But what are you drinking? I was linking along and found this article on beverage choices and hazards via this blog…
Check this out:
About 21 percent of calories consumed by Americans over the age of 2 come from beverages, predominantly soft drinks and fruit drinks with added sugars, the panel said in its report. There has been a huge increase in sugar-sweetened drinks in recent decades, primarily at the expense of milk, which has clear nutritional benefits. The calories from these sugary drinks account for half the rise in caloric intake by Americans since the late 1970s.
21 percent?! WOW. I know that before my grand lifestyle overhaul, I was knocking back 7-10 cans of Pepsi a week and a Cafe Mocha or two. (That’s probably about 2000 extra calories a week.) Now, my only caloric beverage is 1% milk. I drink water and black coffee the rest of the time.
I found this paragraph interesting:
But calories from sweet drinks are not the only problem. The other matter cited by the panel, in its report in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is that beverages have “weak satiety properties” — they do little or nothing to curb your appetite — and people do not compensate for the calories they drink by eating less.
See now, that is the problem with working sweet drinks into your calorie choices for the day. You get nothing from them but the taste! The article goes on to list many health risks that have been associated with different drinks. However, I am pleased to say that several paragraphs are devoted to the virtues of caffeine. 
And of course, milk does a body good.
Speaking of milk…I forgot to mention in my checklist the other day that studies have shown that your body needs to be getting its calcium to lose weight effectively. Plus, women who are losing weight can be losing bone mass if they aren’t getting their calcium. So take a quick break from the water for a quick glass of moo juice! And check your supplements!
Cheers!
A note on the calcium . . .
I’ve seen that several of you are doing SB, so wanted to share that high-protein diets may impede calcium metabolism; people on high-protein diets need to make sure they are getting extra calcium.
In addition to helping with weight loss and bone mass, calcium also appears to improve insulin sensitivity, which is a good thing (expecially for Type 2 Diabetics and women with PCOS).
BUT, calcium is a tricky thing to get into your body. Your body can only take so much at a time, so taking a huge dose of it all at once does not mean your body can use it all.
Also, the easiest way for your body to get it in supplement form is in the gel caps–not the hard pills. So a small dose gel cap twice a day is better than a large dose once a day in the hard pill form.
Sorry my 2 cents is so long.
Comment by amanda — March 29, 2007 @ 7:31 am
I also had a pharmacist tell me that Tums were a great way to get calcium…
Comment by blestwithsons — March 29, 2007 @ 7:38 am
Funny, I used to drink quite a lot of milk, and now I never do. On the other hand, I seem to eat a lot of dairy products these days, reduced fat cheese, yoghurt etc, so I think I’m probably still getting my calcium.
Sugary drinks on the other hand, I never touch now. There are several bottles of squash (how to describe squash? It’s sort of concentrated sweet fruity liquid stuff, you add water to drink it) sitting on the kitchen work top that I haven’t touched since starting South Beach. I should get rid of them since they’re probably undrinkable.
Comment by Bekki — March 29, 2007 @ 7:52 am
[…] Ok. So I know that I shouldn’t really be drinking soda (which I knew already, and also was reminded of from Blest’s post earlier this week). […]
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