Drink Your Weight Away

Sept. 21, 2001 -- Two hundred gallons. That's the amount of liquid the average man guzzles each year.

Approximately 34 gallons of beer, 53 gallons of soda, 24 gallons of milk, and a whole lot of gallons of other stuff.

Feeling a bit bloated? You should be. But the great thing about drinking so much is that all you have to do to lose weight is make a few adjustments to the types of drinks you're already pouring down every day.

Juice with pulp instead of pulp-free. Green tea instead of regular. Do it all and you're gulping 35,456 fewer calories in four weeks. That's a savings of 10 pounds. So fill 'er up. This one's on us — and off you.

Your Morning Juice

Unless you're an astronaut or a skinny 10-year-old boy, trade in your Tang, Sunny D, and pulp-free OJ for the thick stuff — juice with extra pulp.

Researchers at Purdue University found that people stayed full longer when they drank thick drinks than when they drank thin ones — even when calories, temperatures, and amounts were equal.

"Thicker drinks help to fight off hunger longer," says Richard Mattes, the study author.

Calories saved in four weeks: 5,460

Your Midmorning Break

Even if your taste in tea runs more toward Long Island than iced, there's a reason to consider adding a bit more of the stuff to your diet: It's a natural fat burner.

But not just any tea will work. You need to buy the stuff marked "green."

A Swiss study found that substances in green tea called catechin polyphenols can significantly increase your body's metabolism of fat so you burn the stuff at a faster rate.

Calories saved in four weeks: at least 4,872

Lunch in a Can

Meal replacements really work.

In a study presented at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, researchers found that regularly drinking meal replacements increased a man's chances of losing weight and keeping it off for longer than a year.

But which one should you drink? "Men trying to lose weight need about 600 calories per meal, with 25 percent of those calories from protein, 25 percent from fat, and 50 percent from carbohydrates," says Liz Ward, a Massachusetts nutrition consultant.

That's about what you get from this drink:

Strawberry Power Blast1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1 cup 1 percent milk

2 teaspoon peanut butter

1 medium banana1 1/2 cup frozen unsweetened strawberries

2 teaspoon sugar

2 ice cubes or 1/2 cup crushed ice

Directions: Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend on high speed until smooth (about 4 to 5 minutes). Drink immediately.

Per serving: 608 calories, 25 grams protein, 106 grams carbohydrates, 11 grams total fat

Calories saved in four weeks: 9,856

Your Afternoon Indulgence

Need something thick and creamy from a drive-thru?

Head to White Castle. The damage from its regular chocolate shake is just 220 calories, compared with a small McDonald's chocolate shake, which has 360 calories. Burger King is nearly as bad, with 305 calories per small shake, but Dairy Queen wins the crown for the most fattening shake going: A small DQ chocolate shake is packed with 560 calories.

Calories saved in four weeks: 9,520

Your Post-workout Smoothie

Bananas don't just fend off muscle cramps. They also fight hunger, according to Dr. Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.

"The scent of bananas tricks your brain into thinking you've eaten a lot more than you really have, making you fuller faster," says Hirsch.

To make your own appetite-busting smoothie, blend together a banana, 1/2 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, 1/8 cup frozen orange-juice concentrate, 1/2 cup 1 percent milk, and 1/2 cup crushed ice. Mix until it begins to get frothy.

Plus, the extra air will also fend off your hunger pangs. A Penn State study found that men who drank yogurt shakes that had been blended until they doubled in volume ate 96 fewer calories a day than men who drank shakes of normal thickness. "The extra volume helps to fill you up and curb your appetite," says Barbara Rolls, the study author.

Calories saved in four weeks: 2,688

A Soda for the Drive Home

The best place to get used to the taste of diet soda is a mini mart because it's always ice cold, according to Ward.

"The colder a diet soda is when you're drinking it, the less you'll notice the difference in taste," she says.

"If you can't stand diet but want to start drinking it, try filling your cup three-fourths of the way with regular soda and topping it off with diet," says Ward. "Then gradually adjust the ratio until you can wean yourself off regular altogether."

Calories saved in four weeks: 2,024

Your Evening Beer

There's nothing wrong with "lite" beer, unless you count not tasting anything like the real thing. Unfortunately, a bottle of Sam Adams or Heineken can set you back around 170 calories. Here are some better regular beer choices (Calorie count per 12-oz bottle):

Cerveza Tecate, 110 calories

Keystone, 122 calories

Busch, 133 calories

Calories saved in four weeks: at least 1,036