Liquid calories

[mikesbytes]

A colleague has asked for assistance loosing weight

What struck straight out of me was the amount of calories being consumed in liquid form;
- fresh juice
- cappuccino
- protein shakes
- wine (which leads onto a junk food fest)

Interested in hearing your experiences with liquid calories

[Nobody]

Liquid calories are not counted by the body well. So the best liquids to consume to lose weight are water and herbal teas.

Protein shakes at best are a waste of money. Generally no-one who is getting enough calories is protein deficient. Even on my strict vegetarian diet I get at least 50% more protein than I need.

Losing caffeine usually helps to lose weight, long term. Most people don't need something else destabilising their energy levels.

Alcohol is well known to reduce health and add weight. The best wine for health is de-alcoholised wine. Better still, just eat grapes to lose weight. Despite what most people think, for most people, the more fruit they eat, the lighter they will get.


But you wanted experiences, so I'll let this thread get back on topic.

[Constantheadwind]

An example is if I chew raw almonds I find almond particles in my poop. If i were to blend the almonds into a smooth paste before swallowing, then that wouldn't be the case. The almond oil is trapped in the fibrous flesh and not largely available if chewed. Likewise, blending food into fine particles increases surface area & makes the nutrients and the calories more available and quicker to digest with less energy requirement. Hence the saying all calories are not the same.
Secondly, you can drink food calories very quickly and easily overdo it before feeling satiated. That's not going to help control weight gain.
Thirdly the liquids you mentioned all elicit an insulin response that signals the bodys tissues to store away the energy just consumed.
Personally I think that chewing ones food sounds like a better strategy to control weight.

[matagi]

My experience as a sample of 1:

I used to drink the juice of one orange freshly squeezed at breakfast time, followed by a caffe latte with my porridge, then either another caffe latte or a hot chocolate around 1pm at work. Wine I was (and still am) fairly abstemious with and only have an occasional glass (never more than one) with a meal.
I don't do protein shakes and I don't eat junk food.

I have been trying to lose 5kg for quite some time now and it's only in the last 6 months that I have succeeded in shifting any weight. I put it down to the following:
I stopped having my morning orange juice and I stopped having a coffee/hot chocolate at work (I've brought peppermint tea bags and miso soup sachets from home and I have one of those instead when I feel like a hot drink). I still have my morning caffe latte at home and I still drink the occasional glass of wine, but dropping the fruit juice and the milky drink at work helped me lose 1.5kg in a month. I've since done some more tweaking around carb intake and dropped another 2.5kg.

So I guess even a relatively modest change in liquid calorie intake can have a beneficial effect. If I were you, I would suggest he dump the fruit juice and the protein shakes and limit himself to one cappucino a day (if he has more than one that is) and if he needs to have a hot drink during the day, he should find a herbal tea he likes and stick to that. As for the wine, one glass with dinner is the most he should be having and if he's out socialising he should try the one glass of alcohol followed by a glass of water trick to reduce the amount he drinks.

[zill]

My experience as a sample of 1:

I used to drink the juice of one orange freshly squeezed at breakfast time, followed by a caffe latte with my porridge, then either another caffe latte or a hot chocolate around 1pm at work. Wine I was (and still am) fairly abstemious with and only have an occasional glass (never more than one) with a meal.
I don't do protein shakes and I don't eat junk food.

I have been trying to lose 5kg for quite some time now and it's only in the last 6 months that I have succeeded in shifting any weight. I put it down to the following:
I stopped having my morning orange juice and I stopped having a coffee/hot chocolate at work (I've brought peppermint tea bags and miso soup sachets from home and I have one of those instead when I feel like a hot drink). I still have my morning caffe latte at home and I still drink the occasional glass of wine, but dropping the fruit juice and the milky drink at work helped me lose 1.5kg in a month. I've since done some more tweaking around carb intake and dropped another 2.5kg.

So I guess even a relatively modest change in liquid calorie intake can have a beneficial effect. If I were you, I would suggest he dump the fruit juice and the protein shakes and limit himself to one cappucino a day (if he has more than one that is) and if he needs to have a hot drink during the day, he should find a herbal tea he likes and stick to that. As for the wine, one glass with dinner is the most he should be having and if he's out socialising he should try the one glass of alcohol followed by a glass of water trick to reduce the amount he drinks.

Would a few cups of low calorie, low carb (artificial sweetner) chocolate hot drink with no milk would be alright?

[Mulger bill]

Would a few cups of low calorie, low carb (artificial sweetner) chocolate hot drink with no milk would be alright?

Tried the Jarrah(?) stuff, instant headache. Repeated the experiment a few months later for the same result. Binned the rest.

