This One Tip Can Save You Bunches of Calories. Think you know what it is?

Here it is: Drink only water for one week. Noooo, I’m not suggesting you fast, but rather simply replace everything you drink and substitute with water. Most of us drink calorie laden soda or juices instead of water. And for those of us who like “diet” drinks which contain artificial sweeteners, we are not exempt. More on that later…

I have to give credit to my good friend Arnold who passed this along to me. It’s funny because I talk to people ALL the time and I love to learn from them. Last week Arnold and I were talking about this blog and OutRunYourFork. He said that he uses this one tip to get people started. If, however, they already are drinking only water, then they immediately graduate to Phase Two. It was an “Ah-ha” moment for me. I’ve used so many different methods for helping people get started on a healthy nutrition program and they all were unique for each person. However, I was embarrassed to admit I had never started with this one simple tip. Now, the first question I ask people is around what they drink throughout the week.

Let’s do the math. If one 12 ounce can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar or 140 calories. Drink one can per day and you’re taking in an extra 980 calories per week. In 3.5 weeks that adds up to almost 3,500 calories. It takes 3,500 calories to make 1 lb of fat on your body. So, if you cut out the soda, you could cut .25 lbs of fat per week.* Fruit Juice, not a whole lot better. Our friends at http://www.sugarstacks.com give the visuals. Very revealing and disturbing. :-O

Next time we will cover why artificial sweeteners are a poor choice as well. Questions? Are the posts too short? Too long? Or just right? You decide. Vote in the comments section below and have your voice counted!

*Disclaimer: This assumes you are over your Basal Metabolic Rate in total calories consumed.