The 'Healthy' way to drink soda!

Why would a health coach even condone such a thing you may be thinking. Well, if you don't drink soda you don't need to be told - and if you do drink soda you probably also don't need to be told, right! Yes, of course we all know soda has nothing to offer us in the way of nutrition, but I'm a realist and I know particularly at this time of year, it's one temptation too far for many of us. So if you must indulge, here are a few useful common sense tips to not moderating your intake;

Read and understand the label - know what the ingredients are and what they actually mean. Once you understand what's hiding behind those big words you may start to see it in a different light.

Commit to drinking at least the same amount of water both before and after. You never know, the water before may even satisfy you to the point you don't need the soda. The water afterward will go some small way to restoring the alkalinity in your body. Soda by it's very nature is extremely acidic.

Buy the smallest size you can - you'll often find that the craving can be satisfied with a small amount. So keep away from the bottles and the  new larger cans, you'll be surprised at the difference in calories, and more importantly, the sugar content.

Don't buy anything that calls itself 'DIET'. There is a mass of well researched evidence suggesting diet sodas not only add more weight than the originals, but they are actually full of chemicals that are far worse than sugar - all added so they can claim low or zero calories. If you're going to overload on sugar, as bad as that in itself is, at least keep it to real sugar.

Don't keep it in the house - and if you really must, don't keep it in the fridge. Don't make it easy for yourself to just grab a can and go; that 12 pack really won't last long in this weather. Try to keep it as a treat rather than your go-to drink of choice.

Stop there - having one can doesn't mean you have to throw away the rest of your good dietary habits. Don't let yourself spiral down and start adding other 'bad' things to your day.

And lastly, don't beat yourself up about it - you know you shouldn't drink it - but you did, so get over it! If you're going to drink it, you might as well at least enjoy it. Nutrition is only one part of health, don't let guilt ruin the rest of it...