Go the water route.

[Calvin27]

A colleague has asked for assistance loosing weight

What struck straight out of me was the amount of calories being consumed in liquid form;
- fresh juice
- cappuccino
- protein shakes
- wine (which leads onto a junk food fest)

Interested in hearing your experiences with liquid calories

I'd skip protein shakes and even fruit. Fruit tends to spike sugar levels triggering ridiculous food cravings. So maybe have it before a main meal, but not after.

Rule of thumb for me is avoid anything processed. Anything processed or refined is generally designed to add to the waistline - so simple advice might be to stick to water and milk. This includes teas and coffee (no sugar).

Don't get me wrong, I love coke and the like, especially when I bonk but if losing weight is the goal shifting to water and a little milk is the first starting point.

[toolonglegs]

Unless your sucking milk straight out of daisy it is going to be be processed a fair amount

[lobstermash]

Black coffee for me. Though it was so hard to find beans that didn't make a disgusting black coffee, so I started roasting my own. I'll still occasionally make myself a latte on the weekend, but that requires a different roast to make it as enjoyable as my obstinately black weekday coffee. Properly roasted and brewed coffee is also completely ruined by sugar, so there's none of that in my coffee!

Unfortunately (well, not really) I really love beer. I also brew that myself (properly, from malted grain, not extract), and I have a brewing calculator that tells me it's approximately 160 calories per (proper sized) glass (360mls) for most of my standard recipes.

Other than that, I only drink water and the occasional herbal tea (Black Adder is my favourite).

I'm glad we aren't talking about solid food, because I loooove my food, and thanks to cycling I don't have to worry about my beer or other calories. I do think that good hydration makes you feel less tired and sluggish though. Artificial sweeteners often leave you thirsty and/or hungry, I reckon even more so than juice or soft drink.

[CKinnard]

is drinking hot/cold water in winter/summer taking a processed ingredient?

[Calvin27]

is drinking hot/cold water in winter/summer taking a processed ingredient?

Unless your sucking milk straight out of daisy it is going to be be processed a fair amount

Haha guys I meant generally lol. When I was cutting weight I did go black filter coffee for a bit though. Most espresso's are pretty bad even in Melbourne.

[moosterbounce]

I've never been a juice person, but was also amazed at the calorie content in something like a Boost juice. And people drink giant ones...with lunch!!

I generally drink water or soda water on special occasions. If I fancy it, I might add a splash of lemon or lime juice. This can be had how to cold. I also grow mint and lemon balm so will add these to a cold water for a flavour change. I drink a large full milk based chai or cacao per day. Never more than one and I consider it a meal. At the moment I'm trying to limit myself to 1200 calories ish per day until I get my exercise back up, so break this into 4x300 calorie meals. A full milk drink is pretty much one of those meals.

If I need something easy when working on site, I keep a stash of herbal tea bags in my bag. Some sites I work at don't provide milk for staff so I know I am always OK with these. I'm a fan of something lemon/ginger flavoured. Not a coffee drinker so that doesn't cause me issues, but when the going gets really tough, I'll have a mug of milky sweet tea. Maybe once a fortnight over winter. It won't kill me. I never drink alcohol either so can't help there.

I have experience drinking lots of milk based drinks and definitely notice the difference restricting to one. While my shoulder was joining back together I stuck to high calcium milk and noticed that I could gain weight if I kept up my regular intake, but as it was higher fat I was happier with less volume. So I adjusted the volume. It was only habit that made me reach for the bigger mug.

Read an article tonight about what diet coke does to the body in the hour after drinking it. Nasty. Artificial sweetener is a baddie alright. Glad I never liked any form of coke.

[matagi]

Would a few cups of low calorie, low carb (artificial sweetner) chocolate hot drink with no milk would be alright?

To me, that sounds positively hideous. I avoid artificial sweetener, but then I don't have a particularly sweet tooth so for example, if I make hot cocoa at home, it is just straight cocoa powder and milk, and I don't add sugar. If I want to avoid milk and still have a hot drink, then peppermint tea is my favourite amongst the herbal teas or if I feel like something savoury then I go for instant miso soup.

If I want a cold drink then it's water when I'm out and at home I sometimes add a squeeze of lemon juice.

[g-boaf]

I drink a lot of coffee (cap+1), and also sometimes have a protein shake, but not always.

I don't mind peppermint tea, that is nice.

My weight stays about the same or even goes down a bit. I do enough work to keep the weight under control.

[mikesbytes]

I won't make a suggestion until I've fully reviewed his eating and had a good chat to gauge what he's capable of

One possible avenue is that I might ask him to go cold turkey for 3 months on any liquids that have more than a few calories. That restricts him to black tea, black coffee or these to with a splash of milk, water or water with a dash of lemon/lime. Sparkling water if he's in a drinking venue or the like.

