Water, Coffee, Tea: Yes, More Please!

   What to Drink?  Water, Coffee, Tea and more Water!

1. All You Want: Water, Carbonated Water and More Water
2. Some:  Coffee and Tea (no more than five cups--no sugar)
3. Limit:  Milk (one to two 8 oz. servings a day) 
4. Rarely: Soda Pop or Juice 
5. Rarely: Alcohol

Water, water, water and carbonated water! Strive for a goal of drinking six to eight glasses a day. This is not as hard as it first may seem.  Try to develop the habit of drinking a glass of water when you rise in the morning, one with every meal, and one or more glasses between meals. That's at least six! Add a glass or two when you exercise, and you've made the eight glass goal! 

I especially enjoy flavoring water with lemon or lime. Experimenting with different products that can add flavor such as berries, cucumber, ginger root or mint is tasty.  For a completely carb. free flavoring brew a fruit herb tea (photo below) in just a 1/3 cup hot water, after cooling this brew, add a couple of tablespoons to an eight oz. glass of carbonated water or flat water.  Occasionally, I have also flavored carbonated water with a couple of teaspoons of fruit juice.

Concentrated fruit herbal tea can be used to flavor carbonated water

Your task for adventure skill development, this week, is to determine how you like your water flavored---or not.  Enjoy the journey!

Sip coffee and/or tea if you desire but try to limit these beverages to around three cups, with a maximum of five cups daily. Black coffee or tea have no carbs.  It is okay to add milk--even full fat, just track towards your daily carb. total limit.

Milk, whether it be from cow, soy, coconut or almond is a great source of nutrition.  Usually for adults the daily recommendation is two servings, but that varies on what other sources of calcium and dairy products you consume. Be sure to track the carbs. in each serving as posted on the label.

Berry Smoothie

Smoothies that contain any variety of milk, vegetables and fruits are an excellent meal and/or between meal snack. If prepared with the correct foods they are nutritious and provide an easy and quick breakfast meal.
They could be prepared the evening before and in the morning just blend your mixture. Also, for people with rushed morning routines consider making in bulk for a few days supply and store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

I blend, about four times a week, different variations of this easy, tasty and nutritious
   Smoothie Meal:

• ½ cup fresh or frozen berries or fruit
• ½ cup low-fat or full fat milk (choice of cow, soy, almond or coconut)
• ½ cup unsweetened low-fat or full fat yogurt, or cottage cheese (or additional 1/2 cup milk)
• 1/2 to 1 cup leafy vegetable such as spinach, kale, beet greens, or avocado.                     
• Optional: 1 tsp. of either honey, jam, sugar or natural sweetener such as Stevia.    
• One half ½ cup ice cubes
• Try experimenting with adding unsweetened cocoa, peanut butter, or tofu.                                  

Here's a link to more smoothie recipes: http://www.recipe.com/recipes/healthy/low-carb/smoothies/

Many beverages, such as soda pop, juice, beer, and alcoholic drinks contain a lot of calories, which are mainly derived from sugar (carbohydrates) and should be avoided. Some people are not aware of how much sugar they have been consuming in drinks, until they start reading labels and recording their current practices.  This link provides information on the caloric content of common drinks:   http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/drinks.html

Soda pop has 9 teaspoons of sugar, and fruit juices range from 5 to 8 teaspoons, so the ultimate goal is to eliminate them from our diet.  Fruit, which has fiber and thus is more filling, is a better use of carbs. than juices.  Wean your intake of these drinks or go "cold turkey" with the goal of only drinking soda pop and juices on rare occasions.

Restrict the consumption of beer, wine and alcohol, especially while trying to lose weight. One gram of alcohol contains 7 calories, almost twice as many as either protein or carbohydrate. This link provides information on how alcohol effects blood sugar and provides the grams of carbohydrates in different types of alcohol:  http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/alcbev.htm
For beer brand carb. counts view: www.weightlossforall.com/carbohydrates-calories-beer.htm

Prior to starting this weight loss adventure, I had about four to five alcoholic beverages a week. I have stopped drinking them other than a few sips of my husband's drink, or on special occasions.  I haven't missed them, as I really was more of a social drinker.  I replaced them with carbonated water, with a flavoring such as concentrated herbal tea or a twist of lemon or lime.  The conversations remain just as lively with this adaptive lifestyle choice.

You may choose to consume your "treat" carbs as alcohol, juice or soda pop once or twice a week. I prefer to use my, twice a week, treats for desserts such as ice cream.  You have the decision of what your rare treats will be.  Here's a toast (with alcohol alternatives)--to new social conditioning, healthy lifestyles and to the beauty and sustainability of this diet regiment--- Carb Choices!

The next blog post will have information on HIIT High Intensity Interval Training . This exercise program revs metabolism with the added benefit of an "after-burn" effect, which for hours after the exercise routine continues to burn fat.