Beverages
This Week's Step
Water works to transport nutrients, regulate body temperature, ease digestion,
keep joints supple, clean out waste matter, keep skin healthy and young.
Not drinking enough water can result in fatigue, dizziness, constipation,
headaches, foggy memory and excess water weight.
The two primary functions of the liver are to metabolize fat and detoxify
the body. If you're not consuming enough water, your liver has to work overtime
detoxifying and skimps on metabolizing your fat intake.
Exercise is an absolute necessity for a successful weight management program.
For optimal results and performance, fluids must be replaced before, during,
and after working out.
Most people rely on feeling thirsty as their signal to replace fluids, but
this is not an accurate indicator of how much fluid your body has lost. Use
one of the following two methods instead:
1. Check your urine, if it's dark you're dehydrated. Pale yellow or clear
and you're hydrated.
2. Weigh yourself before and after working out. For each pound of weight
lost, drink two cups of water.
For those of you who don't like plain water (like me) or just want a
change of pace occasionally here are some UnDiet beverage recipes:
Citrus
Coolers
Beverages
So bottoms up on 8 - 10 glasses of the magic liquid each day and you're on
your way to a healthy weight loss.
Have ready-to-drink beverages on hand:
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bottled water in your car and at your office
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fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice - I like to keep frozen cubes of lemon
& lime juice so I can add them to dressings, sauces, and filtered water,
mixed with honey if you like (but not if you're losing weight - wait until
maintenance to use sweeteners) - drink cold or as a hot tea.
-
a carafe of herbal tea in the fridge - I keep two or three different flavors
on hand most of the time. When I have a little of two or more teas left
I mix them together for a different taste and to free a pitcher to make another
batch. The easiest way to make herb tea is to place the bags and water in
a pitcher in the fridge and let sit for 4-8 hours. If you're not sure how
many bags to use, err in favor of a stronger tea, you can always add water
if it's too strong.
-
fresh vegetable juices, the cookbooks below have some great recipes - during
weight loss avoid Fruit juices except as an ingredient in smoothies, sauces,
etc.:
-
powdered broth mix - I carry this with me because I'm on the road a lot and
add it to water for a hot beverage. You may want to experiment, adding a
little cayenne pepper, ground cumin, curry ... to have a ready to go mix.
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nondairy milk as is or with the following flavorings added to a quart of
milk:
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Vanilla Milk: 1-2 tablespoons Sucanat or other sweetener, 1 tablespoon
vanilla
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Chocolate Milk: 3 tablespoons carob or cocoa powder, 2-3 tablespoons
unrefined sweetener
-
Maple Milk: 2 tablespoons maple syrup, use maple extract when losing
weight
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Mocha Milk: 3 tablespoons carob or cocoa powder, 2-3 tablespoons unrefined
sweetener, 1/2 cup strong decaf coffee
-
if you've just gotta have a soda, make sure it's sugar and caffeine
free (read the label, the only acceptable sweetener is aspartame, and
make sure there are no high fructose corn syrups) & mix 1/2 & 1/2
with any of the following:
-
carbonated water with or without flavoring & unsweetened (not a great
choice but better than straight soda)
-
Celestial Seasonings Zinger tea, makes your soda taste a bit like a cherry
soda
-
iced ginger herbal tea
-
fresh Fruit juice (not a great choice during weight loss, but better than
straight soda)
Whenever you leave the house take a beverage with you. When I'm going to
be gone for a long time or I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, I pack a little
cooler with a couple extra beverages and some snacks so I'm not tempted to
pull into the junk food drive-thru. I always have a couple personal-size
water bottles filled with an UnDiet beverage in the freezer. When I'm going
to be gone all day I throw one of these in my cooler. It keeps the other
food cold and I can drink it as it melts.
When I develop a craving for a certain food that isn't good for me or
I can't turn off the desire to graze all day long I mix up a beverage that
has the qualities I'm craving and sip on that instead. For example if all
I can think of are sweets I mix up coffee with cream and a flavoring extract;
when I want to stuff myself with potato chips, lemonade helps to satisfy
that craving. Then if after having a beverage I still feel like a bowl of
potato chips I munch down - on ONE small bowl. What usually happens though
is that if I'm really not hungry, the beverage will either satisfy the craving
or reduce it, so that I'm satisfied with just a little of something that
before the beverage I had wanted to eat until I was stuffed full.
Camping or Traveling
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Fruit leathers: dice, add to water and allow to dissolve overnight
for a fresh Fruit drink.
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Powdered broth: add to hot filtered water. Spike with a little chili
powder or cayenne pepper if you like.
-
Vegetable leathers: you'll have to make these yourself in a dehydrator.
Add to water and allow to dissolve for fresh vegetable drinks. Especially
good are tomato, carrot, and celery. Dried vegetables don't work, you have
to make a leather from the vegetable juice.
-
Herbal tea bags.
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Bottled water.
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Personal water filter that fits onto personal-size bottled water
bottles. They cost around $10 at your local health food store, which sounds
like a lot until you realize they'll filter 2500 gallons of water (that's
a lot of Evian you won't have to buy!).
-
Start your trip with frozen cubes or blocks of fresh Fruit juice, make
sure to include fresh lemon and/or lime juice. The frozen juice will
help to keep your other food cold and you can drink the juice as it melts
replacing it with purchased blocks of ice. For a great lemonade or limeade
just add water and unrefined sugar when they melt.
-
Bring along a hand powered citrus juicer and make your
own juices.
Step By Step
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Drink a beverage of your choice 10-20 minutes before each meal and wait
at least 2 hours after each meal before drinking anything.
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Always have a selection of beverages you enjoy on hand.
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With an UnDiet beverage in hand click over to the next Step,
Neutral Snacks & Desserts.
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Tips & Tricks
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Drinking a beverage 10-20 minutes before each meal (including breakfast)
keeps me from getting thirsty during the 2 hours I need to wait after a meal
before drinking anything. If you're really thirsty before the 2 hours are
up, a celery or cucumber stick should cure that.
-
Drink your beverages ice cold. Your body burns 25-40 calories per 8 ounces
when it's forced to turn up the metabolism to warm the water. That's 200-320
calories per day!
-
Reduce the amount of cream and sweetener in your coffee by making it a little
weaker. Once you get used to it at the weaker strength, make it a little
weaker again, and so on until you reach a strength that has the taste you
like yet allows you to use less cream and/or sweetener.
-
Another trick to using less cream and/or sugar in your coffee is to add a
little vanilla extract. It's rich flavor makes your coffee taste like a dessert.
Note: extracts contain alcohol. You can purchase alcohol-free extracts at
your local health food store or Trader Joes.
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$$$aver
It costs money to heat up your oven. Toss a few potatoes in along with whatever
you're cooking. Plan ahead and precook all or part of the next night's dinner,
bake a loaf of bread, a dessert ...
This site was created by Out Of Your Mind Graphic & Web Design a division
ofK.C.O. Marketing Services
undiet@kco1.net
last revised October 19, 2008
Copyright Kathleane C. O'Leary 1997-2008 all rights reserved
Void where prohibited. Keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.