Saturday 31st May 2008 - Calories also come from your glass, can or bottle

I got a phone call today from a friend whose teenage son was battling weight issues and was really feeling unhappy about his lack of progress. After the initial change there was a growing level of dismay at no further success. They told me that they had been monitoring his food and increased his activity levels but frustration was building and so I offered to come and have a look at their plan.

After the initial discussion I was happy they had sought good advice and it seemed to be pretty close to what I would have suggested. They had been focussing on removing unhealthy calories and increasing calorie expenditure - so far so good.

Then I decided to check on an aspect that a lot of people overlook. I asked the son how much water he had been consuming and he mentioned that he had been drinking 4-5 glasses each day during his workout. I then advised them that for me, this was a step in the right direction but also that this water consumed during the workout accounted for the increased demands placed on it DURING the workout but what about at other times during the day.

He told me that he really didn't like the taste of water, which is a common response to the "sugar laden taste buds" of the younger consumer today. I then asked him if he consumed any other drinks of any kind. His Dad was quick to answer for him that he had converted the son from soft drinks such as sodas (not diet) to sports drinks.

I nodded and waited. Then the son told me that he had cut down his daily intake of 6 cans of drinks (in this case Coke) to less than three but had replaced three of them with sports drinks cause he was exercising. The father was surprized that he was still consuming anything other than sports drinks and the son was feeling good about his new selection which had been suggested by his Dad.

Now my goal here was to help and definitely not seem to put down the "positive levels of achievement" that the son was feeling. However, it is also important in the big picture of losing bodyfat and improving the conditions inside the Human ECO System that anything that goes into the body is addressed for it's impact.

There is an old saying "YOU are what YOU eat". This fails to include that in today's world "YOU are also what YOU drink" as many of the world's population have replaced food calories with empty sugar laden calories from vending machines.

Let me explain how this can impact.
A can of soft drink like most soda's can add up to 80-100 cals per can to your intake. This meant that the son was consuming previously and additional 480-600 calories that weren't considered in the most commonly used method of balancing "calories in vs calories out" equation. Now that he had changed to a popular sports drink, his calories now each time were about 30-50 less which is an improvement but still added about 450 cals to this total daily intake, which was better but still not accounted for in their plan, which will definitely impact on the fat loss result.

NOTE - another important yet equally ineffective strategy is to change soft drinks of any kind for juices which mostly contain more calories due to their high sugar content. I would rather see vegetable juices consumed or better yet real food sources such as fruit or vegetables but in a society struggling to meet any of these changes I will take what I can get but be aware that these calories also count !

With their agreement we now adjusted the son's intake of ALL nutrients both food and drink and then assessed if the workout plan was going to succeed for his goal. In a very simple way everyone realized that it lacked a successful outcome so I went straight into "positive mode" to increase the son's esteem and future plans. We agreed that he had already made significant inroads to a "better path" and together we adjusted his "nutritional and activity compass" to allow for continued success.

I explained how the additional calories could be removed and asked the son if he felt the change was worth it. There was compromise on how many "drinks" I felt he needed and both father and son then said they understood how this new strategy made them feel better. To allow for the additional calories we increased the intensity of the workouts and replaced a sports drink during his workout with water and then after the workout with a protein drink.

The son also wanted to look for alteratives for the additional calories from "soft drinks" and we talked over options that they both wanted to try. We are going to monitor the plan and with this new found awareness, knowledge and commitment both the father and son feel excited. On the weekend I suggested that they go and do a cardio session together for motivation and both are looking forward to the challenge.

So take a look at your plan and see if you are accounting for ALL your calories if your progress has slowed. If it needs adjusting then make the changes.

NOTE - And for those are able to legally consume alcohol, there are very similar calories in wine, champagne or beer as there are in soft drinks like sodas. So a night out drinking with your mates may add up to an additional 1000 calories (and sometimes more) for those that wake up feeling "seedy" and this will definitely affect your weight and fat loss outcomes.