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Step 1
Read nutrition labels. Find out how many calories and how many grams of sugar and fat are contained in the drinks that you consume each day. You may be unpleasantly surprised. Be aware that the fructose, glucose and lactose that appear on many labels are just other names for sugar. Remember that each gram of fat accounts for 9 calories; each gram of sugar (a carb) accounts for 4. So if you have a 120-calorie drink that contains 4 grams of fat and 12 grams of sugar, the beverage contains 84 calories of fat and sugar, more than two-thirds of its caloric content.
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Step 2
Pay attention to serving sizes. Size matters, so a smaller drink is always the lower calorie choice. Don’t even think about super-sizing. You easily can consume up to 1,000 calories each day just from beverages.
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Step 3
Don’t be fooled by what you drink. While fruit juices or sports and energy drinks might seem like healthier choices, these beverages may be packed full of calories and sugar. So you may be hydrating, but you could be increasing your waistline at the same time. Even flavored waters often have hidden calories.
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Step 4
If you can’t give up your lattes, specialty coffees or fruit smoothies, order them made with low-fat or fat-free milk. This will reduce some of the caloric content. Better yet, make your own at home. That way, you can limit more of the calories that go into these drinks.
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Step 5
Watch your alcohol intake. Just one small alcoholic beverage can be high in calories. To make matters worse, the calories in alcohol are considered “empty” calories, providing little or no nutritional value.
