One pound of body fat equates to approximately 3,500 calories. It amazes me how many people shred pounds by simply cutting soda consumption out of their diet. We put so many unhealthy things in our body and one of the most common “things” is high fructose corn syrup which is used in most sodas such as Dr. Pepper, Coke and Pepsi. Imagine if you cut out regular soda for a year out of your diet. Let’s also assume you have on average two 12 ounce cans of soda a day. Let’s make one more assumption that you don’t even exercise.

Two cans of soda equates to about 300 calories, all derived from sugar. 14, 12 ounce cans of soda equate to 2,100 calories a week. There are 52 weeks a year, so you are looking at approximately 110,000 calories a year, just consuming two cans of soda a day on average. As I said before it takes 3,500 calories to equal a pound of fat. If you were to cut soda completely out of your diet you could essentially lose 30-35 pounds in one year.

We often don’t think about little changes such as cutting soda from our diets, but when you really put it into perspective you can see the impact. If caffeine is what you really need try other alternatives such as coffee, tea or diet sodas if necessary. With the new year around the corner, try the “no soda challenge,” and see what a difference it can make in your weight loss. If you add in regular exercise three to four times a week on top of cutting out the soda, I really think you would be amazed at the transformation you would see!

If you have any questions or comments email me at klarson@cwhwichita.com

Be happy and healthy!

Kyle