SODA - Biggest addiction
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Another thing about diet soda is that the arguments for it being bad for weight loss are based on a theory (never well supported) that it causes some people to crave sweets more than they otherwise would. Based on personal experimentation I know this isn't true for me, even if it is for some. There's an easy way to test this--if you struggle with craving more sweets than you want to eat while on a calorie restriction, cut out diet and see if it makes a difference. But if you are happily eating within your calorie deficit and it's a true deficit, then drinking diet soda won't interfere with your losing.
Whether there are other personal reasons to cut it is a separate question that only you can answer.0 -
First off, going to google and typing in "aspartame side affects" is pointless. Unless you show me a legitimate scientific study proving causation of aspartame relating to negative side effects, then it's pointless. I don't waste my time with fear mongering articles on the internet with no cited sources, and neither should you, or anybody for that matter. There is so much intentional misinformation about nutrition on the internet that if you believed every article you read, you'd be utterly confused. Just watch one episode of Dr. Oz. It's a joke...
Secondly, you never answered my question about your phrasing of "full fat" soda which is what I was asking in my reply. Soda does not contain any dietary fat unless you're talking about a root beer float with a scoop of ice cream in it. Luckily one of the other posters answered my question informing me that the terminology "full fat" is sometimes used to refer to a non diet version of something such as soda.0 -
I haven't had any problem losing weight, or keeping it off while consuming diet soda. All of my inflammation issues were alleviated by cutting excessive amounts of processed carbs and sugar. As long as I take in an equal or greater amount of water, and my urine is the correct color, I drink diet soda.
Not much left to safely eat or drink if you listen to the "experts"; therefore, common sense and "If it fits your macros" all the way for me.
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Yup! Some people use the phrase "full fat" in the way we use the phrase "fattening." Not a reference to lipids or a macro breakdown.
First off, going to google and typing in "aspartame side affects" is pointless. Unless you show me a legitimate scientific study proving causation of aspartame relating to negative side effects, then it's pointless. I don't waste my time with fear mongering articles on the internet with no cited sources, and neither should you, or anybody for that matter. There is so much intentional misinformation about nutrition on the internet that if you believed every article you read, you'd be utterly confused. Just watch one episode of Dr. Oz. It's a joke...
Secondly, you never answered my question about your phrasing of "full fat" soda which is what I was asking in my reply. Soda does not contain any dietary fat unless you're talking about a root beer float with a scoop of ice cream in it. Luckily one of the other posters answered my question informing me that the terminology "full fat" is sometimes used to refer to a non diet version of something such as soda.
I call it "sugar pop" - different people call it different things.
It's an expression.
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Growing up we never had coke (soda). My mother drank (and still does) about 5-6 cans a day and would refuse to let the kids have any so it was never a big deal. So when I turned 16 and started working at a Subway that had unlimited access to a coke machine...my life took a terrible turn. Cue me with my face under the rootbeer stream after hours. It became an addiction. If I didn't have rootbeer or some form of coke I had a headache (It was all mental, I'm sure). I was probably consuming a good 700-800 calories a day in nothing but coke and that is NOT an exaggeration (I worked long hours and we brought route 44 cups and refilled often). My weight ballooned due to this...and all the bacon I was eating. =D
When I started my weight loss journey and began working at Starbucks (Cue, 15 cups of black coffee! WOO!) I cut out coke. I went from drinking them regularly to one every few days. My Love drinks diet soda like it's going out of style so I began drinking those with him. Thennnnn I cut that out too....I'm now made fun of for ordering water at restaurants. I don't crave cokes anyone (Except the occasional diet rootbeer!) and I feel way better. It took a lot of work to stop wanting cokes and I constantly craved them at first. It took will power and begging him to put the cokes on the top shelf where I couldn't reach. But it is possible! It's all mental!0 -
Same old scare tactics associated with soda. Diet soda is calorie free. No reason for it to affect your daily calories.0
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When I first gave up soda about a year and a half ago, I tried at first to cut down slowly and only limit myself to one or two a day. (I was previously drinking about a 2 liter every day!) I had a hard time though because when I'd have my one or two, I would always somehow find a way to justify having more. For me, it was best to just go cold turkey; however, I really think it depends on the person and what works best for you!
I will say though that my weight loss really skyrocketed once I stopped drinking my calories, so keep trying to do this!
Good luck!
