Don't Drink Your Calories

Calories consumed in the liquid form of fancy coffee drinks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages can waylay you when you're trying to lose weight. That's because people don't seem to "count" liquid calories as part of their daily calorie total. Those extra liquid calories add up fast.

A 20-ounce soft drink packs 250 calories, a 12-ounce mocha coffee drink has around 300, the average mixed drink has 300, and a glass of wine or beer about 150. Multiply that by a few servings and you can see how the extra calories can spell trouble for your weight-loss efforts.

Even if you drink only one soft drink a day, over time those liquid calories will have a big impact. For example, imagine that you had a can of regular cola with your lunch every day. Over the course of a year, that would add up to nearly 55,000 empty and unnecessary calories — or a little more than 15 pounds!

What's the solution? Make water and unsweetened or artificially sweetened seltzer, iced tea, and coffee your beverages of choice. Each has zero calories (unless you add milk to your coffee, and if you do, be sure to use low-fat or nonfat milk).

If you must have a soft drink, reach for a diet version — at least you won't be drinking hundreds of empty calories. But remember that soft drinks contain sodium, which you won't find in water, tea, or coffee.

In time, you may find you lose your taste for high-calorie beverages. And you'll lose a lot of extra calories too!