No matter what your dreams are, goal setting is absolutely the first step you
need to take towards reaching it. For my food journey, this meant setting a realistic weight loss goal. I was also interested in disease prevention. I already had an ailment, and certainly didn’t want to pile on any more. Now it was time to take action towards obtaining those goals.
Food Journey: Part II
After setting my goals, I did something you’ve probably heard of before: I started drinking water. As most folks know, I already drank a ton of water. Now, I was drinking it differently. I’d heard several times that drinking water could lead to significant weight loss. So I did a little research and integrated it into my food journey. Along the way I discovered the benefits of drinking water.
Taste the Benefits
I am a strong believer that if you don’t like the way something tastes naturally, you shouldn’t cover it in condiments to make it taste the way you need or want it to, to get it down.
Sure, I use Heinz 57 on my steak every once in a while because I like the taste of it. However, if I’m going to slather my steak in Heinz 57 and barely taste the steak, I might as well eat what I want to taste, a bottle of Heinz 57, and eliminate the calories of the steak.
I applied this logic to my morning coffee.
I like the way coffee and many teas taste alone. So why put a ton of cream and
sugar in it?
With this thought in mind, I started dialing back. When I wanted coffee, I drank coffee. When I wanted tea, I drank tea. What I found was most of the time, I was just thirsty. So if I didn’t actually want the taste of coffee or tea, I drank water.
Wasted Calories
The funny thing about drinks is most of the time when you ingest them, your body doesn’t even recognize those calories. So you’re drinking a 120 – 300+ calories in one drink that did nothing for you. No nutrients. No quenched thirst. Just empty calories you could’ve used towards say that steak we were talking about earlier.
Don’t switch to no calorie sweeteners and sugar free drinks either.
These seemingly harmless drinks actually cause water retention and constipation, which by the way if you consume them regularly you probably don’t even notice.
If you’re thirsty, drink water.
It’s calorie free, sodium free, and sugar free. Plus, it helps to keep you 
energized, and aids with proper digestion. Simply put, water is the best thing for you and perhaps the easiest part of your food journey.
Have you experienced the benefits of drinking water on your food journey? Be sure to share them in the comments below. If you’re looking for extra help setting or obtaining your personal health goals, feel free to reach out to me directly here. I’d love to help you in anyway I can.
Bonus Tips
There’s no need to make sure you’re drinking a certain number of ounces in a day. Instead, replace the coffee, tea, or soda you normally have throughout the day with water.
An increase in water should increase your energy levels. If you still need an added boost, try something crazy like sleeping more. If that’s not possible, look to natural drinks that have vitamins or minerals in them that can perk you up, like teas or fruit-infused waters. Be sure to steer away from ADDED sugars or artificial sweeteners.
It’s rare that I drink something other than water. When I do, I choose no sugar added juices, unsweetened teas, green drinks, or coconut water. I am not a big fan of energy drinks (caffeine makes me incredibly sleepy), however, I recently discovered ENERGY. It is the first energy drink I’ve tried that didn’t make me feel like my heart was going to jump out of my chest, plus the flavor was really nice. I feel comfortable recommending ENERGY to energy drink lovers because:
- it’s naturally low in calories
- contains all natural sugars
- gets its caffeine from Green Tea
If you feel like you must have coffee daily, no worries.
Try scaling back one cream and/or one sugar at a time. You’ll be surprised how many calories you save. If you find you hate the taste, then are you sure you should be drinking coffee in the first place?
There is no substitute for water. All though I’m not exactly a coffee drinker, I do have my guilty pleasures. I’ve often grabbed a lemonade or a Gatorade because I’ve always hated the lack of taste in water. Those sports drinks are actually designed to replenish athletes that have exhausted themselves after rigorous activity. They’re not meant for sedentary people. Not to mention that all those artificial ingredients can’t be all that good for you.
Hi and thanks so much for stopping by Dan!
Like you, my cousins weren’t too fond of the taste if water either and opted for sugary substitutes. I wrote about this in another article. You are right, drinks like Gatorade and Powerade are meant for athletes, construction workers, and those with the flu. A good substitute is water infused with fruits or even unsweetened herbal teas. Have you tried either of these methods by chance?
Hope to see you back soon,
JaemiO
I like this site, the fact that I am drink water my seem strange to most my friends ( used to love soft drinks ) but I have lost some weight now, but I still need to lose a lot more weight, but hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks
Thanks so much Kevin!
That’s awesome news! I wish you much success in your food journey. Don’t feel like you have to rush it though. Keep using tools like drinking water and moving more, and you’ll see the weight fall off and stay off.
I hope to see you here often for tips and motivation. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away here, or in the exclusive forum built for Official Foodies (see top right hand corner).
See you around,
JaemiO