NoFizz America came at almost the perfect time in my life. As a now 26-year old fresh out of college (Go Bucs – East Tennessee State!), I had gained a few pounds and was looking to really get on track with my health once I had settled down with my fiance, and in my new career in the Charlotte area.

I wasn’t really drinking that much soda, but I was eating fast food, not drinking enough water, not living an active lifestyle — you know, all the habits that unfortunately consume us in our 20s that becomes to difficult to shake 10 years later! I didn’t want to be a fatigued, lazy 35 year old, so I knew that I wanted to nip this in the bud immediately once I got settled in Charlotte.

I initially hired NoFizzUSA Founder/Executive Director Bobby DeMuro as a personal trainer in 2010, and so for me, it was extremely fun to watch the development of NoFizzUSA from the “front lines,” so to speak. I was a proud member of the first challenge back in April 2010, and I’ve been on the NoFizz lifestyle ever since – that’s about 14 months!

I am very proud to say that I haven’t had a soda ever since that first day, and although it wasn’t a major addiction for me to begin with (growing up, I only had 1 or 2 per month, maybe), I am still very happy that it’s something I’ve cut out of my life for good. I don’t have any cravings for any sort of soda or sugary drink, and I can honestly say it’s something I won’t be going back to at any point in my life!

I lead a very active lifestyle full of running, hiking, biking, and swimming, so I always make sure that I have a water bottle with me at all times. Because of this, taking the 60 ounces of water each day has been fairly easy, and on most days when it’s hot outside, I get way more than 60 ounces of water!

And the best part? Between the exercise regimen, cutting out the sugary drinks, and really focusing on drinking water (I even cut out coffee for a while!), I lost more than 25 pounds in almost 7 months, and I’ve been able to keep it off for good now, going on almost a year’s time! That alone motivates me to continue drinking water and maintaining my healthy lifestyle, though I know I am building other habits and benefits from this that I will see down the road as I get older.

To any of you who may be thinking about taking the challenge, do it! You might slip up one day, and that’s fine – just get back up, restart again, and try to go one more day without soda than you did the first time. It’s something so simple, and so easy to do, that really truly anyone can do it, and I think that’s why it’s taken off around here so much. Between weight loss, more energy, feeling lighter and stronger, better digestion, and faster metabolism, there’s really no bad side effect to making a point in your life to drink more water!

I’m happy that this has come into my life, and I look forward to drinking my water for years to come!