Summertime is here, which means tons of cookouts, frozen cocktails and cold beers, but many don’t know that drinking your calories can be a hidden source of weight gain. Most people don’t even realize just how many calories some of the beverages we drink really contain.
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During the hot summer months, the heat can cause us to unknowingly drink more fluids than we normally do, adding more calories that we may actually regret more later.
Here are a few things you to consider when guzzling beverages this summer.
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Alcohol:
Obviously, you know alcohol contains calories but what you might not realize is just how many calories some drinks can really contain. The average margarita contains 300 calories while the average pina colada contains 500 calories—and most of us have more than just one, right? Don’t lie.
Swap Ideas:
Be smarter when choosing your beverages. You can choose light beer, wine spritzer (wine mixed with seltzer) or choose a drink mixer that is calorie free like diet soda, seltzer or diet juice and mix it with vodka or rum. That will only cost you about 100 calories per drink.
They say the darker the liquor, the more calories your going to intake. I personally enjoy Ciroc coconut or peach. So, keep it light my friends.
Plus if you know in advance you’re going to be drinking, plan to do some extra cardio to make up for the liquid calories you are going to consume.
Those calories aren’t going to disappear on their own. So, if you drink 1800 calories and only burn 300 at the gym then the rest of them are going to stick around.
Coffee Drinks:
Coffee in its pure form contains little to no calories, but with all the “specialty coffee drinks” available today, it’s easy to rack up calories at the coffee shop. Once you add whole milk, syrups and whip cream, your drink can be anywhere from 350-600 calories.
Swap Ideas:
Order coffee with non-fat milk and choose an alternative sweetener like Splenda or Equal—or just limit to one sugar. If you are ordering a coffee beverage, be sure to ask for it with non-fat milk. Lastly, try to stick to a small size. No need to super size that sweet coffee, might as well hit 711 and get a nice sugar loaded Slurpee.
Vitamin-enhanced or energy drinks:
Most of these drinks promote their health benefits like energy, immunity or extra vitamins and minerals, but what they don’t promote is that many of them contain lots of extra calories. An average sports drink is 200-300 calories! You would need to do at least 45 minutes of cardio to work off that one energy drink, that’s not even touching your stores calories you still need to burn off.
If you are going to choose one of these beverages, read the nutrition facts panel and look for calorie free choices or just drink plain water and mentally prepare yourself to reach your goals…Just remember, never give up!
Now, enjoy those BBQ’s, picnics, parties, and beach days!!
See you at the beach GG!!!
Smile & Breathe
-Karim Ramos
