It’s a hot day and you want a refreshing drink. What is the first thing you want? If you said water, then good for you. If you said sweet tea or soda, you probably haven’t started working on healthy dietary habits yet. Too much sugar in your diet is harmful to your overall health and soft drinks not only are high in sugar, they’re high in phosphoric acid, which is also unhealthy. Phosphoric acid can lead to poor bone density and osteoporosis. If your soda is a cola or any other high caffeine drink, you’re increasing the potential. It’s time to beat the soda habit and improve your health and lower your caloric intake.
Track your intake.
You might not think you drink that much soda, but you’ll be surprised if you track how much you drink and even when you drink it. Don’t forget to write down the caloric intake each time. Just making yourself more aware of a problem or situation, can often help you control it. You’ll be amazed at how many extra calories you drank. Will you save enough calories to lose an extra half pound a week? That’s 26 pounds over a year’s time.
If you’re having a problem, don’t try to do it all at once.
The sugar in the soft drink is addictive. If you’re drinking cola or other drinks with caffeine, it’s also addictive. Anyone who has given up caffeine can attest to their headache. Unfortunately, many over the counter headache remedies also contain caffeine, so they can’t be used to stop it. Take it slowly and start by cutting your consumption in half. If you started out drinking four cans of pop a day, cut down to two and supplement with water for the other half. Then cut it down to one can a day and keep reducing the amount until you don’t drink any.
Find alternatives to soft drinks.
Do you hate water? Some people do. Why not drink infused water. It’s made by cutting up fruit and/or vegetables putting the pieces in water and allowing it to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours until the flavor is released. Look for a healthy alternative to sweetened drinks. Ice tea with no sugar is an acquired taste. Try it with green tea. It’s healthy and you really can’t drink too much.
- Keep a bottle of water with you at all times. Sip on it throughout the day, especially when you’re going to be some place where soft drinks are readily available.
- Ask for a slice of lemon in your water when you go out to eat. You’ll find it quite refreshing and it has many health benefits, especially for diabetics. It has antioxidants that help fight disease and improves your heart health.
- Don’t give up the sugary soft drinks just to go to low calorie ones. A recent study showed that drinking diet soft drinks can cause your waistline to expand and fat to settle around your mid-section.
- Give yourself a choice. Giving up soft drinks is a bit like quitting smoking for some people. A friend of mine who quit says she never quit. She keeps a pack of cigarettes available in case she wants one. The pack is three years old and still unopened.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training