What Can I Drkink Other Than Water

betterhealth2010

I have been told it is a good idea to eliminate soda, koolaid and similar drinks from my diet to lose weight. These contain simple sugars that may be stored as fat. I have heard the same regarding sport drinks. What else is there to drink? I like V8 splash and was surprised to see how much sugar is in that. I also have really bad heartburn so drinks like tea or water with lemon upset my stomach. What are you all drinking other than water?

lt_mrcook

You can drink other things, but water is by far the best thing for you.

If you think you need something sweet, try an all natural juice. Just be aware that serving of juice packs alot of calories (you'll notice there is a lot of "sugars" in fruit juice...not a huge worry as it's not refined sugar and doesn't have as large an impact on your blood sugar).

**Try to avoid any drink or food for that matter that contains High Fructose Corn Syrup. It will make you feel hungry even when you aren't!**

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

Drinks with "sugar" as an ingerdient aren't good, since that's refined sugar.

Water, juice, & milk (if you can buy raw milk try it....amazing flavor and much better for you) but try to get the hormone/antibiotic free kind and avoid ultra pasturized.

Everything you put in has an effect, so putting in the most natural things is best. Good Luck!

jana1124

Crystal light has these FIT packets for your water.. they're good..

I drink sugar free koolaid but I dilute it down quite a bit.

weaklink109

This post is from Gennyvieve from another thread and I thought it might be something for you to consider:

....... Also, i'm totally pimping out the Sassy Water from the flat-belly diet book, i lost 4 pounds last week and all my measurements were smaller and i think it's from the sassy water---i totally feel less puffy! ......

The Sassy Water Recipe

2 liters water (about 8 ½ cups--I use my koolaid pitcher)
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
12 small spearmint leaves.

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight.

Drink the entire pitcher by the end of each day.

smae1980

tea. Fresh brewed regular or herbal. Some herbal teas make great iced tea w/out adding sugar or you can add sweetener instead. Celestial seasoning red zinger is my favorite tea to ice in the summer!

jb_sweet_99

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sonjavon

Try adding a little fruit juice to your water (like a few tablespoons). I drink a lot of water with mint in it. I do the occasional crystal light thing - but I really water it down because I don't like to consume a lot of artificial sweeteners. I like green tea on ice. Once you get used to drinking water though - you'll crave it.

kdiamond

Lemon in water is really good!

If I really don't want water I'll drink the SoBe 0 calorie drinks (yummy) or iced tea (sweetened with a tad of Splenda).

karenjoy

sugar free squash is something you could try.

fitinyoga14

Water is always best. i've just gotten used to drinking water all the time and now i don't crave anything else really. however, i drink plain herbal tea when i'm cold and need to drink something to warm me up.

-Propel sells individual flavor packets that claim to contain 'vitamins'. about 20 calories each. they aren't too bad.
-i've heard adding cumcumber to water adds surprisingly good flavor.
-organic fat free milk has lots of vitamins that are good for you.
-if you have a juicer, you can turn many combinations of fruits and veggies into juice.
-tea is has a 0 for all its nutrition facts. some people claim they don't like tea, however there are TONS of different kinds of teas with a wide array of tastes and flavors. i believe there is a tea out there for everyone.

rw4004

Soymilk-chocolate/or vanilla/or plain/or coffee flavor,fruit smoothies,tea,v8 splash is yummy,carrot juice,green juice,protein shakes,there are lots of choices.What's helped me a lot is finding the things you crave the most and finding a healthier substitue-for chocolate I have my Clif cool mint chocolate bar,or chocolate soymilk.For the ice cream/starbucks cravings I make smoothies with soymilk,chai tea,ice,soy protein powder,and cinnamon(or the chocolate version).
The best tip I can give is=snack!If you let yourself get to the starving point you will binge big time.I have yogurt or chocolate covered pretzels,popcorn,nuts,fruit,or fruit smoothies every two hours or so.Keep it in your pocket,or your purse!Drink lots of water.Good luck!Rose

eyemadreamer

i drink vitarain water (kirkland signature)) there are 4 flavors and there are all 0 calories.

also i buy diet green tea.. i dont have more than 1 a day usually though. also 0 calories.

and then there's just plain water. for me, plain water is boring... i have never really enjoyed it... so i like to add flavor to it such as lemon, cucumber or so.

eyemadreamer

i should also add that if you are going to drink fruit juice.. its better to eat the fruit itself cause its more filling and will curb your hunger and also less sugar/fatty.

