mio, crystal lite, etc. yay or nay?

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i've gotten rid of any drinks in the house to force myself to always drink water (once in a while i'll buy milk, but i've always over-drank it so i tend to avoid it). after a few months of this im looking for a little variety without too much compromise.

im wondering if these (or others) are good to keep calories low without some hidden additives.
for example, i used to swear by vitamin water because of all the vitamins, but i noticed it was actually quite high in calories and sugar.
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Replies

  • dirtyd89
    dirtyd89 Posts: 170
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    Yeah I'm a lot like you now I drink only water.

    I've minimized the Mio, Vitamin Water Zero, Arizona Tea Zero, etc. to only once per week now as a treat.

    I hardly ever drink milk and when I do I drink Skim Milk because there's less fat/sugar then other higher content milk options like 2%, 1% and Whole Milk.
    (Chai Tea with Milk is good.)
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
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    Drink tea. I drink a variety of caffinated and decaf teas, plus tea has many health benefits.
  • toastnhunny
    toastnhunny Posts: 25 Member
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    I've always hated drinking water and I would go out of my way to drink everything but water. However, lately, I've discovered that fruit really helps me "want" to drink it. So, I like to throw in lemon slices, but you can put all kinds of fruit in it, without all the calories, and even cucumber and mint is good in it.
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
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    I use them sparingly. I'm more a fan of additing fresh fruit, ginger, mint, etc to my water.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
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    I keep a pitcher with decaf lemon tea crystal light almost at all times. I drink probably a gallon a day of the stuff.
  • cheree1969
    cheree1969 Posts: 98 Member
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    I have tried to up my water quite a bit lately. But I do get bored...so once or twice a day I use a little shot of MIO for flavour. I love them. Finally we have some new varieties in Canada. We were stuck with the same boring 4 for about a year.
  • rahlpn
    rahlpn Posts: 551 Member
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    I drink Mio or Dasani flavoring in one drink per day, usually with dinner. I used to drink 16-20oz milk every night with dinner, I drink plain water all day which I love but need a little flavor with dinner I guess. I like the idea of adding fresh fruit to your water but I've never done it besides lemon which I like. I like to drink 8oz 1%milk after my workout if I have the calories left over. I still love drinking my milk, I cut it completely out for a couple months and missed it, so I just decided to drink it in moderation. I also like hot green tea or the Sleepytime Tea by celestial seasonings with one packet Stevia.
  • ncl1313
    ncl1313 Posts: 237 Member
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    Frozen berries are a great water additive...they are like little ice cubes of flavor goodness. Blueberries are my favorite.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Beyond the calorie count, I really can't see a reason to restrict yourself to just plain water. There's no valid health reason to not drink whatever you want.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    That cherry flavored Mio energy is some pretty tasty stuff.
  • cheree1969
    cheree1969 Posts: 98 Member
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    I have tons of frozen berries in my freezer. I am going to try this!
  • cheree1969
    cheree1969 Posts: 98 Member
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    Frozen berries are a great water additive...they are like little ice cubes of flavor goodness. Blueberries are my favorite.

    I have tons of frozen berries in my freezer. I am going to try this!
  • dacadoo
    dacadoo Posts: 32
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    I have used crystal lite and Mio both but now I am hooked on water with lemon and cucumber slices, sooo good and refreshing
  • kharper85
    kharper85 Posts: 44 Member
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    I try to add fruit and let it "flavor" my water. Crystal Light and Mio just make me feel thirstier.
  • SaraC1977
    SaraC1977 Posts: 51
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    Honestly, I think it's all relative. I use to be a big soda drinker, so I switched to diet soda. I hate plain water so just going from regular to soda wouldn't and didn't work for me. Is diet soda good for you? No, it has artificial sweetners but at least it's better than guzzling 150 calories and tons of sugar. I then noticed I was still drinking 3-4 cans of diet soda and day and wanted to slowly ween myself off of it so I started drinking Vitamin Water Zero & SoBe 0. I actually love those but it got expensive really quick. I've seen them in some areas as cheap as $0.99 but I live in Chicago and they run $1.50-1.89 which is really expensive if you're having 2-3 a day. So now I only drink about 3 of those per week. Now I've tried the Crystal Light packets to go and the liquid ones. I find I am able to drink 4-5 20 oz glasses per day doing that. So at least I'm eliminating the diet soda and getting a heck of a lot more water. Again, there are artificial sweetners in these but it has to be better than diet soda. I can guzzle plain water at the gym because I'm so thirty, but put a plain glass or bottle of water in front of me at work and it sits there all day. The Crystal Light really helps me to get my water up. I'm hoping with the liquid drops version I can just keep adding less and less until I'm down to plain water.
  • DandelionCupcakes
    DandelionCupcakes Posts: 234 Member
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    Frozen berries are a great water additive...they are like little ice cubes of flavor goodness. Blueberries are my favorite.

    What a good idea!


    I've used fresh fruit and of course tea. cucumber is nice. I'm not a fan of Crystal light for some reason, but I might try the liquid things. :3
  • skankamaggot
    skankamaggot Posts: 146 Member
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    A lot of the Mio flavors taste like chemicals to me, but I like the Dasani pineapple coconut and I want to try some of the Crystal Light drops too.
  • tamjak
    tamjak Posts: 28
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    The artificial sweeteners in Crystal Lite can cause your blood sugar to crash and defeat the whole purpose of not ingesting extra calories. I would follow what others have said with adding lemon, frozen berries, cucumbers and mint to your water. You might consider trying La Croix sparkling water.. no caffeine, no sugar, no sodium, no artificial sweeteners.
  • jamers3111
    jamers3111 Posts: 495 Member
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    I have read that our bodies react to mio/crystal light the way it reacts to sugar (i.e. similar gycemic index). I use mio sometimes and crystal light never. I'm a coffee drinker and when I'm not drinking that I'm chugging my water (plain). Diet soda also has a high glycemic index due to the sweeteners. Plus most of them have sodium causing water retention. This is just my 2 cents.

    O! Have you ever tried La Croix flavored sparkling water?! It comes in several flavors and it's soooo good!!! (not bad with booze either!)
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    Mio gives me debilitating migraines. Seriously, don't drink it.

    I liked crystal light and the such when starting to drink water, but now I prefer it plain.