You’re Still Drinking Soda… Seriously? Stop!
We all have our vices, and that's understandable. After all, we're just Real Guys, not super heroes. Some vices are worse than others. For example, a tendency to gamble away your savings falls under the "worse" spectrum, than, say, smoking a cigar twice per month.
In the world of fitness and nutrition, drinking soda is one of the worst vices that you can continue doing. It offers zero nutritional value, it encourages you to snack on other unhealthy food, it packs on extra, empty calories by the hundreds, and it doesn't satisfy any real hunger cravings. So really, if you're still drinking soda... seriously? really? then you need to stop, and stop... NOW.
If your nutrition vice is a slice of pepperoni pizza, at least you're getting a meal out of the splurge. At least that meal has some protein, even if it's loaded with fat and carbs, too. So at least you're getting something out of it.
But when you drink soda, you absolutely get nothing in return, besides a heaping serving of sugar and calories. Two cans of soda a day is at least 200 calories added into your nutritional plan. That's 1,400 calories a week. That's 72,800 empty calories per year, all sugar, added to your diet.
If you go by the basic standard that 3,500 extra calories you take in without burning off leads to an extra pound of body fat, then that's nearly 21 pounds of fat you add to your body per year, just from drinking two cans of soda per day. Conversely, if you eliminate that from your routine without changing a thing else, that's 21 pounds per year that you'll lose!
The statistics and the studies keep on pouring in, no pun intended. Much higher risks and likelihoods for developing diabetes, for becoming obese, for developing heart problems, and more. You might even raise your likelihood of developing certain cancers. Not to mention that you're also sabotaging your energy levels, loading up on more caffeine that you surely don't need and will help you crash and feel sluggish later, and more.
Get it yet? Stop drinking soda! What are you waiting for?!
OK Man, I Really NEED Soda, What Then?
If you're somebody that absolutely, positively, could not go on day to day without drinking soda, then you need to switch to diet soda. You need to make the switch 100% too, so you drink nothing but diet. But you also want to decrease the amount that you drink, since diet soda contains ingredients such as aspartame that you don't want to load up on either. So lower the total that you drink, and make sure that it's diet. This includes when you're using soda for an alcoholic mixer.
Soda is the worst of the worst when it comes to vices and splurges in your nutritional program. Don't think that a can or two of soda per day won't hurt you. Look at the numbers above, and you'll see they could hardly hurt you worse. It's time to stop drinking soda, replacing it with diet soda with need be, or completely eliminating the beverage from your plan. Replace it with water and you'll shed extra pounds, be more hydrated and energetic, and see great results on the scale and in front of the mirror while living a much healthier lifestyle.
Tags: empty calories, nutrition & diet tips for men, soda
