FAQ: What Did You Give Up?

"So...what did you have to give up?"
A question that is not uncommon to hear, but strangely hard for me to answer. When I started, I knew that giving anything up would make me that much more unlikely to succeed, so I stuck to my guns: I will eat it if I want it. That meant many a-hungry evenings due to poorer choices and just plain not knowing much about actual sustenance. But throughout my journey, a natural shift occurred. After a while, I started noticing myself wanting certain items less, or realizing that I hadn't eaten such and such item in months. Because I didn't give anything up, I learned how to work around cravings, and I taught my body to stop craving things I wanted above things I needed. But there is one major item that I quickly started to refuse: calorie-filled drinks. On occasion, I will treat myself to a skinny latte, but for the most part, if it's a drink that contains more than, say, 20 calories, I'm out. (I still use milk, but only in smoothies and a splash in my coffee)

Find a low or no cal alternative that you enjoy more!

Calorie filled drinks are one of the worst additions to our diets, and one of the easiest calorie sources to not even consider. I remember, when I was obese, I would only eat donuts as an occasional treat, because I knew that they contained a lot of calories and little nutritional benefit. I didn't really know the specifics like I do now, but I knew the stigma around them was bad for a reason. Where that was a smart choice on my part, I never hesitated to order a Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, if that was what I wanted (One Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic: 504 calories. For a drink! That's the total amount of calories I usually eat for lunch!). And would I probably have another soda later on that day? Yeah...most likely. Did I know that a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper had quite a few calories? Yeah, I did. But I didn't understand nor care that much about the calorie world, so my mind placed drinks (and most other foods, tbh) in a completely different compartment in my mind. I knew soda wasn't good. I knew donuts weren't good.  I'm totally in awe of my rationale there.

Nonetheless, I feel like my old relationship with drinks is common for a lot of people, as well. And I'm not just talking soda, here, I'm talking the gamut--soda, juice, sweet tea...lattes, mochas, frappes, oh my!
The average person should be eating around 1800-2000 calories per day, and when you're spending 500 of those on drinks alone (and quite possibly more), you're setting yourself up for a caloric over-dose. So, the next time you are deciding about what to drink, think about how many extra calories you'll be adding to your meal, and ask yourself "is this really worth it?"



Is there anything you've cut out of your diet? Is there something you're nervous you might have to give up and want advice? Let me know in the comments!