STOP DRINKING YOUR MEALS - THE EASIEST WAY TO REMOVE CALORIES AND LOSE FAT

The one thing everyone can do to immediately make a difference in calorie intake is to change drinking habits. I am not necessarily referring to alcohol.


Many people drink their way to obesity. How? By drinking 500-1000 additional calories daily with their beverage choices.

Fruit juices: Drinking fruit juice instead of fruit. Read the labels - pure fruit juice is not really pure but reconstituted from concentrate. Having a glass of fruit juice gives you a huge caloric/sugar jolt in a short period of time without the health benefits of eating the whole fruit. Some research indicates that the vitamins in fruit may be absorbed because of the nutrients in the whole fruit including the skin or pith so you may be missing out on the essential nutrients provided with the whole fruit.

Gourmet coffee drinks. I know people who consume 2-4 of these pricey beverages per day. Google search any well known gourmet coffee place adding the search words 'and nutrition' and see how many calories are in these drinks! And this is without adding extra sugar.

Flavoured water: water is the healthiest beverage around. Why add calories and flavouring - stick to lemon or lime slices.

Smoothies: yes you can make or buy nutritious smoothies however, a research study concluded that when we take in calories in the form of liquids we consume more calories in a day because dietary compensation is weaker than for solid foods - in other words the liquid does not appear to satisfy our body's caloric need or hunger and we still duplicate the calories with solid food. Unfortunately although these drinks do not satisfy our caloric cravings they do satisfy our thirst so it will also decrease our water consumption.

Alcohol: this info would not be complete without a comment on alcohol. When people diet they often still consume alcohol but switch to a 'lower calorie beverage' but they miss that the effect of alcohol goes beyond the number of calories in a drink. I must admit I was recently intrigued by the ads for a beer that only has 67 calories per bottle until I researched a bit further.

Alcohol (regardless of the caloric value) reduces the amount of fat you burn because:
- it increases appetite - severals studies have shown significant increase in meal calorie intake when using alcohol
-lowers testosterone (a muscle building hormone) levels for up to 24 hours.
- increases cortisol (a muscle wasting hormone)

Apparently the damaging effect of alcohol on hormones is even worse if exercising before drinking. Interestingly many people involved in fun sports activities follow it up by going with the team to the pub for drinks and appies. I guess the psychology is that if you have worked so hard at play you have earned the booze and eat fest. But if you are trying to lose fat or build muscle be the DD and eat a healthy moderate meal.

The effects of alcohol on metabolism.
- a small portion of the alcohol converts to fat
- the liver converts most of the alcohol to acetate
- the acetate is released into the bloodstream and replaces fat as a source of fuel.

So remember, alcohol has a greater negative effect on fat loss than simply the number of calories in the drink!

If you want to make a real difference in your caloric intake and fat loss, begin very simply by having a critical look at your beverage intake and water up!