CRACKING open a can of fizzy pop was as natural to Nancy Smith as breathing.

She used to gulp her way through an unbelievable 24 cans of the stuff each day and had done for the past 26 years!

Aside from making her feel gassy and hyperactive one minute and lethargic the next, the drinks were also making her ill.

She says: “I used to run around like a mad woman dashing here and there and cleaning the house and my energy came purely from caffeine.

“It affected my health and I was very dehydrated, my hair was lank, my skin was flaky and I felt terrible because the only liquid I drank was cola.”

Unbelievably the constant supply of fizz did not impact on her teeth.

She says: “I am very lucky in that the drinks have not dissolved my teeth! I haven’t had that many fillings and they are in good shape, surprisingly.”

Echo:

Nancy, 45, from Leigh, had become addicted to the feeling of opening a can and tasting the fizzy liquid.

She says: “I loved the fizziness and the feeling it gave me. Most people would take an hour to finish one, but it would take me five minutes.

“Whenever I tried to give up it would give me such bad headaches that I would go back to drinking it again.

“The withdrawal was the worst thing because I used to feel so tired and lethargic and I would be drawn to having a can just to perk me up and get me through the day. I thought I needed it for energy.”

Her bubbly habit keep her busy at all hours of the day and night.

She says: “My addiction for fizzy cola was there all of the time. I would even get through three cans during the night.

“I would panic if I thought there wasn’t enough Pepsi in the house and I would go out at 10pm to go to the supermarket or off license to stock up.”

Her irregular schedule led Nancy to eat all of the wrong foods.

Nancy says: “I never had breakfast because I was so full from drinking the drinks in the night. Then I wouldn’t sit down for meals and instead I ate snacks straight from the fridge like cocktail sausages, cheese and packets of biscuits. I was eating a lot of calories without even realising.”

“It all started when I was 19 and my mum let me keep a big crate of Pepsi in my room.

“At that time it was the sugary one, so I used to drink a lot of sugar.

The habit stuck even though I changed to the sugar free Pepsi Max. From then on I carried on drinking it up until six weeks ago.”

It was a fear for her health that led her to do something about her habit.

She says: “I went to the doctors four or five years ago because I was worried I would die early. He said I was very dehydrated and ask what I drank. I said only fizzy cola and he couldn’t believe it!”

Nancy was keen to halt her weight gain.

She says: “I had gained more than two stone in two years and I couldn’t get it to budge.

“I spotted a woman at the school gates who I noticed had been gradually shrinking over a few months. I told her that I thought she looked great and asked how she had done it. She said at Energie Fitness.”

It was then that Nancy began the six-week Empower Programme and adopted a healthier lifestyle.

“They advised me to focus on the exercise and a healthy diet and I would gradually wean myself of the fizzy drinks when I was feeling good.

“I had never taken that approach before and I couldn’t believe how much easier it was.

The more weight I lost and more energetic I felt the less I wanted to drink the fizz.

“The exercise gave me a natural buzz and made me more positive.”

Nancy started at 13 stone four pounds and she is now 12 stone and she has lost 11 and a half inches all over.

Does Nancy ever reach for a can now?

“I have one very occasionally, usually at the weekends. I have a feeling I want one and then I do and it is always disappointing.”