I have a weakness and it is orange juice. I suspect it could be worse (like orange candy bars) but I am not sure if this hampers me in my weight loss goals.

I do figure the calories into my daily calorie intake -- I usually have two glasses (16 ounces) a day which is only 220 calories. I really do not like whole oranges but love orange juice.

I do notice that these calories do not satisfy my hunger for long. I believe this might be because I do not get the full benefit of fiber that I would get from a whole orange.

Anyway, If anyone has any information about orange juice and the impact on a healthy diet, I would love to read about it.

Thanks!

I'll take a stab..maybe a guess...

For some reason unknown to me I have stayed away from OJ. I don't really have a good reason why. Anyway, I would think that it would be pretty high in sugar. Therefore, it would be high in carbs. If it fits into your macro nutrient ratio then it is probably OK in moderation. It might even be beneficial as a post workout drink combined with some quality protein. I personally try not to drink very many calories. I do, however, drink whole milk post workout once in a while. If you hit a plateau then this is one of the first things I would look at cutting back on. As you said above, by not eating the fruit you are missing out on all of the beneficial fiber contained in the orange itself. If i were to drink OJ then I'd be sure to drink 100% OJ with pulp and not some sugar infused substitute.

One thing that I have learned in my journey is that if things suck then you won't continue doing it. I eat resonable clean most of the time, but I do eat pizza, ice cream, cake and other stuff once in a while. This isn't a license to binge, but If you want OJ then have it in moderation.

My apologies if this doesn't answer your question.

John said it really well and I agree that you really don't want to drink your calories. 220 calories is quite a lot when there is no benefit of satisfying hunger. There is nothing wrong with drinking orange juice, but it is a processed food that lacks all of the benefits of eating a real orange. It is a healthy alternative when comparing to sodas for sure.
If you look at the math: 2 oranges are around 150 calories. If you ate 2 oranges a day instead of drinking orange juice, that would be a 70 calorie difference, and over a year that works out to a little over 7 lbs of difference in weight loss.
But like John said, everything in moderation. It is a better choice to drink OJ instead of having a chocolate bar, but in the end if you goal is weight loss, they will have the same impact if their calories are similar.

Hi guys,

thank you very much for your responses. I actually did not realize the huge difference in calories with the whole orange being so much less.

I actually took an orange to work with me today and I think my real problem is that I do not like to do the work to get to the orange -- it actually tasted fine, and it kept me full much longer than the juice.

I think I will use a method to cut back on the juice by adding in the orange on a daily basis with having one cup or orange juice. I'll keep cutting this back until I only have the juice version once or twice a week. And I thought soda was going to be hard to limit