So exactly what is this fat loss trick? It's really quite easy to do, and the results are virtually guaranteed! The trick is to switch from regular soda to diet soda.

Now, don't get all excited about the thought of drinking diet soda! It's really not bad once you get used to it, and once you realize how much fat that regular soda is putting on your body you'll be more likely to make the change from regular to diet.

Consider that a 32 oz. Classic Coke has 310 calories. That's the average McDonald's serving size. (Source: mcdonalds.com)

The Super Big Gulp holds 44 oz. of soda, and how about the 7-Eleven X-treme Gulp? It has 52 oz. of calories! Talk about sugar overload! (Source: 7-eleven.com)

Enjoying the occasional soda doesn't make our waistlines expand. Just like most other things in life, it's the over-consumption that makes regular soda a belt-buster!

Back in 1942 the average soda consumption in the United States was sixty 12-ounce servings per year. By 1997, the average annual soda consumption in the United States was a whopping 576 12-ounce servings! That works out to almost two 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman and child in the country. (Source: Center for Science In The Public Interest - cspinet.org)

That same year (1997), diet sodas accounted for only 24% of soda sales. While that was up from 8.6% in 1970, it's still too low a number.

So just how much fat can you lose by switching from regular to diet soda? Well, assuming you're an average American, that means you're drinking about 6,912 ounces of regular soda each year (576 12-ounce servings = 6,912 ounces). Each ounce of regular soda (we used Coca-Cola in this example) has about 9.6875 calories. So, by switching from regular soda to diet soda you can eliminate 66,960 calories per year.

Do you want to get really excited? Let's translate that calorie loss into fat loss: It's a fact that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. If you eliminate 66,960 calories per year in regular soda then you will probably avoid putting on an extra 19.13 pounds of FAT (66,960 / 3,500 = 19.13). That's more than 1.5 pounds per month!

Of course, there are certainly some factors that come into play here other than simple soda consumption. But isn't that a great start? Just by switching from regular to diet soda you can literally eliminate almost 20 pounds per year!

Still don't want to give up your regular soda? Then how about switching to a smaller size? Did you know that in the 1950's the average soda serving was the 6.5 oz. bottle made popular by Coke? Compare that with the super-duper big mugs of today, and it's easy to see where some of the problem comes from! Opt for a smaller size soda, and you'll still reap some of the fat loss benefits.

Of course, the best solution is to dump the soda altogether and drink water instead.....but that's a topic for another article.....