Watching your weight doesn’t have to sentence you to a life of water and diet drinks. You can still keep this summer sweet without a lot of extra sugar and calories. Quench your thirst with these tasty suggestions from TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization.
1. Add orange, lemon, or cucumber slices to sparkling water.
2. Cut your usual glass of lemonade in half and add sugar-free iced tea.
3. Freeze blueberries or raspberries in ice trays with water, and add them to your next summer drink.
4. Chill out by mixing seedless watermelon, cranberry juice, and ice cubes in a blender. Serve with a slice of lime.
5. Steep a peach tea bag in boiling water, chill, and serve with sliced orange.
6. Add a splash of pineapple juice to sparkling water, and garnish with pineapple wedges and fresh mint leaves.
7. Make your own iced coffee by adding black coffee to ice, then a splash of skim milk plus a shot of sugar-free vanilla syrup or packet of artificial sweetener.
8. Mix one part cranberry or pomegranate juice with two parts club soda, and garnish with fresh raspberries.
9. Steep two green tea bags in boiling water. Chill and serve on ice with a tablespoon of honey and a lemon wedge.
10. Make a tasty summer “mocktail.” Serve low-sodium tomato juice on ice and mix with a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce and a few dashes of hot sauce (depending on how spicy you want your drink). Add a celery stalk and a couple of green olives if you’d like.
TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) is the original weight-loss support and wellness education organization. Founded more than 65 years ago, TOPS is the only nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization of its kind. TOPS promotes successful weight management with a “Real People. Real Weight Loss.®” philosophy that combines support from others at weekly chapter meetings, healthy eating, regular exercise, and wellness information. TOPS has about 150,000 members – male and female, age seven and older – in nearly 9,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.
Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free of charge. Membership is affordable at just $28 per year in the U.S. and $32 per year in Canada, plus nominal chapter fees. To find a local chapter, view www.tops.org or call (800) 932-8677.
