Cutting down on calories is something a lot of people do when they're trying to lower our weight.
Passing up on cake and eating salads, may be a good thing, but there's something else to consider.
We might make these choices consciously by reading the calorie counts on menus, or we make them unconsciously, by simply doing what we always do.
And you may not realize just how many extra calories are coming from what you drink.
"If you're used to drinking maybe a glass of juice in the morning, a soda at lunch, and an iced tea with sugar at dinner, just by cutting out even one of those beverages is going to make a really big difference on your overall calorie intake," said Cleveland clinic R.D. Andrea Rumschlag.
If you drink a soda a day, that's 50 pounds of sugar a year.
That's the message of the city health departments latest ad campaign, "Pouring on the Pounds".
Dieticians and nutritionists agree your best zero calorie option is of course water.
But if you need a little more flavor, try a no calorie flavor enhancer.
You can even add slices of lemon, orange, lime, cucumbers or berries.
And for a different take on your tea, try making green iced tea.
And if you still crave the flavor of soda, pick the lesser of two evils and go for the diet soda.
Whether you call it diet pop, or diet soda, stay with a drink that gives you zero calories.
You can try decreasing your sugar sweetened beverages one meal at a time. Say, only zero calorie drinks for dinner. Then extend that to lunch.and so on.
Before you know it, your drink menu will likely become sugar free.
