When it comes to weight loss, making diet trade-offs is one of the tricks of the trade. You don't have to take an extremist approach, eating only a few special foods and swearing off other foods forever. You can pare off pounds by making some smart substitutions in your diet --- for example, trading whole milk for skim, ice cream for frozen yogurt and fattening desserts for fresh fruit. If you drink sweetened soda, substituting water is another smart trade-off that can help you lose weight.
Calories Add Up
Soft drinks go down easily. You might not think about all the calories you're drinking when you have one with a meal, as a snack or for a little jolt of caffeine. But as the Harvard School of Public Health points out, the average serving of soda contains about 150 to 170 calories and the equivalent of 10 to 12 tsp. of sugar. If you need 2,000 calories a day, you can waste a quarter of them by drinking just three servings of sweetened soda.
Alternative Drinks
Soda is not the only thirst-quencher that can make your diet overflow with calories, although some alternatives contain more nutrients. A typical sports drink contains about 90 calories, orange juice about 170 calories and cranberry juice cocktail about 200 calories. If you add just one of these drinks to your daily diet and don't cut calories elsewhere, you could gain up to 15 lbs. in one year. Diet sodas can be a useful alternative. But even diet drinks may hurt your weight-loss efforts by whetting your appetite for sweets. And of course, they cost a lot more than water from your tap.
Advantages of Water
Drinking plain old water --- with zero calories --- can help you take off pounds and keep them off. And that's not the only reason it's your best option when you are thirsty. Drinking six to eight glasses daily supplies the water most people need to stay healthy and hydrated. Besides refreshing you, it helps your body maintain the right temperature, remove waste and keep your joints lubricated. It's especially vital if you have certain conditions, such as pregnancy or kidney stones, if the weather is hot or if you will be exercising.
Keep It Interesting
Encourage yourself to drink more water by serving it in a bigger glass than you use for other beverages. And if you find plain water boring, try some fruit and veggie flavorings to add interest without adding calories. For example, add slices of citrus fruits, a splash of cranberry juice or a sprig of fresh herbs, such as mint or lemon balm. Or create your own spa water by floating some cucumber slices in the water jug you keep in the fridge.
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