The problem with this sort of suggestion is that its a bit like giving up smoking and if he does embrace it, then he will probably need a bail out option if he's struggling, which brings up the diet coke question, if he's about to fail, is he better to go a diet coke, as a compromise or slip one bad one in and then continue on?

[rapunzel]

Dropping liquid calories is probably the fastest, easiest (possibly most 'painless'?) dietary change to make if the person is looking to lose weight. Dump only one of those listed and the person is dropping hundreds of calories a week!

Seeing 'liquid diet' makes my mind go to nutritional supplementation, thickened fluids, purees... dysphagia. Eating whole foods is part of the enjoyment for me.

At the moment I'm trying to limit myself to 1200 calories ish per day until I get my exercise back up, so break this into 4x300 calorie meals. A full milk drink is pretty much one of those meals.

Wow... no way I could stick to that. I would either function very poorly or get sick pretty quickly.

[casual_cyclist]

Interested in hearing your experiences with liquid calories

I find it really easy to take in a lot of calories in liquid form. For example, I have no problems polishing off a 600ml choc milk. That's fine if I am on a long ride, but sitting at my desk at work, it is just superfluous calories that serve no purpose. The thing is that it doesn't make me less hungry, so I still end up eating the same for the day and the choc milk, milkshake, cappuccino, milo or whatever else just pushes me into calorie surplus (aka weight gain) territory.

I try to stick to no calorie alternatives such as green tea, espresso (no sugar), long black coffees or water.

My advice to anyone trying to lose weight is to cut out any calorie rich drinks. Also, replacing with artificial sweeteners is a sure path to weight gain:

One study of 3,682 individuals examined the long-term relationship between consuming artificially sweetened drinks and weight. The participants were followed for 7-8 years and their weights were monitored. After adjusting for common factors that contribute to weight gain such as dieting, exercising change, or diabetes status, the study showed that those who drank artificially sweetened drinks had a 47% higher increase in BMI than those who did not.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionso ... weeteners/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Calvin27]

It's actually pretty hard to give up nice tasting liquids, *looks at coffee and coke.

The problem is without control of what you are also eating, your body naturally craves the opoosing force. For example eat a steak and chips and you have to have a beer. Have something very salty and you will crave something sweet. I found it much easier to make a complete change that included foods and liquids. But when I reach my target, or complete the goal, I let myself go haha.

[Duck!]

Would a few cups of low calorie, low carb (artificial sweetner) chocolate hot drink with no milk would be alright?

No. The crap in those artificial sweeteners is far worse.

[mikesbytes]

Did they state the reason that those on artificial sweeteners gained weight?

[g-boaf]

I won't make a suggestion until I've fully reviewed his eating and had a good chat to gauge what he's capable of

One possible avenue is that I might ask him to go cold turkey for 3 months on any liquids that have more than a few calories. That restricts him to black tea, black coffee or these to with a splash of milk, water or water with a dash of lemon/lime. Sparkling water if he's in a drinking venue or the like.

The problem with this sort of suggestion is that its a bit like giving up smoking and if he does embrace it, then he will probably need a bail out option if he's struggling, which brings up the diet coke question, if he's about to fail, is he better to go a diet coke, as a compromise or slip one bad one in and then continue on?

Sometimes it is nice to have a coffee, or a can of coke. If you can have it just once in a while, perhaps not so bad, provided you do enough exercise.

Black coffee can be nice too, I'm thinking double-shot espresso, my 5:45am morning coffee without exception.

[zill]

Would a few cups of low calorie, low carb (artificial sweetner) chocolate hot drink with no milk would be alright?

No. The crap in those artificial sweeteners is far worse.

artificial sweeteners in moderation vs real sweeteners in moderation. Surely artificial is better because it is lower in calories?!

[Duck!]

Artificial vs naturally-derived (yes, there is some processing involved). I know where I'd turn every time, and it's not to a chem lab.

Calories is simply a measure of the energy content; they are not inherently a Bad Thing; the source of them is the critical thing.

[rapunzel]

Artificial vs naturally-derived (yes, there is some processing involved). I know where I'd turn every time, and it's not to a chem lab.

Calories is simply a measure of the energy content; they are not inherently a Bad Thing; the source of them is the critical thing.

+1

[Mulger bill]

Did they state the reason that those on artificial sweeteners gained weight?

Sample size of one (not me) had a 1.25 diet coke for breakfast and thought that was her required moderation for the day. She would have been 43 this year...

No doubt there's other reasons