You Are What You Drink!

Well, sort of.

Did you know that pop and sweetened energy drinks contribute more sugar to the average diet than any other food and drinks? Isn’t that crazy?! Personally, I’d rather indulge in a dessert every once in a while than drink my sugar and calories.

Also many juices that are marketed as “healthy” and “vitamin rich” contain far more sugar and less nutrients than just eating the fruit itself.

Wait, there’s more…

Sweetened coffee and tea drinks, fruit juice smoothies, sports drinks, chocolate milk… dare I say it?… alcohol… (sorry don’t unfollow me) these are all drinks that are often extremely calorie dense and often rich in sugar.

There are so many delicious drinks out there that can completely derail your diet and keep you from reaching your goals. So what do you do if you just love a tall glass of OJ?

Start by tracking what you are drinking. Write it down. Take an inventory of what your average day looks like. If your day contains at least three sugary drinks, see if you can come up with a swap to lower it to two. Maybe consider eating an orange instead of drinking that juice? Eating whole fruits and vegetables will give you more fibre and nutrients and will be more filling than drinking your produce.

Love Pepsi? Maybe first try swapping for a Diet Pepsi and eventually maybe you’ll be open to carbonated water instead.

Sweetened coffee aficionado? Maybe start with asking your barista for one pump of the sweet stuff instead of two, and maybe eventually you’ll consider just plain coffee or tea for that caffeine fix.