How Many Calories Are You Drinking?

Beverage	Serving Size	Calories
Soda	12 ounces	124-189
Diet soda	12 ounces	0-7
Bottled sweet tea	12 ounces	129-143
Brewed tea, unsweet	12 ounces	4
Orange juice, unsweetened	12 ounces	157-168
Apple juice, unsweetened	12 ounces	169-175
Tomato/Vegetable juice	12 ounces	80
Cranberry juice cocktail	12 ounces	205
Whole Milk	12 ounces	220
2% low-fat milk	12 ounces	183
1% low-fat milk	12 ounces	154
Nonfat milk	12 ounces	125
Soy milk	12 ounces	147-191
Coffee, black	12 ounces	0-4
Coffee with cream (2 tablespoons half and half)	12 ounces	39-43
Coffee with whipped cream (2 tablespoons from can)	12 ounces	15-19
Coffee with heavy whipping cream (2 tablespoons)	12 ounces	104-108
Caffe Latte, whole milk (Starbucks)	12 ounces	200
Caffe Latte, nonfat (Starbucks)	12 ounces	120
Sports drink (like Gatorade)	12 ounces	94
Energy drink (like Red Bull)	12 ounces	160
Beer	12 ounces	153
Red wine	5 ounces	125
White wine	5 ounces	122
Hard liquor (vodka, rum, whiskey, gin; 80 proof)

A common myth in female nutrition is that some drinks like orange juice are healthy for you. They actually add on a lot of calories into your diet plan and can be a factor in not achieving your fitness goals!

You need to know exactly what you are putting into your body and if it’s even benefiting you!

They go down so easily and can be found anywhere and everywhere. Water, tea, milk, juice, soda, coffee, energy drinks, smoothies. This is just a few of the many categories of beverages without going into too much detail. Guess how many calories the average person consumes in drinks a day?

It’s 400!

That’s the average number of calories Americans drink on a daily basis, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which showed that around 37 percent of our total daily liquid calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks. So where are all of these calories coming from? Here is some examples to shed some light on this.

Soda – the most-discussed beverage that sneaks calories into your day. Soda and fruit-flavored drinks can rack up to 250 calories per 12 ounces. Ginger ale and dark cola are the lowest in calorie at about 120 calories per 12 ounces, and cream soda is the highest with about 200 calories per 12 ounces. As everything else – it’s a portion game! It would be easy to work up to 800 calories in drinks a day if you’re not being conscious of your choices.

Fruit Juice – (flavored, sugar-sweetened juice) can rack up more calories per ounce than soda! Orange, grape and cranberry juice drinks have about 216 calories per 12 ounces. Everything always think they are so healthy! Don’t let the fact that a portion of the ingredients in those bottles come from fruit fool you. The calories in these beverages should not be overlooked. It’s great that all the sugar in fruit juice is natural and direct from the fruit, but unlike a whole piece of fruit, fruit juice is very concentrated in sugar, which makes it high in calories. Juice can also count as a serving of fruit if you’re getting about 6 ounces, but if you’re filling a big 24 ounce cup, you could be pouring about 320 calories of OJ with your breakfast Thankfully, food labels make it easy to check out the calorie content prior to purchasing a drink. If you’re worried about getting in your vitamins, grab a whole piece of fruit for a snack or add some berries or sliced fruit to your yogurt or cereal in the morning. Anytime you can eat fruit or vegatables rather than drinking them, you’ll be better off. Flip over labels before buying anything, and, of course, check out the portion sizing.

Milk – including non-dairy milk alternatives, is often overlooked for calories. Although the beverage tastes great and is great for you, it does still have calories in it! A single serving of milk is 8 ounces, which is probably less than what many people pour at meals or on a big bowl of cereal in the morning. A tall dinner glass is about 12 to 16 ounces, which provides 132-168 calories if you choose skim. Fill your glass with 2% milk and that number jumps to 240 calories. These facts don’t discount the key nutrients found in milk that are healthful but all in moderation.

Coffee – many of us can’t function before 11 a.m. without our coffee. The brewed beverage is, by itself, calorie free, which makes it seem innocent. With all the enticing additives offered by coffee places, the numbers rise sharply. An 8 ounce latte made with whole milk is about 130 calories, but add flavored syrup, sugar and whipped cream on top and your drink now tops 200 calories. When was the last time you ordered a latte that small? Once we bring up the tall, grande and venti sizes that’s where the calories inflate. A venti gingerbread latte with whole milk and whipped cream packs 440 calories into the cup. Granted, this is a large size, fully loaded, but it does a fine job of painting the picture about how many calories you could be drinking if you don’t look up the fact s beforehand.

Sports Drinks – those who don’t drink coffee may turn to energy drinks to put pep in their step. Exercisers may also tend to favor energy drinks and sports drinks pre- or post-workout. These drinks may look tiny and taste light, but they can have up to 112 calories per cup. Sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade come in at about half that, around 60 calories per cup. But watch out: the bottles they come in can contain up to 32 ounces—not 8 ounces—which adds up to 240 calories per bottle.

Considering how cheap, accessible and delicious sweetened and caloric beverages are, it’s easy to see how the average person consumes hundreds of calories per day from drinks alone. Those liquid calories add up fast for another reason too: It’s so easy to mindlessly drink beverages. If you’re sitting at your desk, driving your car, or watching a movie, it’s not hard to suck down a supersize beverage in 5 minutes without even feeling full or satisfied. Couple this with free refills and you’ve completed an equation for calorie over-consumption!

So often, we focus on what we’re eating when we want to lose weight or get healthier, but don’t forget about liquid calories. You don’t have to swear off soda or your morning latte to reach your goals. Just be aware of how much you’re drinking, and check out the beverage chart to fit your favorite tasty drinks into your healthy eating plan.

Check out this healthy drink recipe:

https://flaviliciousfitness.com/2011/06/27/detox-your-body/