StaceG1986

I add different flavours of sugar free squash to my water, makes it easier and more interesting to drink!!

sdwelk11

sugar free squash is something you could try.

what is this? Never heard of it

sdwelk11

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

Why is it so bad??? I love diet sierra mist... I have it as a treat every now and then but why do you say it is so bad? I get the artificial sweetener thing but what else?

karenjoy

Squash? umm I don't know how to explain it if you don't know? It is very similar to cordial, a concentrate that you dilute with water. It comes is all manner of flavours, from orange to barley water, to lemon and mango and apple and blackcurrant. It's just about all my kids had growing up other than plain water as I didn't let them have any fizzy etc.

I assume that it is not something you have in the States? only EVERYONE in the UK would know what it was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_(drink)


http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/19/messages/1067.html

themethod

I love soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, etc. just be careful because a lot of them have TONS of added sugar to make them taste good. My favorite is the Soy Slender brand cappucino flavor. No added sugar, but there is artificial sweetener, and it tastes yummy.

Edited: Apologies, the brand is West Soy and the product is called Soy Slender.

themethod

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

I think this is a matter of personal opinion.

elysant

There are significant numbers of flavorings and such that you can add to water (crystal light, cucumbers, oranges, fresh mints, etc.). They change the flavor of the water without adding to the calories. I have also heard a lot of good things about adding the same things to sparkling water to get something similar to soda.

As for the heartburn, my husband had the same problem until I stopped buying soda. Since then he doesn't have heartburn anymore and his acid reflux is almost gone as well.

I also wanted to note that you do not have to squeeze the lemons/oranges/etc into the water. Just letting them sit in the water overnight will flavor the water.

jessicajoy87

I'd suggest crystal lite packets that you add to bottled water. I like those. If you really need a fruit juice or something like that look at where the sugar comes from. If its natural sugar thats alright but if it processed and/or refined stay away. Also limit of natural sugar in juices because it takes so much more fruit to make juice.

insanepaisley

Nestea Zero or any Diet Green Tea drinks you can find! Also diet flavored carbonated water is really good (for more direction Compliments have a good selection of those!)

nursestewart

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eyemadreamer

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

it's not THE diet sodas that are bad for you, its the ingredient in it "aspartame"-- it is an addictive. and it leads your body to crave sweeter things, thus you consuming more sweets = more weight gain.

although, not all diet sodas have this ingredient. but most do. check your labels.

i personally would just go w/out. i only drink soda when I eat out. which is maybe once a week or occasionally twice. now my fridge is stocked with vitarain flavored water, diet green teas, and just water. heck i used to drink 3-4 cans of soda a day when i used to buy em. ever since i quit, i've felt so much less bloated and i don't crave it anymore. its a horrible thirst-quencher, it's a thirst-booster! lol. Although I truly love my root beers when i get to eat out with my meals. it's a treat!!

Steph_135

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

I think this is a matter of personal opinion.

Concerning soda, I'm pretty sure it's the carbonated water that's bad for you (sugar aside). Just something I read somewhere once, and don't remember where. Just my two cents.

Still, an alternative drink I like occasionally, and the only carbonated drink I drink (7up, on occasion, aside) I *LOVE* Knudsen Spritzers!! Check the health food section of your grocery store, or your local health food store. They look like this: http://www.mannaharvest.net/images/1371/OC11173.jpg and come in all sorts of flavours! :happy:

Other than occasional spritzers, I like de-caf green tea, and other herbal teas. Sometimes I get fancy and have carrot juice made in the ol' juicer.

themethod

Diet soda is terrible for you too, so don't go there.

