What do you drink with meals?

I've noticed that whenever my teenagers have friends over for dinner, none of them drink milk. We offer milk or water, and 100% choose water - if they don't first ask for something else (the answer is no, you get milk or water - that's it).

I grew up in a family of milk drinkers, and no, we're not dairy farmers. I remember my parents drinking milk with meals as well, so it wasn't just a beverage for kids. Back then, we didn't even think about the calcium and vitamin D in milk promoting healthy bones - we just drank it.

I even continued to drink milk in college, where I was also one of the few who routinely ate breakfast. Old habits die hard. The only exception I make is when skim milk isn't available. I can't stand 2%, and don't even think about offering whole milk! Call me a skim milk purist. When I was in the Army we always had an option of skim milk, unless we were out in the field subsisting on C-rats, which would have been vastly improved with a glass of milk.

My teenage boys both drink milk, and even pour themselves a glass of milk when they fix their own lunch. It looks like I started another generation of milk-drinkers. Sure, I know some people don't believe adults should drink cow's milk, but I come from northern European ancestors who used everything they could from their cows - including drinking the milk. There's no osteoporosis in my family, thanks to good genes but also to a long history of drinking milk.

Milk or water - that's it for meals at our house.

How many calories do you drink?

Many of us routinely read food labels and keep track of the number of calories we eat. But how many calories do you drink?

Sweetened beverages such as soda and fruit drinks are the number one source of sugar in our diet. A 12 ounce can of Coke contains 140 calories, all from sugar. Snapple isn't any better: one bottle has about 220 calories.

Alcohol provides more calories than we realize as well. The higher the alcohol content, the more calories. Beer has 12 calories per ounce, white wine 20 calories per ounce, red wine 21 calories per ounce, and 80-proof spirits (gin, vodka, etc) 64 calories per ounce. Since nobody drinks just one ounce, it adds up faster than you think.

Calories in beverages don't make us feel full, either. In fact, we often eat even MORE when we drink alcohol, getting a double-calorie whammy.

Makes you want to drink a cool, tall glass of water, doesn't it?