I was successful using the method below, meeting every goal by the end of the first year. I owe a lot to my plan, a slow-and-steady approach to health that ultimately led to significant weight loss. Every person's needs in terms of hydration are different. Every person's desired change in soda-drinking is bound to be a little different. I hope that sharing my own one-year plan for breaking the soda addiction will help others form their own method for transitioning to diet soda and drinking a healthier amount of water.
January
I started the battle against sugared soda on January 1st as part of a New Year's resolution.
My goal for January was to cut down the number of regular (meaning non-diet) sodas I drank by at least half, from a high of twelve cans a day to at most six by the end of the month. Instead, I actually cut down by two-a-day each week of the month of January, so that by month's end I was only drinking four sodas a day.
At this point in my plan to defeat sugary drinks, I hadn't considered adding more water to my diet. I was replacing the sugary fizzy drinks I loved with diet versions, with no thoughts about how to drink more pure water.
January was a great month, in which I actually did better than my estimation. Down to four sodas a day, I began noticing a little weight loss, increased energy, and a healthy glow to my skin.
February
Early on in the month of February, I decided that transitioning from regular sodas to diet wasn't enough. I set the following three goals to reach by the end of the year's shortest month:
- Average only one regular soda per day
- Drink at least 40 ounces of pure water a day
- Take a walk every day with my husband after work
February turned out to be a high-stress month, thanks to complications at work and the headaches that go along with having a son in the process of applying to college. Thanks to online motivational help in the form of the 3FatChicks blog and forum and my own commitment to making a big change, I managed to hit every goal, though I did occasionally miss a walk.
March
My difficulties with adding exercise in February made me feel like I had to work extra hard to step up my exercise regimen in March.
I set myself another three goals for the month of March, and I'm happy to say that by the last week of the month I was hitting all my targets. Here they are:
- Completely eliminate non-diet sodas
- Do cardio exercises every single day for at least fifteen minutes
- Up my water intake to 50 ounces per day
April
For me, April 2012 really was the cruelest month. During my year-long plan to break my soda addiction, lose weight, drink more water, and just generally be a healthier person, I hit my first and biggest roadblock on the very first day of April.
No need to go into details; let's just say that sometimes life gets in the way of our best intentions. I slipped, started drinking a few more sodas than I'd planned on, and very nearly gave up on the whole thing.
That's why, instead of setting rigid goals as I had done for the first three months, I used April to rec-commit myself to my new diet program. I started participating more in a weight-loss support forum for women, rather than lurking, and I leaned on my husband and my sisters for help meeting my daily cardio exercise goals.
May
By the end of the month of April, I felt I was ready to set more goals for myself. I'd fallen off the wagon for a couple of weeks in April, and simply getting back to exercising each day was hard enough. I used May as a "do-over" month, re-establishing my overall goals.
- Return to consuming only diet sodas, with a three-can daily limit
- Return to consuming at least 50 ounces of pure water every day
- Return to exercising daily, increasing the minimum time to thirty minutes
I managed to meet the first two goals, so that by the end of May I was back to averaging two cans of diet soda per day, and didn't drink a single non-diet soda for the entire month. I met my water intake goal and then some, at times drinking sixty to seventy ounces of water a day. The only thing I let slip was, once again, the exercise regimen. There were several days in which I didn't do any specific cardio workouts at all. I knew that meant that I'd be spending a hot summer walking my tail off.
June
And that's exactly what I did throughout the month of June. That isn't to say I had no relapses - two days per week I could only manage a fifteen-minute workout session - but where I made huge progress in June was in (just about) hitting all three of my monthly goals:
- Limit diet soda intake to one can per day
- Increase water intake to sixty ounces every day
- Get in a half hour of cardio exercise every single day
July
Where I live, July is the hottest and most humid month of the year. But by this point in my new lifestyle, I'd already lost twelve pounds, and I found my new weight made it easier to get my butt off the couch and do what needed to be done.
I like to think of June 2012 as a status-quo month, during which I didn't make any radical changes, sticking instead to maintaining the healthier habits I'd already picked up.
August
By August, cardio exercise wasn't just something I did to meet goals, it was something I was learning to enjoy. August was another month of no soda relapses - not a single drop of non-diet soda crossed my lips in August, though I disappointed myself by gaining a couple of pounds in the third week.
I have no idea why I gained that weight. Considering I was down to one diet soda per day, drinking between fifty and sixty ounces of water daily, and exercising more than I had in my entire life, I thought it was strange to put on weight. When my husband pointed out that my body seemed more toned, I realized my weight gain was probably due to increased muscle mass.
The important thing was not to let that number on the scale spin me off the road entirely. By month's end, everyone in my life was noticing a difference in me, which was the best motivational tool I'd yet found.
September
I looked at my calendar on the first of September and realized I'd basically met all my goals for the entire year with time to spare. I was proud of myself. When I looked in the mirror at shower time, I really loved what I saw. I was happy, healthy, and on the way to the doctor to hear some really great news. I was no longer pre-diabetic; in fact my sugar numbers were better than my doctor's numbers.
Realizing that all this pride was a good opportunity for the bad habits to intrude, I set three more goals to hit by the end of the month:
- Calculate the exact amount of water I should be taking in each day, then stick to it
- Continue daily cardio exercise, adding one day a week of actual weight training to gain muscle
- Use an accountability partner (my loving husband) to ensure that I wasn't drinking more than one diet soda per day
October
Having met all of my September goals, and with my own personal water-consumption goal finally calculated (sixty-two ounces was my target amount), I knew that these last three months would be either a chance to beat my yearly goals and then some or a chance to slip and undo all the good work I'd accomplished so far.
I set really high goals to hit by the end of the month, and though I didn't hit them all, I continued losing weight and found I no longer missed the sugary drinks I'd been so addicted to. Here were my goals for October of 2012:
- Drink exactly sixty-two ounces of pure water every day
- Exercise daily for a minimum of thirty minutes, increasing my weight training sessions to three days per week.
- Limit my caloric intake to 1,800 calories each day.
The place I really kinda blew it was in my calorie count. I'd estimate that half the month I went over by at least 100 calories. But I was happy, my body was amazing, and I was no longer on any daily medication whatsoever. It seemed like I was on Easy Street.
November
Then came the holidays. November, December, and January are three of the biggest eating months of the year. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, I had opportunity after opportunity to gain weight, forget my exercise program, and slip back into drinking unhealthy sodas.
I got frustrated in November, thanks to four total pounds of weight gain. I was drinking my daily recommended intake of water and exercising every day, but I'd basically given up on calorie counting. Some combination of a bad diet and decreased exercise meant I had lost control of my weight (just a bit), and that made December a crucial month in meeting my targets for the year.
December
The home stretch! On the first of December, I knew I had exactly 31 days to lose as much weight as I could (within reason and according to healthy weight loss guidelines) and make sure my new diet soda and water habits were a natural part of my life.
Setting three final goals for myself, I entered the month with my head held high, confident that by New Year's Ever, I would have blown all my original goals out of the water. Here were December's three goals, all of which I met and then some:
- Two days per week, eliminate all beverages besides fresh fruit juice and water
- Increase my workout regimen to include yoga each morning
- Get back to calorie-counting, and eat no more than 1,750 calories per day
Without thinking about it all that much, and without much pain except for self-imposed stress, I'd managed to beat an addiction to sugary sodas, lose a little over thirty pounds, and start a whole new lifestyle that included daily exercise.
Was I a perfect acolyte for healthy living throughout the year 2012? Of course not. But by the end of the year, I was healthier than I'd been since high school, and I felt truly proud of what I'd accomplished.
