To get ahead with medical weight loss in East Brunswick, it is time to stop drinking your calories.
Soda has been a favorite aspect of American diets since the origin of our country in the late eighteenth century. However, it hasn’t always been the staple that it is today. Sugary drinks like soda water were once considered sweet treats that children and adults would get every once in a while. Now, more than one billion sodas are consumed worldwide every day.
Chances are you have stopped at a gas station and walked through the iced drink and soda fountain isle. There are cups the size of two-liters waiting to be filled and drank on the go. This at least isn’t the case in New York City anymore. Several months ago the NYC mayor proposed a ban on oversized soda sales, and just this month the ban was upheld by the New York Board of Health.
This ban takes the extra-large soda cups out of more than just the gas station. Movie theatres, restaurants and schools all need to comply with this legislation. While some say this is too drastic a step, there is a chance that this type of attitude is what it is going to take for a lot of people to realize how many calories they are drinking every day. Since Mayor Bloomberg proposed the ban, cities around the United States have followed suite in an attempt to make more people realize the drastic affect the overconsumption of sugar is having on their health.
Calories are what give us energy to keep on going. Without taking in any calories we would grow fatigued and our bodies would have difficulty functioning. For most people, a lack of calories is not an issue. You are already aware that eating too many calories will cause the extra to go into storage as fat, which causes you to gain weight. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that calories drank impact your body in the same way as calories eaten. A calorie is a calorie, whatever way it is cooked up.
The problem is that for the most part, our bodies don’t register calories that we drink in the same way as we take in calories eaten. So, while drinking a massive soda may give you a caffeine boost or quench your thirst, it is not going to make you any less hungry.
Think that your favorite soda is just a few extra calories and no big deal? Think again:
The NYC legislation stopped the sale of soda beverages that are over 16 ounces. To give you an idea of how much 16 ounces is, that is a standard pint glass. At most restaurants when you are brought a soda it will be served in a 12 to 16 ounce glass.
A 16 ounce portion of standard soda is 155 calories. A large soda from common fast-food restaurants like McDonalds is 32 ounces, which is 310 calories. Now remember, this is the amount of calories per glass. If you are at a restaurant and down a few refills of soda, you will need to multiply these numbers accordingly. So, two glasses of a large soda from McDonalds is 620 calories. To put that in perspective a Big Mac is only 550 calories, and your soda didn’t fill you up at all.
Soda has gotten a lot of negative attention lately, and rightly so. It may take legislation efforts like this one in New York City to get consumers to realize how many extra calories they are consuming every day. By cutting out your daily cups of soda you may cut a few hundred calories out of your diet without even changing what you are eating. That is a step in the right direction when you are starting a medical weight loss program in East Brunswick.
