Soda!

Soda is very bad. Soda has empty calories and TONS of sugar. Gatorade does as well. I suggest flavored water. Or that thing that has zero calories that you squeeze into water for flavor, water enhancer. Use as much as you want when you start using it then little by little, wean yourself off of it until you are just drinking water. Of course you can take your time with the weaning because flavour enhancers have little to no calories.Up until a few months ago, I never used to drink water and now i have 12-14 glasses a day.

You are an adult. You need to drink water… Whether you like it or not.

Try adding fresh fruit to the water.

I thought it would be hard to go without the sodas but it actually hasn't been that bad. I have replaced it with tea. I still have one as a treat every now and then. Moderation. You could also try sizing down. Get the baby cokes as a treat.

I used to be a soda fanatic. I had one soda a day and thought I was being good. I suggest you research all that is in your soda. Some soda's have harmful additives that are found in things like batteries and tend to have lots of acids. And, they are so bad for your teeth.

Doing all this research really killed my need for soda cold turkey. I couldn't believe the stuff I was putting in my body. But really, in moderation soda isn't so bad.

Adding fruit really helps! I always have a lemon in my water. It helps give it some flavor. Keeping it ice cold helps me drink it, too. Plus, once you start drinking it, you learn to really like it. I practically only drink water now, and am proud to say that I have been soda free for 3 weeks!

If it's just tap water, get a filter for your tap, or a filtered jug for your fridge.

I mean, drink whatever you want, but if you are trying to lose weight, and drinking a lot of calories, that's even fewer calories that you can have at meals. Like, those are your calories that could be pizza or steak or cheesecake or something, and you want Gatorade?

Buy one of these. Range from $25-40. Well worth it.

I feel you. I've never been a water fan, but here's what I do:

Try buying some bottled water, but as you drink them, refill the bottles with filtered tap water. (I actually like our tap water so no filter necessary.) The nice thing about refilling the bottles is that you can take them out of the fridge nice and cold, and they also make it easy to count your water consumption.

Another thing to try is to always drink as much water as you can during and after your workouts. Plain water goes down pretty well when you're hot and sweaty. I used to make myself drink one bottle of water before I allowed myself to have a diet Coke. (More on diet Coke at the bottom.)

I've been using flavor enhancers to some of my water during the day. I like the Crystal Light, the MiO, even Jolly Rancher Watermelon!

You didn't say how long it's been since you had your son, but time will take care of some of the loose, jiggly skin, as will diet and exercise.

Lastly, and this is the hardest thing of all, try giving up the other drinks. I am in the process of giving up diet Coke. I only did it because of a case of gastritis, which has now cleared up. I was pretty much pop-free from January 1 to the end of February. I'm over the worst of the withdrawal, but there's the psychological part to deal with. There are times of the day when I think how much more productive I'd be if I could have a nice can of diet Coke while I work. Of if I'm hungry at night, a diet Coke would be a better snack. (I don't like to drink my calories either.)

Hope some of that will help you.

It might be too much work to try to avoid drinking plain water, but a few of my regulars at this bar I've worked at used to order seltzer water mixed with one tbsp fat-free half and half and sugar free flavored syrup. The ladies called it "a skinny italian soda".

Tried it once sans the half and half, because ew. The sugar free raspberry mixed with seltzer didn't taste bad.

I'm not giving up my diet soda. And it has zero calories. No belly fat contribution.