Summer is quickly approaching and you might be anxious because.. body goals. See, the problem with spring and summer is the prevalence of delicious sugar sweetened drinks. Lemonade, sweet tea, flavored “water,”... just to name a few. Nothing is wrong with these drinks, they taste GREAT and are usually paired with some yummy high-calorie food. However, when consumed excessively (i.e. multiple servings per day - multiple days per week), it’s almost impossible to drop those extra pounds. Liquid calories are still calories.
Wondering about the difference between liquid calories and food calories?
Well, liquid calories are like stealth calories. Our bodies often don’t respond to them the same way they do to calories from food. With liquid calories, particularly beverages sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, our stomach doesn’t send the same signals to our brain telling us when to stop. Hence, the stealth effect. We keep drinking and drinking, unknowingly ignoring these signals, consuming more calories than we need each day, and slowly but surely gaining pounds of stubborn fat (bye-bye beach-body!)
But what’s the alternative... diet drinks?! Most diet drinks are full of artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols, which taste gross and may cause headaches or gastrointestinal discomfort. Water is nice, but can be boring after a while...so what are you to do?
How to switch it up!
We came across this amazing Tropicana Tangerine Lemonade, aka heaven in a bottle! We looked at the nutrition label and saw 28 grams of sugar in each glass...NO thank you! So what do you do? ...get creative!
When life gives you lemons, make a Lemon-Mandarin Spritzer!!
Ingredients:
- 1, 4-ounce cup mandarin oranges in 100% fruit juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 4 Nature Sweet packets by Whole Earth Sweetener Co.
- 1½ cup mandarin orange seltzer water
- 2-3 ice cubes
- 2 thin lemon slices
Directions: Separate 3-4 mandarin oranges and muddle them in bottom of a mason jar. Add lemon juice, club soda, Truvia, ice and the remaining cup of mandarin oranges with juice. Stir and garnish with lemon slices.
Different drink. Same flavor. Less calories from added sugar!
Love & Blessings Always,
