If you think there is no easy way to lose weight - think again. The easiest weight loss method could have been staring you right in the face all this time.

Here it goes:

* Stop drinking soft drinks. Drink water instead.

Dumping the soft drinks from your diet will result in dropping some serious pounds. Think about it:

* A can of coke packs in 150 calories.

* Just 3 cans of coke add up to 450 calories.

Now, you are in for a shock: a quarter-pound cheeseburger sets you back by only 360 calories, which is less than those 3 cans of coke. Now, what would you rather have: a warm juicy cheeseburger or the sugary water from the can?

If you currently drink 3 soda cans a day, you can save 450 daily calories by switching to plain water. Water has zero calories. Let's do the math: since one pound of fat equals to 3500 calories, you will lose roughly one pound per week just by leaving the coke behind.

Yes, you've heard it right - you can lose a pound of fat every week while you eat as much as you normally do. No dieting, no starving - don't change a thing about what you eat. The only thing you change is what you drink.

Now, let's do some more math, which gets better and better. 1 lb per week equals 4 pounds per month. Multiply 4 pounds by 12 months, and we get 48 lbs of ugly fat per year!

Unbelievable, huh?

Calorie savings on drinks provide you with yet another advantage: you can now eat more and still lose weight. For example, if you substituted 3 cans of soda every day with water, you have 450 calories to play with. If you eat an extra piece of chocolate that's worth 200 calories, you still save 250 calories and lose 24 lbs per year.

I can now almost hear you say - "Well, Melanie, what if I don't drink 3 cans of coke a day? I only drink one soft drink for lunch!" Good for you! Now, consider this: if you swap this lunchtime coke with water, you will lose 16 pounds per year. How's that for a freebie weight loss?

Since soft drinks don't make you full, it is very easy to dump them. Drinks are "liquid calories", "empty calories" - calories that are just not worth it. Soda drinks have no nutritional value - just useless sugars and chemicals that rot your teeth, make you gain weight and don't even fill you up.

Take advantage of the easiest weight loss tip on Earth -eat your calories, don't drink them.