I stopped drinking Soda entirely (after drinking only non-caffeinated stuff for over a year to that point) in the middle of last summer. I was drinking a lot of Lemonade for a while. Then I went to nothing but water (and the rare occasional beer) until December when I had a cold and started drinking orange juice, which then led back to lemonade. I think I will go back to water only soon.
I didn't lose any weight when I was on a water only plan though, probably because of my eating habits and lack of exercise.
'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
My problem is that my body seems to want to weigh 280. When I was much younger, that was all muscle, but after I quit putting in 20+ hours at the weights and martial arts every week it converted to fat. A few years ago I gave up sugared soda and nearly all the rest of my sugar intake, and dropped to 230 in 6 months, but it slowly crept back on over the next few years and I wound up back in the 275-285 range, where I seem to be stuck.
--Dave
1. It is the case that people have a body weight that they tend towards. 2. Aboriginal peoples tend to be genetically predisposed towards obesity and diabetes (Health Canada is having a hell of a time with both in Northern reserves).
I just got done reading Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. It is basically a review of the last 200 years of research on nutrition and weight regulation. It is fascinating from the point of view of how ideas backed by very flimsy science can become broadly accepted, and how people with big egos can steamroller forward ideas that are just plain wrong. If you're interested in history of science, nutrition in general, or in particular are interested in dropping a few pounds, I really recommend it. It's not a diet book per se, more a science book for the layman.
Basically the problem is pretty much sugars. Sugar in soda form, candy form, and bread form. (Fruits are OK because they have so much fiber relative to their sugar content)
Cool! Yeah, Taubes' credentials are that he spent 7 years full time studying the literature before he wrote his book. It's astonishing the depth of his research.
Anyway, you reminded me that he has a nice lecture here: