Beverages

Beverages

When we think of beverages we really need to focus on purpose. What is the purpose for what we are drinking? Most of the time when we eat, it is because we are hungry. But, many times our beverages are for a variety of reasons other than thirst. I normally don’t like to link to other peoples blogs, but this particular blog has a lot of scientific information in it which is in particular is what I want to discuss. So here is the link
http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/AlcoholCaloriesAndWeight.html#.U8mLA19AKhs

 

In the Morning

When you get up in the morning what is your go to drink? More importantly why? For me it is coffee with half-n-half. I love the taste and after four decades of drinking coffee I can’t imagine a morning without it, so there are sentimental reasons, too. I have transitioned the way I drink coffee from my teens when it was half cream/half coffee along with real sugar then to my late twenties after I dabbled with sugar substitutes and decided in a very short amount of time that they were not for me and decided to not partake of any sugar substitutes whatsoever…so I decided to make the switch to NO Sugar at all. I was a little worried, but now if I accidentally get someone else’s coffee with sugar in it, I can’t stand it…so I am definitely converted.

When you drink in the morning are you adding sugars to your beverages? How does this make you feel? Have you tried going without any type of sugar or sugar substitute altogether? If you haven’t, give it a try and write down how you feel with and without the sugar or the sugar substitute.

 

During the Day

Your best bet to get some water into your daily routine is during the day, after your morning beverage of choice and before the evening arrives and the options usually change to more adult beverages. So if your daily beverage of choice is soda, juice, or some combination thereof you need to see how this is affecting you. Have you tried drinking just water during the day? Challenge yourself for one day to drink water during the day (make sure you like the taste of the water you are drinking!) and write down how you feel vs. how you were feeling when you drank all the other non-water beverages during the day. My hope is that you feel more refreshed, alert, and had little impact on your appetite. Sometimes drinking beverages other than water can make you hungry—so give it a try! I like to drink water from noon until about 7 pm until I switch to my evening beverage.

In the Evening

Some look to the evening for their wine, cocktails, and/or beer and this doesn’t appear to affect weight loss adversely if done in moderation (now is the time to look at the link above.) I personally like either red wine or bubbly (sparkling wine or champagne-depending on the occasion) in the evening while alternating with some water. I also make sure that I have a protein rich and dietary fat rich meal for dinner, along with some greens for vegetables. It doesn’t matter how late I eat. If I have already eaten dinner and it is later in the evening I may have some cheese and crackers—either goat cheese or cheddar cheese with saltine crackers. Until it is time to go to bed…

Overnight

When I go to sleep I ALWAYS (I can confidently say always) have water by my bed before I go to sleep. Almost always I get up at some time during the night and have some water. I live in a dry climate, so this could be the reason, but even when I travel I do the same thing.

My Plan

So there it is my daily plan for my beverages: Coffee w/cream in the morning until about noon, then water until about 7 pm and then beginning with dinner wine or bubbly alternating with water, until it is time for bed and then it is back to just water. Make your own plan and see how you feel!

 

Sherri Sue Fisher, author of TimerDiet and TimerOrganizer

www.timerdiet.com

www.timerorganizer.com