Staff Writer
When it comes to your waist, 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, like Powerade Zero, 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 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.
Our experts can offer a lot of other small changes you can do right now. Send your questions to our nutritional experts today, or call 866-756-0510 Mondays to Fridays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Check out last week's tweak about breakfast and come back next week for Healthy Sandwich Switches.
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.
Labels: breakfast tips, drinks, fast-food, juice, weight loss
Comment: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 8:26:00 AM - 
BigEater said...
Don't forget the flavored seltzer waters out there.
Comment: Friday, September 12, 2008 12:36:00 PM - said...
I used to be a big fan of diet soda, but found that even though it didn't put on weight, it did make me bloated. Now when I get the urge for bubbles I stick to club soda either with flavor or add a slice of lemon/lime.
Comment: Monday, September 15, 2008 11:01:00 AM - said...
I recently bought a sports water bottle to try to drink more water. However.... I HATE drinking plain water. The life-saver for me has been adding a small slice of fruit like grapefruit or orange or even a slice of cucumber. So much better for you than Crystal Light type flavorings. Now I have been drinking about a gallon of water every day without difficulty.
Comment: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 10:23:00 AM - said...
How can an Atkins dieter drink an occasional cup of coffee. Is there a no/low carb coffee lightner without a lot of calories?
Comment: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:06:00 PM - Weight Loss said...
Weight loss industry will focus on the way people should feel while doing it, in order to achieve better results and stay healthy all the time. Being healthy and thin is not a dream, it should be something, that is a reasonable and easy to be done.
As you already know - women and men are not built the same way, and this is more than normal.
Comment: Sunday, September 21, 2008 11:20:00 PM - said...
Anonymous Atkins Dieter, I may be able to help:
Hood Calorie Countdown 2% Reduced Fat Dairy Beverage wtih Splenda has 90 calories per CUP with only 3 grams of carbs. It is has proven to be a lifesaver for me. In addition, Hood Calorie Countdown also comes in Chocolate and Fat Free. The only place I can find it is WalMart and it flies off the shelves. Hope this helps and good luck.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 6:21:00 AM - 
Baileytjuice56 said...
Whats wrong with not using crystal light in your water bottles? Thats what I use, and there are many different flavours too. With the many flavours, you won't get bored, by having the same thing all the time.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 7:46:00 AM - Juanita said...
for the atkins dieter, or not, use half and half cream, a few drops of your favorite flavor extract (I love vanilla and almond) and to really sweeten it up, you can add some stevia to your coffee! Not only is it delicious but you'll find the very low carbs fit right into your atkins diet regement!
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 7:46:00 AM - said...
i think the best choice for drink is Green tea in lemon flavore thats so helpfull 4 weight loss.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 7:48:00 AM - Juanita said...
for the atkins dieter, or not, use half and half cream, a few drops of your favorite flavor extract (I love vanilla and almond) and to really sweeten it up, you can add some stevia to your coffee! Not only is it delicious but you'll find the very low carbs fit right into your atkins diet regement!
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 8:34:00 AM - said...
To the atkins question - can't you use coffee cream? It has no carbs.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 12:04:00 PM - said...
For a "cocktail" with dinner, I have seltzer water with cranberry juice (light) and a twist of lemon.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 12:40:00 PM - said...
Use avocado on sandwiches instead of mayo. You get to add healthy fats and loose the calories of the mayo.
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 4:05:00 PM - said...
I was 40 pounds over weight. I started seeing a deep tissue massage therapist. She kept telling me that the reason I don't lose wt. even though I am not an overeater is because I don't eat breakfast. Breakfast has always made me nauseous. She insisted that I could overcome this problem. She recommended 1 hardboiled egg and half a grapefruit. I love grapefruit so I tried it. For about the first two weeks it was hard to eat, especially the egg. Now I eat every morning and voila, I have lost 35 pounds in 4 and 1/2 months.
Hooray!!!!!!!!! Eat Breakfast. Deborah-
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 4:20:00 PM - said...
its completely true, during the summer i worked at 8 every morning for the first time in my life, and i couldnt seem to stay up and i cant stand coffee, so i drank 2 bottles of mountain dew in the morning which woke me up, but i gained back the 20 pds i had just lost, in only a couple weeks!
Comment: Monday, September 22, 2008 9:00:00 PM - said...
I drink lots of coffee and I have to add something will splenda make much of a difference, and I like lemon water with splenda
Comment: Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:57:00 AM - said...
I was a big soda drinker too.Now I only drink water and use flavored stevia. You can get stevia sweetner in rootbeer, vanilla creme, chocolate, grape, lemon drop, valencia orange, and many others. The chocolate and vanilla creme would probably work with coffee. I have found the best deals on stevia on ebay.
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