Today I am going to breakdown the difference between drink choices and how they can affect your workouts. The recommended serving size is eight fluid ounces, but I am going discuss what a 20 ounce serving can do. The human body is made up of almost all water and it is recommended that you drink at least 64 fluid ounces of water a day. I recommend drinking 80 to 90 ounces of water if you workout on a regular basis. Soda, tea, and coffee are a few examples of diuretics, which dehydrate the body.

Below is a breakdown of drink choices, calories in each, and how long it will take to burn. The following exercise information is based on a four mile per hour walking pace.

While most exercise forms suggest that you nosh a bit beforehand, with yoga, you are well-advised to refrain from eating 2-3 hours before down-dogging. This recommendation is due to yoga’s deep breathing and postures which together can cause undigested food to bother your stomach or travel upwards and result in acid reflux. But when it comes to eating after your yoga class, you’re free to replenish your energy.

Here are a few pointers to consider for your next post-yoga meal.

1. Hydration: Rather than reach straight for a granola bar, chug some water. This is especially true if you engage in highly intensive yoga classes like Bikram, Ashtanga or power yoga. These forms of exercise will cause you to sweat, and particularly in the case of Bikram yoga, you’ll sweat a lot. So you’ll want to rehydrate before you assess your level of hunger. Avoid expensive flavored waters or sugary sports drinks. Good ol’ fashioned water will do the trick.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s… In the last few months of the year the festivities, holidays, and activities steadily build. Many complain about the stress of the holiday season and say they look forward to the calm of January; however, it is common to experience some let down, sadness, and loneliness in the wake of celebrations, family, and friends. Don’t let January steal your joy.

1. Schedule time with friends. Now, in the relative calm, is the perfect time to plan one-on-one time with friends and catch up, or perhaps with that someone new you met at a holiday party that you would like to get to know. Restaurants should have more availability and traffic will be refreshingly decreased. Create an excuse to wear those new things Santa left under the tree, and get out of the house.
   

Granted, diet sodas are lower in calories than regular soda, but drinking soda isn’t really the best thing for you. I’ve said it numerous times that water should be your number one choice for hydrating yourself and quenching your thirst, but too often people grab a diet soda instead. Last Friday, Jillian Michaels wrote a blog on “meeting your soda quota”. Simply saying that she was addicted to diet soda and understands the struggles behind weaning yourself off them and off artificial sweeteners. Jillian recommends drinking unsweetened coffee and tea to get your caffeine fix or sweetening with xylitol and stevia because they are more natural than sucralose (Splenda).

Research has shown that consuming diet soda is a culprit for our society’s weight problems. The idea behind it is that drinking soda (regular or diet) doesn’t quench your thirst and, in fact, can play a detrimental role in altering one’s metabolism by somehow changing our brain’s chemistry.

UPDATE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.

Go Green! Lose Weight! These are two anthems we hear being sung everywhere we go these days. A partnership between Biggest Loser and the Filter For Good campaign (by Brita and Nalgene) is making it possible to do these two things at once.

During November, you have an opportunity to win a prize that will help you accomplish both of those goals.

1. Visit FilterForGood.com and pledge to reduce plastic water bottle usage.

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3. On Dec. 1, four readers will be drawn and notified by DietsInReview.com.

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Grand Prize
One winner will receive a FilterForGood package valued at $120.99, to include:

- 1 Brita Pitcher
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