I know not everyone agrees with ryanhorn on this approach but until I got ticked off at myself over drinking soda and left them cold turkey I kept letting them suck me back in.
For three months I have been mainly only drinking water (gallon a day due to my size) and green tea and not much coffee any more. One plus in my case is I stopped grabbing a candy bar, etc from the break room when I stopped the sodas because after a life time of doing both at the same time I must have been living for both a caffeine and sugar kick from break time.
Everyone is is different but tapering off just never works for me. In my case there was a change at 20, 40 and 60 concerning how eating/drinking different foods would impact my % of fat and health in general. Aging never made things easier in my case.
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T00GlaM0r0US wrote: »They say it's just as bad for you as regular soda; as in retaining water etc.
Who are "they", exactly? "They", in this case, would be wrong.
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I personally quit drinking soda completely. I found if i had easy access to it, I would drink it mindlessly. Diet Dr Pepper was usually what I bought. Also I would drink it later in the evening and the caffeine made it harder for me to sleep well. I had a hard time restricting to just a little bit daily so I removed it. It was hard for the first week now I don't crave it. On the plus side I save a lot of money not buying it, especially when I eat out. Restaurants charge way to much for soda.
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I will not comment on rather or not it's good or bad or if anyone should or shouldn't give it up because it seems to be an inflammatory topic for people. I just thought I would share what worked for me if it's something you'd like to do and are looking for ideas.
I accidentally gave up soda a few years ago, before doing so I was drinking 3-4 a day. I did an elimination diet for a few months to try and figure out what foods were causing my stomach issues. During that time I ended up not eating anything with added sugar because I wasn't eating anything processed. By the time I was reintroducing added sugar foods there were many that I found unpalatably sweet. I tried soda once or twice again since then but I still can't stand the taste of it anymore.
It would be a bit extreme to do an elimination diet just to cut out soda, but maybe just cut out or just cut back on added sugar foods for a few weeks or a month and see if that helps you.
My husband decided to give it up too because he prefers his liquid calories to be beer, he drank seltzer water with fruit juice instead of soda for a while until he got sick of the effort.0 -
Haven't read all the replies so I'm not sure if this was mentioned, but I love lemon like seltzer. I know, I know, it's no soda. But if it's ice cold it's not bad and gives u the bubbly fix. At first I thought it was gross and then somehow it just grew on me. And I'm allergic to artificial sweeteners so I can't have any diet drinks or pretty much anything labeled sugar-free so I understand how hard it is sometimes to find healthier replacements.0
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Why so people tell us of their personal experiences and try to apply them to everyone?0
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T00GlaM0r0US wrote: »I loove the taste of soda, diet or regular and especially when it is ice cold.
I have stopped drinking soda in the past, but after a few months I say "one wont hurt" and then I am back to where I was before.
I know cutting it out would help me tremendously, but I would rather drink soda than eat lolol.
Anyone else struggle(d) with this?? How did you overcome the addiction
THANKS
Here is a good way to get around it. Force yourself yourself to drink a gallon of water a day. After you complete that gallon you can drink other beverages of your choice. It won't leave much time or thirst for too many cokes.0 -
Seltzer, seltzer and more seltzer.
I'm down to 2 sodas a week, which is pretty good for someone who had a few a day!
I make sure to keep stocked with seltzers to stop grabbing for a soda, and I don't often keep it in the house.0 -
I was a soda lover myself. Dr. Pepper. What made me stop was when I really start paying attention to the sugar content. Especially mountain dew and Sunkist orange. All that sugar is very dangerous to your health.0
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I assume you refer to this
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/06/09/319230765/fruit-juice-vs-soda-both-beverages-pack-in-sugar-and-health-risk
I myself have not read where someone become fat, fatter or obese while consuming higher levels of fructose vs sugar. While maintaining a reasonable calorie intake.
The study suggests that fructose intake and it's processing via the liver will lead to higher fat creation. Not sure if I believe that0 -
I used to drink 3-4 cans of Mountain Dew (or Dr Pepper) a day. I personally can't stand the taste of "diet" drinks, nor did I like coffee or unsweetened tea. I drank pop for the caffeine and because it was sweet and "refreshing". To begin weening myself from it, I stopped buying it. I was buying 12-packs, and I found if I didn't have them around I wouldn't go out and pick up a bottle. But the catch-22 to that was I needed something else instead. What I went on to get was the Brisk half tea/lemonade cans. They were sweet, still from a can (so the same motions as before), 1/3 of the calories and still had a small amount of caffeine, which helped me ween. My next step was that I always kept large amounts of bottled water on hand. Where I live the water has a lot of minerals and needs to be softened before drinking, but my water pressure is low enough a filter makes my sink near unusable. From this point, I've been purchasing Crystal Lite to-Go packets. For a full-flavored bottle of lemonade/punch/whathaveyou it's 10 calories, and a little bit cheaper than soda. And now the motion of drinking from a water bottle is what my body wants to do when thirsty, so I drink bottled water.
