A can a day

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to talk to you about how one small change can help you lose 10 pounds of fat.  Now this isn’t a fad diet that will have you lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks.  However, it also isn’t a fad diet that is going to be hard to maintain because it completely changes your whole eating routine.  So, ask yourself, would you be happier to be 10 lbs. lighter than you were last year at this time?  And with only having to make one small change?  I think most people would!  So, what is this one small change?  To lose 10 pounds in a year with only making one small change is to give up the can of soda or bottle of iced tea you have with lunch every day.  Drinking a can of soda or a bottle of iced tea may taste good, but it is a bunch of empty calories that are contributing to your bottom line, or more correctly your waist line.

Peter was a co-worker of mine that I worked during the summer months with.  He struggled with his weight and would sometimes be on crazy diets.  One summer he would drink a concoction that we all called “muck” for his meals.  Some years he would be on a crazy diet, and others he would be going out for lunch with the crew.  When he would get lunch with everyone else, he always ordered a soda.  Whether he got lunch with us or not was determined by if he was “on” of “off” a diet at that time.  He even tried seeing a nutritionist, but that didn’t last.  When I asked him why he stopped, he said because it was too hard to make so many changes.  My suggestion to him…give up the can of soda at lunch.  It was a simple enough change, nothing major, and a much easier sacrifice than any of his other fad diets of the past.

A 12 oz. can of soda has approximately 140 calories.  The somewhat healthier alternative of an iced tea has about 150 calories approximately 150 calories.  These calories are “empty” calories, meaning they are providing you with little to no nutritional value.  By switching one can of soda, or bottle of iced tea, with any size bottle of water, you can drop significant weight with very little effort.  Watch how giving up just one can of soda, or bottle of iced tea at lunch a day can help you lose 10 pounds.  A can a day, five days a week is equal to 700 calories (140 x 5 =700).  700 calories a week for a year is equal to 36,400 calories (700 x 52 = 36,400).  It takes a net of 3,500 calories to gain or lose a pound.  So if you give up that can of soda and make no other changes aside from replacing it with a bottle of water, in a year, you would lose over 10 pounds! 

Would you be happier if you were 10 pounds lighter than last year?  To do it all you have to do is give up one small drink a day.  Simply swapping one beverage a day with a bottle of water will cause you to lose a dramatic amount of weight.  A bottle of water costs no more or even less than a sweetened beverage, and will quench your thirst as well or better.  There should be no reason to not make this small change.  Again, would you be happier being 10 pounds lighter.  I am betting you would.  An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but a bottle of water a day will get you to a fit new you!