I think this is a matter of personal opinion.

Concerning soda, I'm pretty sure it's the carbonated water that's bad for you (sugar aside). Just something I read somewhere once, and don't remember where. Just my two cents.

Still, an alternative drink I like occasionally, and the only carbonated drink I drink (7up, on occasion, aside) I *LOVE* Knudsen Spritzers!! Check the health food section of your grocery store, or your local health food store. They look like this: http://www.mannaharvest.net/images/1371/OC11173.jpg and come in all sorts of flavours! :happy:

Other than occasional spritzers, I like de-caf green tea, and other herbal teas. Sometimes I get fancy and have carrot juice made in the ol' juicer.

People mistakenly think that diet soda is bad for you because they heard it once somewhere. The truth is that the only thing that has been proven about diet soda is that if you take it in conjunction with calcium, your body is able to absorb less of the calcium because of the carbonation in the beverage. Meaning that if, let's say, you took your calcium pills everyday with carbonated water (found in multiple products other than just diet soda) that you could theoretically increase your chances for osteoporosis or other diseases related to low calcium levels.

The only serious illness that has been proven to be affected specifically by diet soft drinks and other diet products is something called PKU, which is an allergy to one of the ingredients in aspertame. This is very rare and you would already know if you had it. It isn't caused by the aspertame, just exacerbated by it.

Also, some people have problems with caffeine, or believe that no one should drink caffeine. However, if that is someone's arguement against drinking diet soda, then I would hope that they also recommend you stay away from tea, coffee, and other caffeinated drinks such as "iced tea flavored" Crystal Light.

The following ideas regarding diet soda are all UNTRUE and either have never been proven scientifically, or have been officially unproven scientifically:

- Diet sodas turn to formaldehyde at internal body temperatures... urban myth
- Aspertame (Nutrasweet specifically) causes cancer... proven untrue through multiple studies
- Aspertame tricks your body into thinking it is getting more calories, so you put on weight... urban myth
- Aspertame increases your craving for sweets, causing you to overeat... this one was only ever proven in rats, even the authors of the study agreed that it most likely did not apply to humans for multiple reasons
1. humans have free will and have knowledge of calorie consumption and the ability to deny cravings, whereas animals do not have the same cognitive processes and are unable to differentiate between a "craving" and actual hunger
2. the rats used in the study were fed exorbitant amounts of artificial sweetener, at a rate much higher than any human would logically consume, any similar chemical at that level could cause similar results
3. some argue that the study was flawed because there were only two groups used to test results, those fed yogurt sweetened with aspertame, and those fed yogurt sweetened with sugar, there was not a group of rats tested who ate solely unsweetened yogurt

I am NOT trying to convince anyone that aspertame is "good for you" and that they should go out and buy only products sweetened with it. I'm just saying that we should all do research before spitting out pseudo-science that has been passed as fact around the internet and through weight loss groups.

Aspertame doesn't make you fat, overeating and not exercising does.

I would much rather that someone who is overweight and looking to cut calories, drink a diet soda or other beverage than one sweetened with regular sugar, as long as they are aware of what they are drinking and use it in conjunction with a healthier eating and exercise plan. Furthermore, many people who are significantly overweight are also Type II Diabetics, or pre-Diabetic and should avoid sugar anyways.

Ask yourself this, if you think that diet soft drinks and aspertame are so bad for you, are you willing to give up drinking Crystal Light? Chewing most gums? Brushing your teeth with most toothpastes? Eating "light" yogurt? There are many more products out there that contain aspertame, but for some reason the campaign has been launched against diet soft drinks, typically the main demon is labeled as Diet Coke... don't ask me why.

I don't work for a Nutrasweet manufacturer, or anything like that, I simply don't like to see people being given false information.