Pop. Soda. Coke. Pepsi. Whatever you prefer to call it, there are a few names that do it justice. Poison. Junk. Crap. If you ever want to see me channel my inner Jillian, give me an excuse as to why you still are drinking these chemical filled drinks and I'll give you a good talking to.
Why?
Because if you want to lose weight, get in shape or even just improve your health but are still drinking any manner of soda, you aren't going to succeed. Plain and simple. In my experience if you can't put down the sugary, empty calories than you aren't ready to truly commit to a new lifestyle. It's a tell tale sign that whoever I am working with isn't going to see the results they want and will eventually start making excuses.
Besides that IT'S BAD FOR YOU!!
I don't know how many ways this could be said before you put down the sweet stuff. Diet included. Soda is terrible for your health. It changes the way you taste things, it sucks the calcium from your bones and teeth and if you're drinking the 'regular' stuff you're getting double doses of sugar and empty calories which contributes to insulin resistance. In one year of drinking 'just one' soda a day you will consume 35 POUNDS of sugar a year. Pounds.
What do you think happens to all that sugar?
It gets turned to fat. In one year of drinking your one soda a day you can easily gain 15 pounds (or more!) of fat. If you're actively working towards losing weight and you're consuming just one soda everyday because you think it's okay as long as it's just one you'll probably be left wondering why you just can't lose the weight. In case you're wondering why sugar is so bad I have this blog that explains a bit about it and will be writing one dedicated fully to sugar in the next week or two since I believe it deserves it's own soapbox moment!
Wrong! In the post I linked earlier I talked about how your body creates cravings. It wants food that is sweet because sweet is less likely to be poison in the wild. When you drink something that is supernaturally sweet it causes a chain of reactions in your body. Your brain starts screaming "More! More!" because it thinks it hit the mother load of something healthy and delicious. At the same time you're drinking your last sip and your body is realizing that while it started pumping out insulin and preparing for a sugar spike, you weren't giving it any sugar. So now you have all this insulin just chilling in your blood looking for something to do, which signals your brain to start hunting for sugar so it can occupy the insulin. So you go scavenging for sugar. A cheap candy bar out of the vending machine, a coworkers birthday cake sitting in the break room or a handful of goodies out of the community candy bowl later and you've just consumed as many (or more) calories than a regular soda contains. Your body starts to store the excess sugar and calories as body fat and you start seeing a rising number on the scale again.
That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that it is supernaturally sweetened with potentially harmful chemicals. So many different side effects have been linked to the various fake sugars like seizures, migraines, tumors, various digestive problems and possibly cancer. Granted, no one is 100% certain on how things like sucralose, aspartame and other sweeteners effect your body in the long run, there were never any kind of human studies and even the animal testing was spotty and shady for most at best, but I know I don't want to be a walking guinea pig!
Do you really need to ask? Water!!! If you don't like it, guess what? You are an adult. By now you should know that there are things in life that you do, regardless of if you want or enjoy them. Drinking water is one of those things. Your body runs on water, why are you refusing to drink it?! "I don't like it" is just another excuse standing in your way. Tough up buttercup, take your medicine. (or in this case, water!) Want more info on water? Check out the most recent blog over at Moms Gone Strong .
But I don't want to deal with with drawl!
I'm sure you have noticed that I haven't mentioned caffeine once up until this point and might find that unusual in a blog about soda. Believe it or not, I don't think caffeine itself is that terrible. I do think it is a drug and should be used sparingly or at least with consideration and caution but I am also a coffee junkie and would go crazy if I didn't have my morning cup o' joe!
If you are worried about the terrible symptoms associated with withdrawl (you know, the headaches, shakes, mood swings, fatigue etc) then switch your drug of choice. Try drinking coffee or tea! But take it black! When you dump sugar or sweeteners and creamers into your drinks, you're back at square one and will have negative returns. Don't like black coffee or tea? Again, you're an adult. If you drink it enough you will acquire a taste for it. Just takes a little time.
Are you a soda drinker? Multiple or part of the just one club? Are you a recovered addict like myself? Share your soda experience in the comments below or over on my Facebook page!
Besides that IT'S BAD FOR YOU!!
Health Impact
What do you think happens to all that sugar?
