How To Prevent Drinking On The Pounds

Tipping the scales during the holidays concerns all of us. We're loading up on all sorts of goodies we may normally not eat the rest of the year – cookies, candies, buffets filled with temptation – and, believe it or not, studies show that a lot of weight gain is from what we drink, not eat.

I mean, how often do we look at a sweet holiday punch and exclaim, "Oh, I shouldn't! Too many calories!" I can't remember ever doing that, can you?

So how can we indulge a bit and still keep things under control? Let's do some comparisons!

One can of a regular soft drink like a cola can add up to about 150 calories vs. the 115 calories from a yummy homemade sugar cookie from a roll of refrigerator dough. You wouldn't think it was that much of a difference…but it is!

Here again, a decadent piña colada made from a canned mix might pile on 525 calories! A bottle of regular beer may register 145 calories!

But a glass of red wine (that also has some health benefits) is only 75 calories!

And remember, before we get too excited, alcohol makes us hungrier!

So, how to prevent drinking on the pounds? What are we going to do?

We're going to make better choices! With the best one being plain or carbonated water! It's healthy hydration all year 'round, and even though it won't erase extra calories, if we eat rich food, at least it won't add any.

And this one we can't repeat enough: Don't overindulge in alcohol and never, ever drink and drive.

Mr. Food, OOH IT'S SO GOOD!! and the Mr. Food likeness are trademarks of Ginsburg Enterprises Incorporated. Copyright 2007 by Ginsburg Enterprises Incorporated. All rights reserved.