Hello everyone.
I am new to this site and to posting on forums so I hope I get this right.
I need to address the extra weight I am carrying around. I have ignored this for far too long. My big problem isn't food. I don't care that much about food. I care about my Coke. Sounds like an easy fix but not for me. I have always drank my extra calories. I crave soda like other people crave food. I constantly get, "But you don't overeat." What they don't see is that I am a snacker and I can put down 6 Cokes in a day with no problem. So I don't really have a diet plan but coming here is my start. Oh, did I mention that playing solitair is what I consider a workout. So you can see I have a long way to go but I will figure this out and really look forward to the support I can get from this site.

Well I'm a big advocate of having a plan. And when I say plan, I mean something you develop for yourself, not something from someone else you follow. Only you understand you, your strengths and weaknesses.

Keep it simple calories in < calories out = weight loss

It's best to tackle both calories in and calories out if you can. I'm not a big advocate of following a specific diet plan, although MANY on here are, so you need to think about what works best for you. Regardless I highly recommend calorie counting, which is so easy with the internet now. I think that would be big for you because you'd start to see how much those cokes are killing your calories each day.

For example suppose you decide to be around 1500 calories a day to lose some weight. Well then subtract 6 cokes a day (840 calories). If you only ate 660 calories of food in day you would be super starved and dangerously unhealthy. I like to think of junk calories in terms of how much real food I have to trade for it

For me seeing my day's food translated in numbers in front of me helped me prioritize behavior changes.

Obviously the cokes are a problem for you. Only you know if you are in the minority that can cut back to an acceptable amount in your calorie plan, or in the majority that has to give up those empty calories cold turkey. I drink A LOT of diet coke so I can empathize.

Welcome and good luck!

Thanks for the advice. I'll use it as my starting point. I was thinking of keeping a journal of my calorie intake each day. I am just not one for a diet plan. I have tried that off and on over the years and they just don't work for me. I feel deprived from the get go. Many moons ago I also tried a trick of keeping a note on the frig. Every time I wanted a Coke, I would drink a glass of water first and then allow myself a Coke if I still wanted one. Then I would mark how many glasses of water and Coke I had each day. I had forgotten about this little trick and it did seem to help. I am going to try a journal and portion control with snacks. I want to get in the habit of eating breakfast which right now makes me sick. That will be a goal for me along with gradually increasing my daily amount of exercise.

Most of us don't like "diet" plans, that is why so many people fail so often on different diets. I have tried many and always seem to gain back more than I lose. You have to think about it as making healthy eating choices. It is not a diet from here on out, it is a way of life; a healthier life. That is how I am trying to look at it this time.

So...is your long term goal to quit coke entirely? Or just cut down?

~CGH~

I've always been good about keeping a food journal. I give myself 1200 calories a day. I bought a little pocket-sized journal, and keep it with me at all times, so I can write down EVERYTHING! It helps me balance 'junk food;' it's a lot harder to justify eating/drinking something bad, if I'm forced to write it down and confront it!

I've never been a soda fan (the stuff feels like it's burning my throat!!) but my boyfriend is. He found the switch easier by replacing soda with flavored, carbonated water (it has the same fizzy/flavorful taste, but none of the icky calories/sugars.) He's already melting away the pounds!

Hey and welcome. I had the same problem as you and i tried to replace it with diet coke but that really didnt work for me. So i just went cold turkey on it. It was really hard but even you do crave it, try diet instead for now. Good luck and the calorie counting is a really good idea.