So you have cut back on all the cheese and chocolate. But despite your efforts, what is it that is preventing you from fitting back to your old jeans?  Could it be your liquid calories from your morning tea and evening coffee?  The beverages can have a bigger impact on our waistlines than anything else. The silver lining is that by making a few simple tweaks in your beverages, you will be able to kick off weight loss. Confused about where to begin? Here is your guide.

Don’t Brew Tea to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Yes, there are catechins in tea that revs up your metabolism and help you lose weight, but if your tea is loaded with full-fat milk and sugar, you are only sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Instead of sweetening your tea with caloric sweeteners, like sugar or honey, try adding stevia to your tea. It contains just a negligible amount of calories but has a potent sweet taste, so a little goes a long way with sweetening your cup. Also, swapping out your milk for non-fat milk reduces your calorie intake by a few calories per cup.

Repeat After Us, ‘Sugar Isn’t So Sweet In Coffee’

Like tea, unsweetened coffee is filled with healthy compounds and almost no calories. But if you are a fan of sugary coffee concoctions, you down 206 more calories a day on average than people who sip unsweetened and unflavoured joe. If you can't skip cream and sugar, be stingy with them or use low-cal or fat-free versions. Try these weight loss diets to help burn body fat. 

Don’t Squeeze Out That Juice

If it comes from fruit, it must be healthy, right? Not so much. Many store-bought juices have added sugars. When it comes to health benefits, you are always better off eating whole fruit instead. A medium orange has a mere 59 calories, and its 12 grams of sugar come with three grams of belly-filling fibre. On the other hand, a glass of orange juice can contain around 110 calories, with twice as much sugar as the fruit, and no fiber. If you are a sucker for store-bought juice, try diluting it with water.  This way, you will get the flavour with fewer calories. Also, don't forget that a low-carb diet is the secret to maintain weight loss. 

There is nothing ‘Diet’ In Diet Soda

You may not be really cutting down on calories if you have made the switch to diet soda. A study conducted by Purdue University found that drinking these artificially sweetened beverages can mess with the brain's ability to measure caloric intake. You may actually start to crave more calories if you drink them often and enough.  The best idea is to make your own with a home soda maker that carbonates your drink of choice.

Your smoothies can also add hundreds of calories to your day, so don't forget to track what actually goes into them. Cut down on all the sweeteners like honey and brown sugar and up your smoothie game by adding more leafy greens and nuts. Also, do not go overboard with fruits if you are whipping up a fruit smoothie.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 14, 2019 01:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).