One Kansas woman is celebrating one year free of her severe Coca-Cola addiction that saw her tip the scales at over 200lbs and crack a can open night and day from her bedside mini refrigerator.
Today Char Norman, 47, of Overland Park has overcome her fountain drink addiction that controlled her life since she was a teenager, and is a new vision entirely after slashing 89lbs and dropping eight dress sizes, resulting in a trim figure and her first date in a decade.
But her triumph was no easy journey. The mom-of-one started her guzzling routine at 16 and has consumed nearly 65,000 cans of the fizzy drink since. And her red-can addiction broke the bank too, costing over $10,000 to finance.
Cola addict: Char Norman, 47, drank six cups of cola for 30 years, in an addiction that left her obese with a myriad of health problems. Just last year she ended her gripping cola obsession
Zero to Hero: Her Coca-Cola addiction gripped her life and forced her to keep a mini refrigerator with a constant supply next to her bed, leaving her tipping scales at 213lbs
Before and after! Last year, the Overland Park, Kansas, mom traded her unhealthy lifestyle of cola (left) for water and exercise (right) to shed 89lbs and drop from a size XXL to trim size four
Char used to drink six cups of Coca-Cola a day and weighed 213lbs. She shared that she piled much of the weight after giving birth to her borderline diabetic son Reed, 24.
Her guzzling habit took a major toll on her body and added up to 834 calories a day and 54 teaspoons of sugar from the drink alone, more than double the daily sugar intake recommended for women. On top of her cola, Char would snack on donuts, cookies, pretzels and pizza.
Her sugary and caloric diet not only led her to obesity, it also destroyed her teeth leaving her with fillings and crowns in nearly every single tooth.
‘I was definitely addicted to soda. I would drink it all day long and get through a 24 pack in a few days,’ Char explained to SWNS Media.
‘I really loved the bubbles but I needed the caffeine. In the morning I would drink it to stay awake and after lunch I would drink it to stay awake. I would roll out of bed and go straight to the refrigerator. I did that for so many years that I eventually put a fridge next to my bed, just for soda,’ she added on the severity of her cravings.
Her attachment was so strong, she’d even experience anxiety with out a sip.
‘If I couldn’t have it it would make me anxious. Because I drank so much of it, if I missed one or got tired I had a craving where I just couldn’t wait to get the next one,’ she added.
Spot the difference: Char went from 213lbs (left) to 124lbs (right) after adopting daily walks, group exercise classes, swapping diets, and completely cutting out Coca-cola
Smiles up! The mom started her soda obsession at the age of 16 and was hooked until last year
Family affair: Her health problems extended to her son Reed, 24, who was borderline diabetic, the two pictured above before Char’s slim down at a tailgate
But her life drastically changed when her office adopted a fitness plan that started out with walks on lunch breaks and traded her go-to syrup drink for water. Soon she started guzzling 14 cups of water a day instead of Coca-Cola, a stark contrast from her former diet.
‘I decided to give it up completely after I started to lose a few pounds because I would come in after a walk and soda wasn’t quenching my thirst,’ she shared.
‘I realized I was going to have to cut it out completely or I would never break the habit,’ she added.
And the results that followed for the project manager, left her shocked with her new 124lbs figure that dropped from a size XXL to a flattering size four.
‘I feel and look so much better now. Giving up soda has totally changed my life,’ Char exclaimed her new physique.
Char reveals that’s she’s even started dating again – the first time in a decade- with her newly found confidence in her trim figure.
But the first stages of her new lifestyle routine were difficult after throwing out her entire stash of cola and unhealthy snacks.
‘There were two weeks when I remember not sleeping at night. My body was going through withdrawals but I told myself I couldn’t touch it,’ she shared.
‘There are still times I think that I could just have one but it might be a slippery slope. I’m trying not to tempt myself. I’m not sure I would even like it any more because it would be so sugary,’ she added.
Brand new me! Today Char is ravishing in a flattering dress and unrecognizable figure, and shares she’s started dating again for the first time in 10 with her newly found body confidence
Family first: Char smiles with a stunning different physique and shares she no longer suffers heartburn, gets sick less frequently and has more energy to spend time with her son
Workout junkie! From barely lifting a finger to running marathons, Char’s lifestyle has seen a 180 degree flip that has brought a myriad of health benefits
Champs! Char (left) poses with a friend with medals that symbol they finished a 5K race, a testament to her health strides that began with humble lunch break walks
She traded her soda for water and snacks for breakfasts of yogurt and fruit, lunches of salad, and balanced dinners of rice and chicken.
Char, who once never lifted a finger for exercise, now hits the pavement multiple times a week attending five group exercise classes that range dance, weights, spin, yoga and pilates. She even sticks to her beginning exercise routines of walks during work lunch breaks.
And the benefits of her new lifestyle have been plentiful. She shares she no longer needs heartburn medication, gets sick with less frequency and feels a surge in energy and strength.
‘People look at me differently now. For years no one looked at me as a woman, they saw me as the fat lady,’ she said.
‘I feel like I look completely different and I have tons more energy. I have my health back now,’ she added.
Char hasn’t touched her old soda since, and is bent on keeping it that way and now wants to use her position to educate others on the harmful and addictive aspects of the seemingly harmless drink.
‘I spent 30 years doing something I didn’t necessarily think was bad because it is so readily available,’ she explained.
‘People don’t understand what is in these drinks. Who knows what kind of damage they could be doing?’ she added.
‘They ought to come with a warning label,’ Char declared on the habit she finally kicked.