Fitness Friday-Drinking your calories

I read a lot of fitness blogs, magazines and online articles. All of them agree that if you are tying to lose or maintain weight then you shouldn't be drinking your calories...spend them on food and rely on water!!

Well, I am no expert..I am actually closer to a fitness moron than I am a fitness expert but sometimes there are days when drinking my calories is worth it!!!

First of all there is coffee, which by the way I gave up for lent. Then I found out that Chick Fil A was giving away free coffee for the whole month of February and that lasted all of 24 hours. Anyways, black coffee has been linked to speeding up metabolism and on those cold mornings it is sometimes the one thing that gets me going. However, be careful not to drink it before you exercise as it could cause dehydration.

Second there are smoothies, which I like to call my second breakfast :). I eat my normal breakfast right when I get home from working out. However, by 8 or 9 I am starving again and having a smoothie ready to go keeps me satisfied until lunchtime.

Here are my two favorite smoothies.

1-Banana, PB2 and almond milk. I have mentioned this one before but it never gets old. Freeze your banana the night before to add some texture and thickness!

2-Spinach, water, one scoop of Advocare Strawberry Mango spark and then 1/2 cup of either frozen strawberries or mangos. Its super sweet and allows you to reap the benefits of spinach without tasting it. I always add a lot of water to this one and make a huge smoothie that I can sip on for an hour or so.

Next, there is starbucks. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love their skinny hazelnut latte and their skinny peppermint mochas. I love that my students constantly hand me starbucks giftcards as Thank You gifts or Christmas presents. I love that there are 2 stores super close to me. I hate some of the more recent ways that Starbucks has made the headlines. I don't know what "they", whoever "they" may be, really believe or support but from what I have heard they are probably more liberal than I would like.

Finally, I love milkshakes. There, its out. I could drink a Braums Chunky Chocolate Milkshake every day...maybe twice a day. There small comes in around 260 calories and it made with sugar free frozen yogurt. So on days that I find myself with enough calories left for a splurge I do it. I always regret it the next morning but I usually push myself harder in my next workout because of it. Its a stupid cycle.

I received all of this in one day from my students....um, either I am very loved or very loud about my addictions :).

Some drinks that won't cost you a single calorie are

-honest to goodness black coffee, which most people can't handle. Try NesCafe instant coffee!!! So good, even black!
-ICE drinks...all sorts of flavors and no calories. I limit myself to one every other day or less since it has sugar substitutes that probably will give me some sort of cancer. My favorite flavors are the ones with coconut, mango and tangerine.
-Water...add cucumbers, oranges or strawberries for a boost in flavor
-Green or Black Tea...YUM (green) YUCK (black)!!!
-Skinny Girl spritzers--these aren't zero calorie but they are 10 calories per bottle. They tend to be a bit heavier on my stomach than the ICE drinks and the flavors aren't fantastic in my opinion.

 What are some of your favorite low calorie drinks??