Soda used to be one of my vices too, along with candy, potato chips, crackers, etc. I never really had a weight problem though. I'm 6'4", and the heaviest I ever got was around 220. However, about 10 years ago I came down with diabetes. Now I can only drink diet soda (which isn't very good for you I guess), sugar free candy (with sugar alcohols that aren't good for you and give you diarrhea), about 5 potato chips (why bother?), etc. I've lost weight on the diabetic diet - I stay around 205 now - but it certainly wasn't worth it.

My first point is that you might want to use fear of diabetes as incentive to change your lifestyle. Trust me, it's a real drag and can cause serious problems (blindness, amputation, kidney failure, etc.)

My second point deals with the lack of motivation to ride. I think most of us have faced it. I know what works for me. First of all, I know how much I enjoy riding. When I'm on the bike, I love it. I know how much I enjoy the tired glow I feel after a ride. I know that after a good ride I feel good for the rest of the day. I've experienced those things enough times - I'm sure enough of them - that I can almost always motivate myself to get it together to go for a ride.

My third point has to do with general health. I'm almost 57 years old. Guys my age die from heart attacks all the time. My personal feeling is that, along with proper eating, regular exercise is the best thing I can do for my health, and bicycling is my exercise of choice. So I make myself ride, whether it's convenient or not, and if I haven't ridden for a few weeks, I start feeling paranoid that I'm going to have a heart attack! At your age you probably aren't worried so much about your health, but you should get a healthy lifestyle started before you get to my age, or your problems could be so much worse when you do get here.

Your goal is definitely worthwhile! Bicycling can help, other forms of exercise can help, and a change in eating (and drinking) habits can really help! Good luck.