Things You'll Need:
- willpower
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Step 1
First you have to pinpoint all of the ways you are taking in extra calories through your drinking habits. When you start to change these gradually, you will hydrate your body better, stay fuller, and get extra vitamins and nutrients into your diet. So make a list of your favorite splurges. Things you'll need to cut back on or cut out are: Coffee, Soda Pop (even diet eventually), Fruit Juice, Wine, Beer, Liquor, energy drinks... basically most anything you can buy in the store pre-bottled. A few exceptions will be listed later.
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Step 2
Get one or two great containers for drinks that you love to use. I recommend a Sigg Bottle or Kleen Kanteen, Nalgene, mug, and a bigger bottle with a straw feature, like the one Camelback makes. You'll also need a Britta/Pur/Reverse Osmosis pitcher or filtration system. We're going to start our drinks with pure water, and bottled water isn't going to cut it. Get a bottle you can reuse, and you'll be saving money and helping the environment.
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Step 3
While you start slowly cutting back and phasing out coffee and pop, you may encounter headaches and cravings, but keep some Excedrine handy- it's worth the effort. It won't be more than a couple days of pain and the Excedrine will give you a bit of caffeine to let you down easy while helping you break the drink habit. Depending on how much you drink, set a date by which you want to be down to one a day. This should not take more than a week once you are serious about it. When you have a hard time, remind yourself of all the benefits of quitting. These drinks do not count as hydration because they actually dehydrate and interfere with your body's ability to absorb and assimilate certain vitamins and minerals. They also keep the pounds from coming off, even when you may be watching what you eat or starting to exercise more. They are addictive, but once you stop, you will not want them anymore. I recommend cutting out even diet sodas because they still have the dehydration problem, and they can have super-addictive ingredients. Coffee and all sodas also contain acids, and having excess acids in your system can lead to all kinds of health problems.
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Step 4
Make a good list- things that you will be drinking instead. Especially if you drink a lot, say a your desk, it may be a habit as much as thirst or actual desire for the beverage. Keep the list handy, and your fridge stocked with the alternatives.
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Step 5
When it comes time to actually stock the fridge, there really are a lot of delicious options for truly hydrating your body. Here are a few, but once you get the hang of it, run wild. The main thing to cut out is sugar in all its forms. Fill up a few bottles and your pitcher and keep them in the fridge so they are cool and refreshing when you want that. Cut up a good bunch of fruit and herbs and keep them ready in the fridge to throw in your water for flavor. Any citrus slices, strawberry slices, peaches, mint, cucumbers, and pre-made tea bags are all great for adding to water. If you add fruit to tea and let it "brew" for a bit in the fridge, you'll be surprised at how fresh and simple the taste is. The main goal is to get more water in the drink than anything else. When you drink juice, add water and ice so that you are not just getting fruit sugars. You can drink a lot of calories through smoothie, so be careful at Jamba Juice. Get wheatgrass instead or try their lighter options.
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Step 6
Make yourself a few recipes that are good alternatives to alcoholic cocktails. If you make something similar without the alcohol, you'll probably still love it, and you'll be cutting a lot of the calories right there. Add limes and mint to your water to make a "mojito" or make a fake bloody mary by just pouring V8 and sticking a celery stick in it. Coconut water is a fantastic way to hydrate and can make a great virgin beverage. Add any tropical fruit you like- pineapple, mango, papaya- just keep it on the crushed rocks and add a little club soda so that you keep the fruit sugars lower.
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Step 7
So here is a sample list of what to drink:
-Water
-Skim, Rice or Light Soy Milk - in moderation or just in cereal
-"Spa Water" (add cucumbers, lemon slices, mint- YUM!)
-Unsweetened Fruit Juices mixed with water, crushed ice. Best choices: cranberry, pineapple. Remember, unsweetened, cut with water.
-Naked Juice mixed with water, ice
-Acai berry, goji berry, pomegranate juice- you got it- mixed with water!
-Coconut Water (not milk, which is pressed from the meat, but water which is already found in the middle of the coconut. If you like coconut, consider cracking your own open, saving the water and using the meat. It makes a great frozen snack with nothing added.
-Black coffee once a day until you can quit
-Green, Oolong, unsweetened black, other herbal teas, hot or iced
-Kombucha
-One glass of wine per week, if you prefer, but don't overdo it
-Protein shakes- look for whey, soy, egg white, hemp, pea proteins.
-Vitamin & Supplement packets- at Whole Foods you can get individual packets of Emergn-C, Ola Loa, Alive, and other superfood packets. These are a great way to add all sorts of great nutrients to your diet you wouldn't normally get. And the protein and water keep you full and help you build muscle. There is a shake called "mix" which is delicious, especially the green bottle, which tastes like key lime pie.
-Wheatgrass juice
-Fresh fruit and vegetable juices - you can use a blender or juicer for these, one of the best is a VitaMix because it pulverizes all the imput so you get all the nutrients, not just the strained juice. -
Step 8
See, there are a lot of things you can drink!! Now the last step is to just keep doing it until it is your new habit! You can do it! If you stick to it, you can lose 5-20 lbs. just by doing this. And face it, water and fruit are a LOT cheaper than soda and beer. You'll never go back. You could have several dinners out with the money and calories you'll save.
