What You Drink Matters for Weight Loss

Posted: Oct 22 in Health And Wellness, Nutrition, Weight loss by Dr. Lazarus

It may not seem very important, but what you drink when you’re dieting can make a huge difference in how much weight you will lose. It is just as important as what you eat and how much you exercise. So, here are some tips to help you learn what to drink when you’re dieting to get the most weight loss.

Stop the Diet Soda

For many people, going on a diet means an immediate switch to diet soda. They know that high-sugar, regular soda is not good for them but, since diet soda has no calories or fat, it seems like the logical choice.

But it’s not. It is terrible for your health and your waistline. It’s full of chemicals, like saccharine, that makes it taste sweet but can cause cancer. Other sweeteners, such as sucralose and aspartame, will cause spikes in blood sugar.

Luckily, you do have other good choices:

•   Consider drinking carbonated water, like Pellegrino and Perrier. These choices have a nice taste of citrus, but no artificial ingredients or calories.

•   You can also drink herbal iced tea, which is a very flavorful drink and can replace soda for your meals.

•   Mix a drink of half club soda and half juice. Drinking this concoction will give you a sweet flavor like soda, and the satisfying bubbles you crave.

•   Lastly, you can drink regular soda. If you must have it, it’s better to have a real soda and add the calories to your diet plan.

Of course, eliminating your soda habit can be hard. You might be addicted to soda’s caffeine and the sweet flavor. So, it’s all right if you don’t want to quit completely right away, but try to cut back at least. It will be good for your health and you will lose weight faster.

For example, if you commonly drink several sodas a day, try to cut back to just one. Let it become a treat rather than your main drink. After a while, you will realize you don’t need it and may be able to give it up completely.

Drink Plenty of Water

When you’re trying to lose weight, there is no better partner than water. You will lose more weight, faster if you make your first-choice beverage water. Most people should drink between 6-8 glasses of water every day.

It might sound hard to drink such a large amount of water every day, but there are several ways to make it easier.

Drink a glass of water before every meal. You will start to feel full and the water will help you eat less.

•   Don’t order soda in restaurants. Instead, drink water, which is almost always free.

•   Always carry a water bottle with you because you’ll be more likely to drink water if it is easily accessible.

•   Add lemon or lemon juice to your water. Lemon-flavored water is delicious and you will forget you’re drinking it for its health benefits. Add just a little squirt of lime or lemon juice, and watch the flavor perk up.

•   Always keep a water glass on the counter in the kitchen. Use one of your favorite glasses, fill it up, and drink it every time you come into the kitchen.

•   Make sure the water you drink is cold. You will probably find it much more palatable.

•   Be sure to drink a full glass of water every morning right after you wake up. Drinking water early in the day will immediately perk you up and begin to hydrate your body.

If you’re wondering why water is so important, consider that your body is made of over 70 percent water. Your cells need water to do their work and to dissolve vital minerals and vitamins.

Water also helps regulate your body temperature, your blood pressure, and makes sure all your body’s systems run smoothly. When you don’t drink enough water, your body tends to hold onto it, but when you drink plenty of water, you will probably not retain water.

Finally, you need to give your body enough water so that fat will have an easy way out as you urinate and sweat.

You’ll feel better and lose weight faster if you make water your drink of choice. Once you get used to drinking water, you will be surprised by how much you like its taste and the feeling of fullness it gives you.