Sugary drinks- why I'll pass.

You guys would be so proud of me! I've been doing crunches every night and I even went for a walk today and then walked around the mall for a while with my friend. YAY EXERCISE. I realize it seems pretty small and petty, but the alternative is me sitting around my house all day doing a whole lot of nothing, so it's a good alternative. I also did my Christmas shopping and got some awesome stuff. Two birds with one stone!

Also, my mom and I went to Sam's Club to do some shopping, which means we usually try all the samples and then I get a hot dog combo, which includes a drink. I don't eat hot dogs a lot, and I prefer kosher dogs, but this one was a lot greasier than I remember then being. The big kicker was the drink that came with it. I drink almost all water, with the exception of some milk with my cereal. The only time I ever drink soda or juice anymore is when I'm mixing it with alcohol, but that's an entirely story all together (and a subject for another post).

But my point is, that the hot dog came with a drink. A giant, giant drink. I chose the Nestea Raspberry Iced Tea, which now that I look at the nutrition info, wasn't the worst choice. Probably not the best though. After I drank all 32 oz or so of my drink, I was vaguely reminded why I don't usually drink soda or other sweetened drinks. So. Much. Sugar. No wonder I don't drink that stuff all that often anymore!

Actually, my first successful bout of weight loss at age of 13 I attribute very largely to cutting soda out of my diet. I used to drink primarily soda and other sugary drinks. I also drank A LOT of them, because in a typical meal I'll drink 3-4 glasses of whatever beverage I"m consuming. Add that up, and that's A LOT of sugar. But I cut soda (even diet sodas) out completely and lost about 20 pounds- imagine that! My mother also told me at the time that there was some sort of chemical in diet sodas that didn't add calories, but it retained fat, so drinking it was like holding onto all the fat in your system. I haven't been able to find anything about that thus far (but I'll be doing more research on that) but here's three other reasons to stop drinking soda.

The moral of the story- water is good, soda is bad. I'm glad that I continue to consume soda pretty infrequently, and I think I'm going to try to up my water intake and drink even less other stuff.

Also, on a somewhat related note, I saw one of my best friends today. I don't see her much since we live in different states due to her just beginning grad school and me finishing my undergrad. She told me she was recently diagnosed as anorexic, but she's currently in recovery and has gained about half a pound thus far. I guess we both have our own weight battles to fight. It was another important message about remembering to do this right. Also, if you would send her some prayers or happy vibes or whatever it is you believe in. She's been working really hard, but she has a tough road ahead.

Over and out! (I really need some sort of cool tag line here.)