At WellExistence we are all about making changes in our lives. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions we are asked is “What is the one thing I can do to make a difference to lose weight?” Without a doubt the answer to this question could be debated for hours, days, months, years, and on! We got to thinking about it here and we came up with what we think is a simple, baby step approach that anyone could do.
It is simple, reduce the sugar from your diet. Where is the easiest place to do that? From sugar-sweetened beverages of course!
This might be a little bit different of an approach than you might have thought… I’m sure your used to hearing workout 6 days a week, don’t skip breakfast, eat your vegetables, etc. Don’t get me wrong, these are all key factors in the path to living a healthy life. But this post is about the step 1 quick fix that will yield great results.
I’m sure most people won’t be surprised to hear that sugar sweetened drinks are the absolute largest source of sugar for not only children and teenagers, but adults as well. It is also a fact that sugary drinks are the only food that has been directly linked to obesity! Now you may be saying to yourself “Phew! I’m in the clear, I gave up drinking pop a long time ago!” But you may not be as clean as you might think. Let’s test your knowledge in this little quiz below.
How many teaspoons of sugar are in each of the following?
- 20 oz Coke: _____
- 16 oz Sunny Delight:_____
- 16 0z Snapple Lemonade Iced Tea:_____
- 20 oz Gatorade:_____
- 12 0z Apple Juice:_____
- 12 oz Orange Juice:_____
- Vitamin Water:_____
Well? How did you do? Did you have an idea? Or did you take a SWAG at it? Here are the answers, listed per serving. Coke = 17tsp, Sunny Delight = 15tsp, Snapple Lemonade Iced Tea = 14tsp, Gatorade = 9tsp, Apple juice = 10tsp, Orange Juice = 8tsp, Vitamin Water = 8tsp.
It’s not just pop that is laced full of sugar. It is important to remember that these drinks also contain sugar/calories which have little to zero nutritional value. The average can of pop/juice has 250 calories.
Having trouble converting nutrition labels to teaspoons? No prob. Simply divide the number of grams by 4. Here is an example from a 1.5 liter bottle of mountain dew. Which i’ve recently noticed showing up in my local grocery store. Don’t be fooled by the smaller size. There are 46g of sugar per serving. Divide 46/4 which gives us 11.5tsp per serving. Multiply that by the 4 servings in the bottle and that gives us 46tsp of sugar per bottle. Yikes! I’m kinda twitching just writing this!
I know what you are thinking. How is this information going to help me lose 26 lbs this year?!? Let’s do the math (I know, I know, math twice in one post): If you were to eliminate just one 20 oz pop per day, you’d be saving ~65g of sugar which is good for 260 calories. 260 Calories times 365 days per year equals 94,900. Now take that 94,900 calories and divide it by the 3,500 calories in a pound and that gives you 27.1 lbs! Knowing this information, can you replace just 1 can of pop?
Here are three tips to get you started:
- Drink water. Start with replacing just one drink of something sugary with water. Build up from there. Eventually you will find yourself no longer craving the sweet stuff.
- Go for a piece of fruit over a glass of fruit juice. This satisfy your sweet tooth and yet give you all the added benefits of eating fruit such as fiber!
- Try Shakeology. I drink it everyday for breakfast. It’s like drinking a glass of chocolate milk but contains all of the nutrients we need in a day…and its even certified to be low glycemic so you know you will be safe!
Have you taken your first baby step? I want to hear about it! Got any addition tips? Don’t be shy and share them!
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