One Easy Way to Lose Weight and Cut Calories

In a nation where the trend seems to be a growing waist line and higher wieght, there is one small thing you can do to on a daily basis that may not seem like such a big deal but can make a huge impact on your waistline and help lose weight. The easiest way to quickly decrease your total
calorie count is to stop drinking your calories. People who spend time watching what they eat and measuring portions, forget that even your drinks count toward your total calorie intake.

Between morning drinks, drinks with meals and other choices throughout the day, you could be adding up to 1000 calories extra a day. For the average adult, that is half your recommended intake.

Starting at breakfast, coffee and tea could range anywhere from zero to a whopping 760 calories for a fancy flavored coffee drink. Throw in one 8 oz. glass of fruit juice and you have added another 130 calories to your total.



Just look at the differences in your choice of milk for your breakfast cereal, 1 cup of whole milk has about 150 calories, 2% has 120, and skim milk is down at 85. Switching from whole milk to skim milk would save you 455 calories in a week if you drank only 1 cup a day. That translates to 23,725 calories over the course of a year. On average it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound, so over that year, all other things remaining the same, you could lose 6 pounds. Who would mind that type of thoughtless weight lose?

Lunch usually includes a soda to go with you meal. A 12 oz carbonated beverage can range anywhere from 140 calories up to 165, but realistically, who only drinks one 12 oz. drink, unusually it is larger or you go back for the free refill. Even an 8 oz. sweetened iced tea has 88 calories.

Let's not forget your afternoon pick me up, the plain cup of coffee comes in at the bottom, but with the flavored creamers and sugars you can start adding 10 to 45 additional calories, but that is only if you use the recommended tablespoon serving size. The newest thing on the market is
your energy drinks, but they range anywhere from 150 calories up to 180 for only an 8 oz size, most of the containers they come in are bigger than 8 oz. Sports drinks are a major culprit as well, they can have anywhere from 75 to 110 calories in an 8 oz serving, but most bottles are actually 20 oz. Although many of the sports drink manufacturers have started marketing lower calorie versions of their drinks, be cautious of the recommended serving sizes compared to the container size.

By switching to reduced or no calorie drinks you can cut a significant amount of calories from your daily intake. Replacing 300 drink calories in your day with a zero calorie alternative, you can jump start you weight lose.

There are a great variety of zero to 5 calorie drink options now available. Some of the basic ones would be plan coffee, tea or water, but add a slice of lemon to your water and you have spiced it up a bit. Unsweetened iced tea, calorie free sodas, 0 calorie flavored waters, and reduced calorie beverages are other options available. If you are just starting a weight lose program or have hit a plateau and can't seem to drop any more pounds, try taking a look at the invisible calories that you consume throughout the day with your beverage choices.