This is the first thing you should cut from your diet to lose weight

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The INSIDER Summary: If you're looking to lose weight you should start by cutting out drinks with added sugars, like soda and fruit punches. Nutritionist Karen Ansel says beverages are our biggest source of added sugars, which are bad for you because they're processed and have no nutritional value. Research has shown that drinking beverages high in this kind of sugar can contribute to both weight gain and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. You might think it's your late-night chocolate fix or your weekly cheeseburger that's preventing you from shedding those few extra pounds, but chances are it's your morning vanilla latte or your daily soda.

According to nutritionist Karen Ansel, beverages are the first place you should look when you're trying to decrease your sugar intake and lose weight.

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Ansel says that beverages are our biggest source of added sugar — the kind of sugar you should be avoiding because it's processed and provides your body with absolutely no nutritional value. She says that the average person gets about 13% of their calories from added sugar, when really that percentage shouldn't be any higher than 10%.

Research has shown that drinking beverages that are high in this kind of sugar, like fruit punches and soda, can contribute to both weight gain and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

It may seem hard to believe that a liquid can cause significant weight gain and health issues, but this pattern of thought is exactly why sugary drinks are so dangerous. You don't feel like you're taking much in when you're drinking something, but in reality, you could be downing a lot more calories than you think.

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"When you drink something, your body doesn't register the calories the same way as when you eat food," Ansel says. "Your brain doesn't realize that you just drank down 300 calories in a latte. But it would realize if you had 300 calories from a scoop of ice cream. It's just different."

Ansel recommends keeping an eye on nutrition labels to help you limit your intake of added sugars. As a general rule, she avoids foods and beverages with more than eight grams of added sugar per serving. Just to put that into perspective, some cans of soda can have upwards of 35 grams of added sugar per serving.

The good news is, you can keep your late night chocolate fix if you're looking to shed some weight — but you should ditch that daily soda.

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