Does What You Drink Jeopardize Your Fitness Efforts?

If you are exercising daily and eating well-balanced meals but still not losing all the weight you want, consider your beverage choices.

What you drink could be packing on quiet pounds and jeopardizing your fitness goals.

Consider some of the unhealthy beverages you may wind up sipping at some point during the day:

• Soda has empty calories and even diet soda may have caffeine that works as a diuretic, dehydrating your body;
• Coffee also has caffeine and adding sugar or milk will add calories;
• Whole milk contains essential nutrients but also has the highest fat content; and
• Alcohol causes dehydration, possible liver damage, minimizes absorption of essential nutrients and even interferes with the way fat is metabolized in your body.

There are, however, healthy beverage choices that support your fitness efforts:

• Green tea is a preferred choice over coffee because it's an antioxidant with lower caffeine;
• Tomato juice is an antioxidant with vitamins and minerals with a fun spicy flavor;
• Skim milk contains all the essential nutrients that whole milk has without all the fat; and
• Water hydrates your body, flushes out toxins from your system and has no calories naturally.

To boost your fitness routine, make sure you include healthy beverages on your everyday menu.