals will help prevent overeating and drinking it with your meal will save you calories and money. It’s a win, win.
Do you have a simple switch, tip or trick for losing weight and living healthy? Post it below to potentially be featured in an upcoming Tweak of the Week.
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