It gets turned to fat. In one year of drinking your one soda a day you can easily gain 15 pounds (or more!) of fat. If you're actively working towards losing weight and you're consuming just one soda everyday because you think it's okay as long as it's just one you'll probably be left wondering why you just can't lose the weight. In case you're wondering why sugar is so bad I have this blog that explains a bit about it and will be writing one dedicated fully to sugar in the next week or two since I believe it deserves it's own soapbox moment!
But I drink diet so I wont gain weight from drinking soda.
Wrong! In the post I linked earlier I talked about how your body creates cravings. It wants food that is sweet because sweet is less likely to be poison in the wild. When you drink something that is supernaturally sweet it causes a chain of reactions in your body. Your brain starts screaming "More! More!" because it thinks it hit the mother load of something healthy and delicious. At the same time you're drinking your last sip and your body is realizing that while it started pumping out insulin and preparing for a sugar spike, you weren't giving it any sugar. So now you have all this insulin just chilling in your blood looking for something to do, which signals your brain to start hunting for sugar so it can occupy the insulin. So you go scavenging for sugar. A cheap candy bar out of the vending machine, a coworkers birthday cake sitting in the break room or a handful of goodies out of the community candy bowl later and you've just consumed as many (or more) calories than a regular soda contains. Your body starts to store the excess sugar and calories as body fat and you start seeing a rising number on the scale again.
That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that it is supernaturally sweetened with potentially harmful chemicals. So many different side effects have been linked to the various fake sugars like seizures, migraines, tumors, various digestive problems and possibly cancer. Granted, no one is 100% certain on how things like sucralose, aspartame and other sweeteners effect your body in the long run, there were never any kind of human studies and even the animal testing was spotty and shady for most at best, but I know I don't want to be a walking guinea pig!
Other harmful effects
I've posted pictures similar to the one above before. It's a bone that has been soaked in soda. Bones are supposed to be strong, not bendy.
Why does this happen? The phosphoric acid in sodas sucks the calcium from your bones, the calcium that is supposed to keep your bones strong and structured. This event can lead to osteoporosis when it occurs over a long period of time. If you're giving soda, even diet, to your children thinking it wont hurt them. Guess what? It does. Their bones need the calcium to grow, too much soda can lead to a slowing in growth.
I've posted pictures similar to the one above before. It's a bone that has been soaked in soda. Bones are supposed to be strong, not bendy.
Why does this happen? The phosphoric acid in sodas sucks the calcium from your bones, the calcium that is supposed to keep your bones strong and structured. This event can lead to osteoporosis when it occurs over a long period of time. If you're giving soda, even diet, to your children thinking it wont hurt them. Guess what? It does. Their bones need the calcium to grow, too much soda can lead to a slowing in growth.
Special note: if you're giving soda, any kind including root beer or sprite, to a child on a regular basis (think daily, bi weekly, more than once every couple of months) you really need to take a step back and think about that decision. Not only are you hurting their growth and calcium, you're promoting obesity, metabolic syndrome, changing their tastes in food and getting them hooked on an addiction that they will probably struggle with their whole life. Not good. You ever want to see me get really angry, give my 4 year old a Pepsi.
So what can you drink?
So what can you drink?
Do you really need to ask? Water!!! If you don't like it, guess what? You are an adult. By now you should know that there are things in life that you do, regardless of if you want or enjoy them. Drinking water is one of those things. Your body runs on water, why are you refusing to drink it?! "I don't like it" is just another excuse standing in your way. Tough up buttercup, take your medicine. (or in this case, water!) Want more info on water? Check out the most recent blog over at Moms Gone Strong .
But I don't want to deal with with drawl!
I'm sure you have noticed that I haven't mentioned caffeine once up until this point and might find that unusual in a blog about soda. Believe it or not, I don't think caffeine itself is that terrible. I do think it is a drug and should be used sparingly or at least with consideration and caution but I am also a coffee junkie and would go crazy if I didn't have my morning cup o' joe!
If you are worried about the terrible symptoms associated with withdrawl (you know, the headaches, shakes, mood swings, fatigue etc) then switch your drug of choice. Try drinking coffee or tea! But take it black! When you dump sugar or sweeteners and creamers into your drinks, you're back at square one and will have negative returns. Don't like black coffee or tea? Again, you're an adult. If you drink it enough you will acquire a taste for it. Just takes a little time.
Are you a soda drinker? Multiple or part of the just one club? Are you a recovered addict like myself? Share your soda experience in the comments below or over on my Facebook page!
AMEN!!!
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