I think you're the one that got confused... I came into the conversation, commenting on tap water and you're the one who said "But all tap water does have a lot of chemicals in it." which is what started the conversation.
I stopped soda which I call POP since I'm from the Midwest (ha) but found I also lost weight. I don't think it was THAT fast but that is definitely one of those things that are needless calories. So, Go with it. Hydrate in other ways.
I'm weird, I like tap water. Until I gave up pop, I really didn't like water. Once you give it up, a big glass of water may start to sound much more appealing.
I also found that things tasted 'too sweet' after giving up pop. Something I never thought **I** would say!
I'm not sure Gatorade is any better than soda, or contains any less sugar. I am sure that if you're going to drink soda, the sugar is probably less harmful than the artificially sweetened ones, but soda is bad for you on a lot of levels. It has things other than sugar that are also bad for you. But sugar, if not burned quickly, stores as fat, and if you consume less of it, you will lose weight. And you have. Calories aren't so much the concern as how quickly what you eat turns to sugar in the body for immediate burning as fuel, and if you don't use it quickly the body will store it as fat. So good for you.
I'd be proud of myself to have stopped the soda. A 12-ounce can is said to contain the equivalent of 12 teaspoons of sugar. Between the fluid, the sugar, and other stuff in the sodas (I think they are also surprisingly high in salt), it would not surprise me at all if you lost 5 lbs. just from cutting it from your diet. This would be especially true if you were not just drinking a little sip every now and then but instead were chugging a big one all the time. Good for you. Now just cut that Gatorade. lol