With the sun burning hot and plans to hit the beach and go on vacation being made, many might be thinking it is time to shed the extra weight. Men want to look good with their shirts off and women want to look good with their bikinis on.
Most will tell you to cut the junk food or stop eating out. Others will tell you that you need to finally get that gym membership and start working out. But there is one very important thing that many people forget about when figuring out how to drop the excess fat.
Watch What You Drink
One thing many seem to forget is that what you drink, if not water, comes with sugars, carbs, aspartame, and other ingredients that do not help tighten your waistline.
Start checking the labels when you purchase drinks and you will notice that some of what you are drinking is worse for you than what you are eating. These beverage types include, but are not limited to, soda, juice, coffee/tea, and alcohol.
Soda
We all know that soda isn’t the best thing to drink. The average can of soda has around 30 grams of sugar with some closer to 20 grams and others closer to 40. These cans also come with around 150 calories. And that’s just a 12-ounce can.
Now think about if you get a glass at a restaurant or a fountain drink at a fast food place. Your drink could be giving you over 400 calories and 100 grams of sugar. You don’t need to graduate from medical school to figure out that this isn’t healthy.
At least you have diet soda right? Wrong.
A University of Texas study shows that on average, diet soda drinkers increase their waist size by about 70%. Those who drank at least two cans saw an average of 5 times the waist size increase. It is shown that aspartame increases blood glucose levels, which in turn causes all the excess glucose to be turned into fat.
Juice
We all grew up on juice. Parents always give their children apple juice, orange juice, and various other kinds of juice. Even at school children are given juice. But juice is healthy for you right?
Not all of them. Natural juices can be good for you. But most of the juices you purchase in your local grocery store are not much better than soda. In fact, on average, many juice varieties have more carbs, calories, and grams of sugar than the same amount of soda.
Maybe next time you decide to drink some juice, you should juice it yourself with a home juicer or try to find some of the rare sugar free (and aspartame free) juices at the local store.
Coffee/Tea
The debate over the health of coffee has been going on for years. There are many pros and cons to coffee. Most recent studies point to coffee actually being beneficial in moderation.
Teas have tended to have a much more positive reputation. They tend to have less caffeine and calm you down instead of giving you energy and making you jittery.
But both have the same problem as juice. Many like to add some sugar to their coffee and tea. For those who just add a teaspoon or two, you don’t have too much to worry about. However, going sugar free for the summer might be that little extra you need to lose weight. For those adding tons of sugar, it might be time to reevaluate your habits.
Alcohol
Much like coffee, alcohol is actually beneficial in moderation. We all know the benefits reported of the daily glass of wine. But there is one benefit to other alcohols.
Alcohol acts as a diuretic. That means it dries you out. So if you’re carrying some water weight, a little alcohol might actually help. But be careful. Avoid alcohols with carbs and too many calories if you decide to drink at all.
So when it comes to ordering drinks or buying beverages for home, other than the little bit of coffee or tea, it is always a safe bet to stick with water if you’re trying to stay lean for the summer.
If you find these tips helpful, be sure to read more weight loss and healthy diet tips today.
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