So for me, breaking the addiction was as much weaning myself from the caffeine as it was the motion of drinking pop. I still enjoy an occasional tea/lemonade mix or a soda when I go out, but I've found if I don't have it available at home I'm less likely to go pick some up if I have other beverages and choices at home.0 -
I gave up regular Coca-Cola (I call it Red Coke) back in 2010/2011 when I lost a heap of weight (15kg). I was drinking 2 or more litres a DAY and burning a hole through my wallet to boot.
I didn't go cold turkey though, I switched to either Coke Zero (Black Coke) or Diet Coke (Silver Coke) and ended up sticking with the Zero because I prefer it's flavour over the Diet.
Basically, I went from drinking 860 calories per 2lt bottle to drinking 6 calories per 2lt.
I didn't cut down majorly on how much I drink, but in there have been periods where I have cut Zero from my drink choices completely and there have been periods where I have drunk 4 litres a day. My wallet thanks me when I give it up totally.0 -
Man that is quite a bit of soda. 2 2 liter bottles of normal coke to even diet is quite a difference.0
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I used to drink soda all the time and would get kind of anxious if I went somewhere like someone's house or to another country that didn't have it readily available. I drank it every day and nothing else, and I'm surprised I didn't screw up my kidneys.
I started cutting down when I first began watching my calories. I eventually started drinking water more and got used to it. Water makes me FEEL sooooo much better. I drink a lot of water instead of coffee in the mornings, and it helps me wake up.
I eventually realized that I cannot have soda every few days without wanting it more, so I completely cut it out which is something I never thought that I would do. I haven't missed it much and have only had one Pepsi since I quit. I was afraid that would make me want more, but it didn't.
I would suggest slowly drinking more and more water and less soda and just phase it out. Also, get a water bottle to carry around with you and maybe try to keep it cold. When I first started drinking water, I could only make myself drink it if it was really cold. Now I can drink room temperature water, and it doesn't bother me.
If I can quit soda, anyone can.0 -
I've decided I'm "bubbles addicted." I used to be a diet coke addict but successfully switched to naturally flavored (no sweeteners) carbonated water. Those are my "soda" of choice now and when I do drink a regular or diet soda now it just tastes cloying.
I needed to give up the diet coke because I am one of those people that reacts to it with a case of the munchies. Artificial sweeteners make me ravenously hungry. I'm much more in control when I don't drink them.0 -
T00GlaM0r0US wrote: »I loove the taste of soda, diet or regular and especially when it is ice cold.
I have stopped drinking soda in the past, but after a few months I say "one wont hurt" and then I am back to where I was before.
I know cutting it out would help me tremendously, but I would rather drink soda than eat lolol.
Anyone else struggle(d) with this?? How did you overcome the addiction
THANKS
This is a mental addiction your not actually addicted to soda.... there is nothing anyone can say you need to come to terms with this on your own within your own mind.0 -
DalbozTheLantern wrote: »I used to drink soda all the time and would get kind of anxious if I went somewhere like someone's house or to another country that didn't have it readily available. I drank it every day and nothing else, and I'm surprised I didn't screw up my kidneys.
I started cutting down when I first began watching my calories. I eventually started drinking water more and got used to it. Water makes me FEEL sooooo much better. I drink a lot of water instead of coffee in the mornings, and it helps me wake up.
I eventually realized that I cannot have soda every few days without wanting it more, so I completely cut it out which is something I never thought that I would do. I haven't missed it much and have only had one Pepsi since I quit. I was afraid that would make me want more, but it didn't.
I would suggest slowly drinking more and more water and less soda and just phase it out. Also, get a water bottle to carry around with you and maybe try to keep it cold. When I first started drinking water, I could only make myself drink it if it was really cold. Now I can drink room temperature water, and it doesn't bother me.
If I can quit soda, anyone can.
