Recently, The Sun covered an incredible story about two sisters who managed to collectively lose 22 stones in one year after making major lifestyle changes. Sisters Stephanie and Ashley Campbell said that they always struggled with being overweight, but decided it was high time that they shed a few pounds before it was too late. Stephanie told the tabloid:
Discover our latest podcast
We have always been overweight, even when we were at school.
But Ashley is getting married in June and we both didn’t want to look back at the photos and wish we’d done something about it.
Saying no to fizzy drinks
In order to reach their weight loss goals, the pair decided to take up exercise, and reduce their portion sizes and their daily calorie intake. In just a year, Stephanie went from being 25st to 13st 9lb, while Ashely dropped from 22st 5lb to 12st 4lb.
According to The Sun, a major part of their change in diet was saying no to fizzy drinks.
Regardless of if you drink diet soda or not, your chances of gaining weight and also developing serious health conditions like diabetes and obesity are much higher if you’re consuming these drinks on a daily basis.
So if you have a soda addiction that you're looking to get rid of, here are a few tips you can follow, as recommended by experts.
Effective ways to quit
For starters, gradually decrease the amount that you drink, instead of going cold turkey. If you have a very strong addiction with regular soda, psychology professor Paul Rozi suggests first switching to a diet version before weaning out of fizzy drinks altogether. He said on WebMD:
Just make a small decrease at a time, like one sugared soda a day.
Upping your water intake is also a great way for you to reduce your soda consumption. For instance, every time you feel like downing a can of soda, try drinking some water instead. You may find that your craving will disappear soon after. You can also try replacing your soda with healthier alternatives like sparkling water, lemon water, or even green tea!
