What are you drinking?

Is a drinking problem holding you back from losing weight?  Ted Striker from Airplane! had a big drinking problem (see photo on the right).  Granted, it was not stopping him from losing weight, but it was still holding him back.....from keeping his shirt dry.

One of the most important parts of a healthy diet is good ole H₂O.  To quote Kings Quest video game:

Ahh, lifegiving water.  Nectar of the Gods.

I read a book a few years back about the South Beach Diet and it went in depth about why drinking water is important to losing weight.  It allows your kidneys to function properly.  If you do not have enough water, your liver is forced to help clean your blood and it cannot function properly.  Enough water also allows our body to regulate its temperature better and a whole plethora of other advantages.  According to the Mayo Clinic, the average human should be drinking between 72 and 104 oz. of water a day.  Some experts have forumulas based on weight that could have you drinking upwards of 160 oz. of water a day.  Also, if you are doing lots of exercise or working in heat, you will need to increase this.

Beyond that, what are you drinking?  I enjoy some coffee from time to time (ok a few times a day).   Coffee has very few calories, somewhere around 2 calories for 8 oz, or 5 for a 20 oz cup!  But, what ELSE do you add to it?  I enjoy coffee in its own form, but most people I know tend to add something to it.  Milk, sugar, etc.  This adds calories to it and many people may not realize it.  The average espresso drinks (Latte, Cappucino, etc.) in a 20 oz size (venti) from Starschmucks yields 373 calories...FOR A DRINK!  Even getting the nonfat (skim milk) version only cuts the calories down to about 250 calories.  If you want a caffeine fix, perhaps you should learn to enjoy a cup of coffee alone and save yourself 245-368 calories.

Another easy way to drink your calories is soda. Coca-Cola or Pepsi has about 100 calories in 8 oz.  How often do you drink 8 oz?  Usually it is a 12 oz can, or a 1 liter (32 oz) bottle.  This will increase you to 150-400 calories.

So my friends if you are having trouble losing weight, I ask you this:

     What are you drinking?

• Are you drinking enough water?
• Do you know how many calories you are drinking?

If you are not sure, increase your water intake for a week and be conscious of what you are drinking and see what happens.  You may be surprised at the results.