Is Your

Weight Loss

Being

Sabotaged By

What Is In

Your Glass?

Lynn Smith
3/14/2008
Professional Health Coach
www.HealthCoachTeam.com

Frustrated by your weight loss efforts? Or maybe you've reached a
plateau? When trying to lose weight we tend to pay better attention
to what we eat. But have you thought about what you drink? The
Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina
examined dietary records of U.S. adults and found a startling
trend. In 1965 only 11.9 percent of calories came from beverages
but by 2002 that went up to 21 percent. That's a lot of opportunity
for weight gain!

Liquid calories are the worst calories we can put into our bodies
if we're trying to lose fat because they add up so quickly without
suppressing hunger. And these calories often come in the form of
sugar.

Did you know a Grande size caramel macchiato at Starbuck's has 270
calories? Numbers don't mean much without a point of comparison, so
here it is: that's more calories than a McDonald's small order of
French fries! A peppermint white chocolate mocha with whipped cream
has 560 calories; a McDonald's Big Mac has 540. That's a Big Mac in
a cup! No wonder we're not losing weight.

What else are you drinking in the course of the day? Soda,
possibly? Likely; Americans consume tons of the stuff. But you
drink diet, right? That's different. Think again. Here's a couple
of startling statistics. Research in the medical journal
Circulation shows that people who drink more than one soda a day,
whether diet or regular, increase their risk for metabolic
syndrome, which doubles risk for heart disease and diabetes, by
almost 50 percent. The University Of Texas Health Science Center,
San Antonio, found that for every diet soda you drink a day, you
increase your risk of gaining weight by 41 percent. Pretty
startling statistics, aren't they?

Diet soda has no calories, so how can it contribute to weight gain?
There are theories. Dr. Johnny Bowden feels that a sweet taste
creates a conditioned response in the brain, causing the body to
release insulin, the fat-storing hormone. Diet drinks cause other
harm to our bodies. The aspartame used as a sweetener causes the
body to become more acidic, which causes calcium to be released
from the bones. This is especially bad for women, who are more
prone to osteoporosis.

There are so many high calorie drinks on the market now: energy
drinks, sports drinks, sweetened teas. If we aren't careful, we can
easily sabotage our weight loss goals. The fact is eliminating
those liquid calories can create fast and permanent weight loss.
Take a closer look at your beverage choices. Avoid anything
sweetened and skip the sports drinks unless you are exercising more
than 90 minutes. Plain water is still the best way to hydrate the
body. Applying these tips just might be a simple way to make a
difference on the scale.

________________________________________________________

<< back to articles

If you are interested in learning more about Health Coaching visit www.HealthCoachTeam.com or call 314-283-8570 today and receive a FREE 30-minute no obligation Health Coaching Session.