Thanks for sharing your road to no soda. It was very hard for me but now water tastes right and soda tastes wrong.
The physical addiction took a couple weeks to start fading away but did have to leave 'cold turkey' in my case. My mental addiction may still be in the back of my mind but with the physical addiction gone I do not 'need' to act on the mental addiction.
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Have you tried carbonated flavored water? I've been drinking vitaminfizz. It has 100% vitamin C & B and no calories. Its not too sweet and there's several flavors.0
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I quit soda for a year once. The thing that helped at first was first I cut out all dark sodas, sticking only to Sprite/7-Up/Ginger Ale. Then I slowly reduced that until I was down to one can every other day, then I just switched to coffee. Sadly my current roommates are Mountain Dew addicts and I picked it up again, but I'm gonna do the same thing again to see if I can cut it out again.0
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I am horrible about drinking coke, terrible. I can easily go through 3 or more litres a day and for me it has been known to replace food. Dreadfully unhealthy. I am currently back at square 1 giving it up AGAIN.
So what has worked for me each time? Stock up on panadol (paracetamol) or neurofen (ibuprofen) and wait for the headache to hit, usually day 2 or 3 for me. Make sure the fridge is stocked up on cordial in a couple of different flavours and HEAPS of cold water and ice. Start drinking water and cordial as soon as I get up... before everyone jumps on me I drink the cordial weak - usually using the regular 1 cup serving diluted in an entire litre or more of water so that it gives the barest hint of flavour and usually the sweet cordials turn a bit sour because they have been diluted so far. I also try and stay away from regular times that I would have a glass of coke (much like cigarette smokers should avoid going to a bar if they are a social smoker) so takeout goes out the window as does sitting in front of my computer for long periods. I also try and get more sleep because that goes some way towards counteracting the fatigue caused by the lack of easy sugar.
It is horrible for a couple of days but once you get through the first week it gets much easier and becomes more of a habit thing than a craving thing. Just try not to have that first glass again because that is where I fall down.0 -
Thanks for all the replies - and it was nice to read of how you overcame your own struggles. My concern was not really with losing weight, I know I can lost weight with drinking diet soda. My concerns were more related to the aspartame and the sodium content and the healthrisks that are said to go alone with aspartame. However, I would like to give up soda b/c it is extra sodium content that my body doesn't need. I never thought I had an issue with sodium/salt before because I didn't add it to my food .. but after being with my husband for 8 years I have to cook with it or there is no flavor (I used to be able to cook with out it) I never add extra to my dish .. but that on top of soda and other things i eat I see a big number everyday on my sodium content.
When I first posted this topic, I didn't have that reason to why I wanted to give it up. But, after hearing what AJ_G had to say about it not being proven of aspartame side effects and others posting that it was okay and since it doesn't include calories it is okay to have etc. ((shout out to the one chic that said "who is this "they", "they" could be wrong" you just basically repeated exactly what AJ_G said)) I had to figure out WHY it is a good choice for me not to drink it. I feel that I made the decision that it should still be a luxury, just like chocolates or my other faves. but even though there are no calories there are other macros (SODIUM being the only really) that I do not need in my diet.0 -
I (luckily) don't have a big addiction to soda. Call me lucky, but the only soda I drink is a Root Beer now and then. I love sweets, though. Chocolate, especially chocolate pudding, and truffles, caramel and chocolate pecan bars, cheesecake, peanut butter cookies, ice cream . . . I'd better stop before I go eat over my daily calorie allowance. LOL.0
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You can still lose weight drinking diet soda. I have lost weight in the past while still drinking soda, and I never noticed much of an impact on weight loss there. That being said, I quit drinking soda all the time at first because I wanted to stop my caffeine consumption so I could sleep better (which I do!). I started by switching to flavored water using crystal light packets or something similar, and then eventually I switched to plain water. The only time I let myself drink soda was when I went to a restaurant or fast food, and that ended up only being on weekends since I am on a strict financial budget and won't let myself eat out during the week. So I would suggest to try limiting it instead of cutting it out entirely. I currently let myself drink caffeine free diet soda, but I limit it to one glass (so probably 16oz) a day.0
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Sodas, both regular and diet, do not have more sodium than most other liquids, including most water.
Concern about sodium really isn't an issue with drinking soft drinks.
Check the label if you don't believe this - I suspect most people concerned about sodium in sodas are just going by hearsay and have not actually checked this.0
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