Someone asked me this and I had been thinking about it anyway…
What I Avoid and Why
- Alcohol, because it affects me like an alcoholic due to too many meds years ago.
- Coffee, because I drank way too much, way too young, and became completely dependent on it. (Read: couldn’t think or move.) It messed me up.
- Sweetened Ice Tea, because of the sugar. Also, too much coffee left me over-sensitive to caffeine.
- Diet Drinks, because aspartame is Kryptonite to me and other artificial sweeteners are almost as bad. (Research shows: the *taste* of sweet sets off cravings.)
- Soft-drinks and other drinks with sugar, from kool-aid to sports drinks, because the sugar and other chemicals cause me more trouble than they are worth, and, are straight up empty calories.
- Fruit juices, which have as much sugar as soft-drinks without all the good benefits of the whole fruits.
So What Do I Drink Besides Water??
- Sassy Water, now, because I am on the Flat Belly Diet. With lemon, cucumber, spearmint and ginger, from diet creator Prevention nutrition director Cynthia Sass, it is a “perkier” water, and also soothes the G.I. tract. I really missed it after the Flat Belly Jumpstart and now have put it back in my daily plan. I suspect I’ll keep drinking this even when I’m not dieting. It’s fun and comforting.
- Green tea, which has had some good press as a powerful anti-oxidant and glucose regulator, and seems to speed up fat burning. The effect is multiplied (more fat is burned faster) when drinking green tea is combined with exercise like walking. It seems to work with both the caffeinated and decaffeinated green tea.
- Caffeinated green tea, but only a little. It seems a little caffeine is *good* for us. Tea has less caffeine than coffee and green tea has less caffeine than black tea, so I drink a little caffeinated green tea occasionally, particularly when I would really enjoy a “pick me up.” Because I use it so seldom, it really works. If I used it on a regular basis, the caffeine would take over my life and the *little* in green tea wouldn’t be enough to help pick me *up.*
- Herb tea, with or without a couple tablespoons of orange or other juice for sweetness. It is decaffeinated.
- Decaf coffee, my guilty pleasure. But only good coffee and only freshly brewed. I still love the taste so it isn’t worth it if it isn’t *good* decaf. Occasionally, I even use a little half and half, and on really special occasions (maybe twice a year), I might use 1-2 packet of raw sugar when available. These are real *comfort* treats for me because I love the taste so much and save them for *special.* It’s nice to have something really *special* when a treat is called for. Very occasionally I might have a specialty coffee drink (cappuccino) made with decaf. Fun!
- Sparkling water is another occasional treat. For instance, if I am out, I may have a sparkling water with lime. I also buy the occasional bottle to use at home for a treat, and sometimes add an ounce or two of fruit juice, or even mix it half-and-half with fruit juice.
- Fruit juice. I do sometimes have a glass of orange juice with a meal, or other fruit juice. I try to focus mostly on whole fruits to get the full nutritional package including fiber.
- Milk, very occasionally. I’ve switched to Lactaid, not because I am lactose intolerant but because I am sugar-sensitive and lactose is the sugar in milk, so dealing with that seems to have a much less negative effect on me and my blood sugar. Right now, on this diet, I’m using Lactaid fat-free PLUS CALCIUM (that will be another post) but normally buy 2%. Sometimes milk is just the thing.
- Hot chocolate, on occasion, just because.
- Smoothies, on occasion, usually home made.
Right now I am drinking *legal* smoothies a la Flat Belly Diet, with 1 cup fat free Lactaid and 1 cup frozen berries, then stirring in 1 tablespoon flax seed oil. I’m having these as my “4th meal” on the diet, late afternoon for a pick-me up AND they help burn fat! I also have to eat a little protein with it as protein seems to make the fat burning work.
What do you drink, and why?
