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Drink Deception, Rare Results, and Caloric Confusion

Vitamin Water gets called out, there are no short cuts to fitness, and caloric restriction just leaves you hungry.

Vitamin or Sugar Water?

Usually when I want to hydrate, I just drink plain ol’ regular tap water, but occasionally I’ll spring for a bottle of flavored water. I’m such a wild child. Typically, I’ll buy a low-cal one, but with all the marketing, it’s sometimes hard to figure out what’s healthy and what’s not. Turns out, I’m not the only one who has noticed this. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has, too, and they’re pretty ticked. The public interest group recently sued Coca-Cola over the health claims made on its VitaminWater product, saying that the drink is marketed as healthier than soda despite the fact that it contains 33 grams of sugar. Ouch. Sounds like I should stick to the tap.
 

The Long Haul
Bad news to those looking to drop 30 pounds in six weeks. A recent study shows that it takes substantial time—from six months to a year—to really change how you look. The study was spurred after one researcher started looking closer at those before-and-after photos so commonly used on diet ads and books. After photographing subjects before and after six weeks of different types of exercise, results showed that people’s bodies really didn’t change much.

In reality, those people you see featured on the diet ads are the top one or two people out of thousands, one researcher says. But don’t let that get you discouraged. Remember, real change doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s totally worth it!

Slow and steady wins the race.

No Restrictions!
Have you been following any of those studies that say that those who severely limit their food consumption live longer than those who don’t? Well, we have, in quiet annoyance as to how anyone would choose to be cranky and have a constantly growling tummy. I’d personally rather live a shorter and happier life than a longer hungry one, but that’s just me. However, there’s finally some good news from the research world on this! Caloric restricted diets seem to only benefit obese mice.

So, unless you’re a rodent, eat your fair share of healthy foods!

Thank goodness.

Bonus Bit: More Love, Less Handles
The good folks over at Gold’s Gym have created four workouts to help you and your honey get fit this V-day. So before you enjoy that box of chocolates, try their trust, intimacy, intensity and communication workouts. The workouts also double as a free trial membership to Gold’s, so check it out!

Take it to heart.

—Jenn

Photos grabbed from graciepoo and be_khe on Flickr.

FTC disclosure: We often receive products from companies to review. All thoughts and opinions are always entirely our own. Unless otherwise stated, we have received no compensation for our review and the content is purely editorial. Affiliate links may be included. If you purchase something through one of those links we may receive a small commission. Thanks for your support!

Comments

11 Comments
  1. MizFit says:

    did you read the article in NY Mag a while ago profiling a bunch of manhattanites who did the calorie restriction?
    Im not sure if it was supposed to make us wanna join in—-but to me all I could think was what you said GOOD GOSH YOU MAY NOT LIVE LONGER BUT IT WILL FEEL LIKE IT!!

  2. Erica says:

    GREAT post. I couldn’t believe how many calories were in that water when I turned it over in the store- I almost fell on the floor! Thats not water!

  3. DomestiGals says:

    THANK YOU for calling attention to Vitamin Water and other high calorie drinks that masquerade as good for you! Sheesh! It drives me nuts how manipulative these big beverage companies are. Jerks!

    Cheers, DomestiGal Jen

  4. Jenn says:

    Miz: I didn’t, but I’m glad you came to the same conclusion I did! 🙂 Food is gooood!!!

  5. Moonlight Dancer says:

    Walgreens has their version of Vitamin water which is sugar free and it’s pretty good. They only have a few flavors but the one I like the most the lemonaid one is available in the sugar free so I will buy that occasionally if I want a “vitamin water” I rarely drink them I tend to stick to plain old water 98% of the time.

  6. tfh says:

    I’d much rather just drink half and half water and juice than those VitaminWater drinks. I’m pretty sure it’s cheaper, too. And thanks for linking to that NYTimes article– very fascinating and confirms something I’ve noticed personally.

  7. Meg says:

    Heh, yeah I knew all about how many calories are in Vitamin Water, I’ve always thought of it as a treat, similar to a soda, but then again I’m an avid label reader ^_^

    I’m glad to hear that the caloric restriction stuff didn’t hold up. As much as I count my calories now during my loosing phase, I would hate to have to keep it up once I hit my goal! There are too many tasty healthy foods out there!

  8. David at Animal-Kingdom-Workouts.com says:

    I’m normally not a big fan of The Center for Science in the Public Interest. I like them when they present useful information (the sports drinks are a great example) but too often they try and legislate to force people to eat and drink the way they want. On my blog today I posted a funny bit from a new doc called FAT HEAD that takes on CSPI. Good stuff.

    – Dave

    PS Oh, and I only drink tap water myself.

  9. Sagan says:

    Man, that sucks for all those calorie restriction people… being cranky and eating so little only to find out that its not really going to do anything after all.

    So much sugar in drinks its scary!

  10. eatingbender says:

    I just heard the news about Vitamin Water in my class tonight – that’s crazy! Definitely stick to the tap!

    Thank goodness they found that calorie restriction only benefits obese mice! I would definitely choose a shorter, happier life if it meant eating good food!

    Awesome post, Jenn!

  11. Tish says:

    thank you for the vitamin water spiel. i’ve been pissed at that premise for quite some time…it’s no longer water if it flippin has crap in it.

    it ain’t rocket science.

Comments are closed.