4 tips to manage calorie consumption

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to mean all or nothing when it comes to your favourite foods and drinks. Whether your goal is weight loss, training for a sporting event or just becoming more health conscious, there are simple things you can do to better manage your calories. Food and beverage choices and physical activity are integral contributors to maintaining an active lifestyle, and it's important to strike the right balance between what you eat, drink and do.

The Canadian Beverage Association offers some tips on how you can better manage your beverage calorie intake:

1. Consider portion sizes. There are a range of pre-packaged portion sizes on grocery store shelves to help choose servings that are best for you and your family. Many soft drinks are now available in single servings ranging from 220 ml to 591 ml, or in terms of energy intake, approximately 80 calories to 220 calories in full calories options. When you're choosing a drink, consider how it fits in to your calorie-per-day target.

2. Making water more exciting with … water! From still water to sparkling water, and with a multitude of flavoured water beverages to choose from, there is a huge variety of zero calorie options for people who want variety, but fewer calories. When you're at home and want to jazz up your glass of tap water, try adding a few easy-mixing flavour drops, which you can find at most grocery stores.

3. Look for low-cal. There is now an ever-increasing selection of low-, no-, and mid-calorie beverage choices. Try a lower calorie version of your favourite soft drink or juice as a possible alte
ative.

4. Consider your activity level. As much as possible, be aware of how many calories you're consuming throughout the day, and balance this with how active you are. All beverages in Canada have the number of calories in each serving right on the front of the label so you can make the choice of a full-, mid- or no-calorie beverage that best suits your energy intake each day.

The beverage industry has set a goal through their Balance Calories initiative to reduce non-alcoholic beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20 per cent by 2025. More information is available at www.balancecalories.ca.