I’m going to post my baby steps in how I have managed to lose over 75 pounds in the last 10 months. I’m doing it slowly, but for me this is a lifestyle change and not a diet. The first step I took was to quit drinking all soft drinks. I still needed my caffeine fix so I switched to regular iced tea. I don’t believe in artificial sweeteners so I used regular sugar but much less of it. I would make a gallon of tea and add a 1/2 cup of sugar. That wasn’t very sweet at all. I also increased my water intake. I didn’t feel like I was depriving myself. The best part was I started saving money by not spending $40-50 a month on soft drinks. Making a couple of gallons a tea weekly is so much cheaper. I was spending about $5 a month on tea and sugar. I did wean myself off the sugar by decreasing how much sugar I added. Once I got used to the 1/2 cup then I cut it down to a 1/4 cup. After a couple of months I was using no sugar at all. I just squeeze a little lemon juice in it which helps. If I eat out, then I either order iced water or unsweet tea with lemon. I do occasionally drink a soft drink, but maybe like once a month to every 2-3 months. The desire to drink them often is gone. I prefer to drink herbal tea now with no caffeine on a daily basis. The best part was I lost 6 pounds in 10 days by not drinking soft drinks. That gave me great motivation to continue losing weight.
The main reason I quit drinking soft drinks was for health reasons. I was suffering from heartburn on a daily basis. I kept thinking it was the red sauces, but once I quit drinking cokes, then my heartburn went away. It was amazing! Many people will drink diet drinks since it has no calories, but it still has all those awful ingredients and colors. Most people know that coke will eat away acid on a car battery. Well imagine what those same drinks are doing to your insides? Many people drink 2-3 a day! I find it quite scary, and that just reinforced my desire to quit drinking them. It’s a major step that many people feel that they can’t do it. I will say not only will your body thank you, but so will your pocket book.