Carolyn Bell, RDN – Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
If you’re drinking regular sodas (non-sugar-free), then you are most likely drinking too many calories a day – which leads to being overweight. The average adult female may only need 1800-2000 calories a day to maintain ideal body weight, and a male may require 2800-3000 calories a day. What happens if you drink (3) sodas a day, and each soda is 20 ounces and 240 calories? This is a total of 720 calories – and no nutritional value scored for the drinks.
How many calories do you have left for meals?
Females: 1080-1280 or approximately 3 meals at 350-400 calories each – NO SNACKS!
Males: 2080-2280 or approximately 3 meals at 650 – 750 calories each – NO SNACKS!
Practice this at home. Learn your calorie needs by visiting: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/estimated-calorie-requirement
Next, do the math. Monitor your soda intake and subtract these calories from the total calories you need to maintain your ideal body weight, then stick to this number of calories to eat for the day. Or, if you give up sodas, and switch to a calorie-free drink, you can add back all the calories from sodas, and enjoy these at meal or snack times – and aim high for nutrition!
