Twenty-two. That’s how many teaspoons of sugar most Americans eat and drink in a day. This sugar hides in the soda, juice and other sugary drinks we choose each day. A regular 12oz can of soft drink contains up to 10 teaspoons of sugar.

Add in a cup of orange juice (six more teaspoons), some sugar in your coffee (four more teaspoons), and a bottle of sports drink like Gatorade (five more teaspoons) and your drinking 25 teaspoons of sugar.

That sugar corrodes our blood cells and organs, leads to insulin resistance and diabetes, increases our risk of heart disease, and cause us to pack on body fat faster than an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Plus, 25 teaspoons of sugar means an extra 500 calories a day. That’s a lot of extra calories from just a few drinks. In fact, it’s like eating a few slices of pie every single day.

Since this weeks practice is to choose your carbs wisely, if you’re up for the challenge you might consider cutting back on your sugary drinks.

Try switching to cold water or unsweetened coffee or tea. Even if you replace one sugary drink with an unsweetened one, that’s a step in the right direction.

And over time small steps lead to big improvements.