I recall seeing this product on shelves of grocery stores when I was a kid and I would see it every now and then at the homes of some of my more wealthy friends. My family had Kool-Aid because that was (and likely still is) so cheap that it was nearly free. It would be many years before I could realize that had it not been for our active lifestyles and how that was encouraged in my family, thinks like Kool-Aid were absolutely terrible for you even though it was up to you how much sugar you were going to put into it.
My family used a full US cup of sugar and I didn't think anything of it at the time because I spent the whole day running around like a lunatic and probably burning crazy amounts of calories.
When you get older and a lot of that activity kid of goes to the wayside, I think people need to be a bit more conscious about what they put into their bodies. One of the worst things that people over-consume is in their drinks. People became aware of this and Kool-Aid kind of dropped out, but Crystal Light maybe took advantage of this rather new concern people had towards beverages being awful for you.
I had honestly forgotten that this product existed but one day I was at a friend's house and he asked if I wanted some pink lemonade. This question surprised me because this is one of my fitness buddies and lemonade is not something I would think he would be consuming. I had some anyway and then he told me that it has zero calories in it and I initially laughed.
Crystal light legit has no or close to no calories per container and it doesn't really matter how strong you mix it.
For me, I use one of the sachets for about a liter of water and most recently I got this variety pack that has some pretty kick ass flavors in it.
I don't really even have a favorite so I just reach into the box blind and take whatever comes out. For me, especially after a hard run or cycling, this stuff tastes like absolute heaven. It tastes like the real deal but with zero calories? Yes it absolutely does.
Now there is always going to be someone that comes to piss on your parade when you find something you like that isn't bad for you so I have found that some people warn about the dangers of artificial sweeteners, which obviously, Crystal Light is loaded with. It also has some synthetic dyes that some people are worried about. Honestly, when I see these concerns I feel as though these "studies" are created by competing businesses that manufacture things with corn syrup in them, which we already know are bad for you.
I am reminded about how in the 80's and 90's there were all these studies that attempted to show that nutra-sweet or whatever all the rage was back then caused cancer in lab rats. What they didn't tell you is that they injected these rats with so much of the crud that you would NEVER be able to possibly introduce that amount to your system even if you drank Diet Pepsi constantly all day, every day.
Therefore I kind of ignore the warnings about the preservatives and artificial sweeteners that are in this thing. Would straight water be better for you? Of course, but sometimes we want something that tastes a bit better ok?
I keep Crystal Light in my cupboard in and my fridge at all times and especially after a run I will open that fridge and just glug glug glug to my heart's content. It is a really refreshing thing.
I feel as though I worry about what I consume in my diet just the right amount. I'm at around 17% body fat, can run 10k races, and can probably still impress most people with my bench, squat, and deadlifts. I'm in pretty damn good shape especially for my age.
one of my not-so-secret secrets is to not drink your calories. Well, unless we are talking about beer. As I have said many times before I will never give that stuff up.
