Eliminate liquid calories.

Most of the members of my club had huge soda habits before shedding the pounds — several of them drank two to three liters of soda a day. Even if you cut just one 20-ounce soda each day for a year, you’ll save 91,000 calories and 108 cups of sugar — and potentially lose 26 pounds. The same goes for fruit juice, lemonade, sugary iced teas, and fancy coffee drinks made with whipped cream, chocolate and sugary syrups. Cutting out these liquid calories is often one of the first and most effective steps to losing weight.