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I have drank about 8-10 cokes a week for a while. In 2011 I stopped drinking cokes for a few months & lost about 15 pounds from changing nothing else but drinking no coke. I want to cut cokes out for at last the whole 3 months of June, July, & August. I will stick with water, milk, and occasional sweet tea.

I've never been a big water drinker. On the pee chart, I tend to fall between "dark yellow" and "honey." Gross. Anyway, I read the NF article on hydration and, like some other commenters, was disappointed to see a lack of weight loss research and the effects of increased water intake, since the old "drinking water makes you lose weight magically" rumor has been floating around even when I was in high school. Googling it for myself, I found this interesting NIH study that suggests not only does drinking water before meals lead to faster satiation and therefore reduced caloric intake during the meal (which one would logically assume, and which Steve does mention in the article) - weight loss is promoted by the digestion (thermogenesis) of the cool, calorie-free life-sustainer. The women in the study weren't actively dieting/exercising differently, yet lost an average of 3 lbs. (1.5 kg) over the 8 week study. The science seems solid, yet I'm skeptical because it sounds like another magic bullet that was flying around for a while in the 2000s - the "negative calorie foods." The idea behind this was that some low calorie, high fiber foods (like celery, cucumbers, and most low-carb vegetables/fruits) require more calories to digest than they actually contain. Taking this premise to its logical conclusion: the more of these foods you eat, the more calories you'll burn...digesting food! Sounds awesome! And fake as hell; the premise of a net caloric loss is false. Of course, even if the 'water effect' wasn't supported by some studies, and even though the 'negative calorie' food effect definitely isn't true...drinking 6 glasses daily (what NIH study chicks had) and as many fruits & non-starchy veggies as you want is still good advice, so it's not as if the pseudoscientist-charlatan who came up with the negative calorie gimmick has any blood on their hands, right? Let me know if you find anything with a large sample size - 50 isn't terrible, but it's not great. The general summary seems to indicate that the effect exists, but is negligible compared to the simple "fill-up" effect. So what do you healthy, sexy people think about water's effect on your personal fat loss? How much do you drink per day?

Any good ideas for tasty "potions"? I have been thinking of this for a long time, but I have the problem that I don't know any recipies for shakes or "potions". I also need some of those tiny round bottles that they use in all the rpgs. any suggestion on where to get them?

I can't stand the taste of water. What's something fast, easy, healthy, and doesn't mold easily? I try to keep herbal tea going, but it's a PITA to keep up with and I get sick of it. Powdered drink mix is either heavy on sugar or it has a disgusting fake sugar in it.

Alright. Back story. My lady moved to Los Angeles about 8 months ago and I stopped taking care of myself. I haven't been in decent shape since college, and I certainly haven't done much (read: "anything") to stay in shape for several years, but for the past 8 months I've been particularly unkind to myself, so I'm kind of starting from less than scratch. I started running occasionally about 2 weeks ago when my roommate asked me to come with him and it made my lady incredibly happy. So am I doing this for me or am I doing it for her? I don't know, but at least I'm doing it. Let's rock. Goal #1: Run 7 miles a week. I'm currently at about 4-5, having started 2 weeks ago. I figure I'll miss some days just due to weather, being busy, etc., but if I average a mile a day, that's quite the improvement from 0 per day. I bike to work every day (7 miles round trip) so I also have that under my belt. I know that if I don't go first thing in the morning, I'll never go, which kind of leads me to goal #2. Goal #2: Get 8 hours of sleep at least 5 days per week. I have a day job and I perform and/or rehearse for various theatrical endeavors most evenings, so by the time I actually get home, I usually take a lot of time just to unwind and not be doing something for a little while. That, unfortunately, means that I stay up basically for the sake of staying up just because I've gotten home so late in the first place. I know there will be times when I just can't get a full 8, but I average about 6 right now and it sets the tone for the whole day each time that happens. It makes me miserable and just generally bummed about about where I am in life and where I'm going. Tired of being tired. Which leads to #3. Goal #3: Consume poison no more than 2 days per week. I'm an improviser/comedian, so rehearsals and shows almost always lead to bars. I have to accept that socialization is a part of what I do, and I'm really into microbrews, IPA's in particular, and I really enjoy having a great beer with fun friends, so I'm not looking to cut it out completely. I just need to stop myself from having it the 5-6 days a week a currently do. Now, I'm not saying I'm drunk 5-6 days a week, but I will have 1-2 drinks pretty frequently and I'll have more than that at least once a week. Rather than going cold turkey, since trying new IPA's is kind of a hobby of mine, I just want to limit it for now, mostly just to test my self control in the face of constant temptation. My office even has a "Beer Friday" every week in which I can drink on the job on the office's dime. No need for me to say yes to that. Life Goal: Save at least $350. I started saving money as aggressively as I can about 2 months ago. I had almost nothing in savings (not counting retirement funds, talking strictly rainy day money here) but I have almost no debt, so I wasn't in rough shape. I just never had any large amount to my name if I needed it. I set the long-term goal of saving $5000 in 2 years in a high-yield savings account I opened 2 months ago. For those of you doing the math, that's $208.33 per month, which I've been good about maintaining by using a very extensive Excel spreadsheet to track every single dollar and by making sure to put away literally any money I save on anything. Saved $3 at the grocery store with a coupon? Put $3 into savings. Biked to work? Put $4.50 (train fare) into savings. On top of that, I start each month by putting $100 into savings right off the bat which I kind of consider to be my ante up, basically just to ensure that I'm doing something at a minimum each month. It has been working very well, better than intended, so I figure I can push it a little harder. $350 in 6 weeks is a bit more aggressive than I have been, but reasonable enough that I can do it, especially if I stick to Goal #3. Rock and roll.

I'm want to get some perspectives on milk. When I was a globo-gym going person, a surprising amount of my fellow gym rats swore by milk, hailing it as the sweet nectar of recovery and gains. So what do you think the deal is: miracle liquid or dairy industry conspiracy?