Water water, everywhere...

Another huge tool in losing weight is monitoring your beverage intake. To all soda drinkers out there: stop! There are 100-150 calories, depending on the soda, in each can. That is a lot for something that isn't going to fill you up or contribute to a healthy lifestyle. About 2 years ago, I altogether switched from drinking regular soda to diet soda. So while this did cut down on my calorie intake, it was still not healthy for my body. There are actually added sugars and chemicals that induce hunger in some diet sodas, which is not good.

So, I try and drink as much water as I possibly can. At my job, we have bottled water readily available. At our apartment we have a Brita filter that is always full and ready to go. If you live in say, St. Louis, you probably don't need Brita- the water is excellent there. If you live in say, Atlanta, you might notice that the water tastes a little bit like dirt. But I digress...

I also have bought the Crystal Light packets and imitation packets that go very nicely with a bottle of water. That helps chug it down when you need a bit of a sweet fix. My favorite is pictured (Wild Strawberry). I have tried to limit my diet soda to weekends only, and hope to eventually phase it out of my life completely. We shall see.

Alcohol is a whole other story. My only advice- if you want that beer when you get home from work, fight it. If you are just sitting around the house, drinking a beer, where is the fun in that? Save the calories for the weekend, or a girls night out, when you can drink with friends. Easier said than done, I know. But, I have to say, since this biggest loser competition has started, our refrigerator has been low on the Bud Lights. And that is totally fine with me!

Oh, and a small aside, I lost one more lb, putting me up to 5.2 lbs total. I think next week I will have a bigger loss, based on the fact that I drank A LOT of water right before I weighed in this week. So here is hoping!