I have been in a very bad habit for nearly 15 years of a ritual of going each more to the convenient store and purchasing a couple of bottles of diet Mountain Dew on my way to work for break and lunch. This is then followed by storing at the convenient store on the way home for one or two more for the evening. Right or wrong this is what I have been doing for the past, well for as long as I can remember.

We won’t even go into whether that much pop is even good for you. I am going to break down the savings for you and myself as I am writing to see how much I would save by buying 12 or 24 packs at home. First, a bottle of soda pop 20 oz is right now about $1.29-$1.39 and usually you can get a 2 for $2 or 2 for $2.22, I’ve seen both. The 12 oz cans can be purchase for around $2.99 to $3.99 a twelve pack. I found a great sale this week and purchased 24 packs for $4.50.

Let’s be conservative and do the first price for bottles at a dollar a soda pop. $1 x 4 = $4 per day for bottle soda pop. $4 per day x 365 = $1460 per year of Diet Mountain Dew. Now, let’s go with a middle of the road figure of $3.50 for can soda pop per 12 pack. That breaks down to a little under .30 cents per can. Wait a minute you say? That is only 12 oz versus 20 oz cans. Ok, let’s double it and say .60 cents. 60 cents x 4 per day is $2.40 per day or $876 per year. That is a savings of $584 per year and you even get more soda.

I could purchase a 4 day - 3 night cruise to the Bahamas each year for 2 people just from the money I save by switching from Bottle to Cans. Oh and wait just a minute - one more thing. The bottles end up in the trash, which in turn go to the land fill. The cans on the other hand can be crushed and take to the recyclers and right now you can get as much as 70 cents per pound. That might even buy your drinks on the cruise?

Right under my name is one of my favorite sayings “If you fail to plan then you plan to fail”. This is so true in Weight Loss that it is not even funny. The past week, I have failed to plan and thus when I get up each morning I am scrambling to find something to eat and it is usually the wrong thing.

Tomorrow, I am going to the grocery store and will choose better foods for the upcoming week. It’s only too late to start when you have given up.

Ok, I’ve seen it all now. I saw a commercial for Nutra System with Larry the Cable Guy and Dan Marino together. Who would have thunk that combination together on the same commercial? I have thought about using the Nutrasystem program but after further review what do you get? Pre-packaged meals that if used correctly will result in weight loss, but what about permanent weight loss?

I believe that you need a program that will not only help you take the weight off initially but help you ween yourself off of a prepared plan and learn to eat in the everyday world. Sure, nutrasystem will help you if you are locked in a room and feed these meals everyday, but what about the family reunion or a night out on the town at applebee’s? What do you do then? Stuff a pre-packaged meal down your shirt and sneak it into the restaurant? That’s what I like about weight watchers. It teachers you how to choose the correct food no matter where you are and the best part is it let’s you indulge once in a while. You can really have your cake and weight loss too.