Giving up diet soda. So hard!

EpicChristy

I stopped drinking diet coke only to start drinking sprite zero. I gave up all caffeine. Lately I have started having a 20 oz bottle of caffeine free diet coke. I feel much better when im not having any type of soda. It sucks but im cutting them all out this time.

makinne

I've been trying to give up diet soda for the past year, and just started to feel successful in the past month or so. I agree with a lot of other people that having seltzer water to replace the carbonation, and tea for caffeine helped a lot. I also found that drinking lemon water (I use TrueLemon) helped. I think the lemon flavor probably has some of the same chemicals in lower levels. After a few weeks of switching to lemon water I started drinking more unflavored water, without even trying. Now I drink mostly tea and water. I'll have a soda if I'm out or doing a lot of housework, but I don't drink a 2 liter a day and no longer feel I need soda everytime I get thirsty.... You CAN do it!

elphie754

If anyone every told me I had to completely give up my diet Pepsi, I'd be going to jail for assualt and battery lol.

I drink a 20oz bottle on days I am working, and still have been losing weight.

BeTheChange352

elphie754 wrote: »

If anyone every told me I had to completely give up my diet Pepsi, I'd be going to jail for assualt and battery lol.

I drink a 20oz bottle on days I am working, and still have been losing weight.

If I had to give up diet soda I don't think I'd even bother trying to lose weight anymore. I don't like coffee and energy drinks are SO expensive. what else is there to live for at that point?

Aviva92

dsproffitt wrote: »

Lynette4321 wrote: »

i gave up sweets and diet soda .... What am I going to drink with pizza?

You want to lose weight and you still want to eat pizza that often you need help giving up fizzy drinks? Ironic? Much?

I think you need to read how many calories you are putting in your body with a slice of high fat, high salt, high carb, etc pizza.

uh, I ate pizza and still lost weight. In fact, I had pizza yesterday. It was an upsidedown slice from this amazing place near my office. so good. You don't need to give up everything you love to lose weight. Just because you give up one thing doesn't mean you are going to eat more of another thing or that you have to give it up.

I'm not even advocating that everyone needs to give up diet soda, although I'm getting accused of all sort of stuff. Just said that I gave it up and lost weight.

elphie754

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

elphie754 wrote: »

If anyone every told me I had to completely give up my diet Pepsi, I'd be going to jail for assualt and battery lol.

I drink a 20oz bottle on days I am working, and still have been losing weight.

If I had to give up diet soda I don't think I'd even bother trying to lose weight anymore. I don't like coffee and energy drinks are SO expensive. what else is there to live for at that point?

There's always bacon lol.

Aviva92

Aviva92 wrote: »

dsproffitt wrote: »

Lynette4321 wrote: »

i gave up sweets and diet soda .... What am I going to drink with pizza?

You want to lose weight and you still want to eat pizza that often you need help giving up fizzy drinks? Ironic? Much?

I think you need to read how many calories you are putting in your body with a slice of high fat, high salt, high carb, etc pizza.

uh, I ate pizza and still lost weight. In fact, I had pizza yesterday. It was an upsidedown slice from this amazing place near my office. so good. You don't need to give up everything you love to lose weight. Just because you give up one thing doesn't mean you are going to eat more of another thing or that you have to give it up.

I'm not even advocating that everyone needs to give up diet soda, although I'm getting accused of all sort of stuff. Just said that I gave it up and lost weight.

why was this post flagged?

Goin4goal

I never drink anything when I'm eating. Its better for your digestive system to only eat solid food - when you're done eating, then you drink whatever you want. This takes care of the usual food/soda combos like pizza, wings, nachos, etc. Pizza and water just doesn't cut it, but eating pizza alone and then drinking water afterwards does the trick. Just what I do!!

elphie754

Goin4goal wrote: »

I never drink anything when I'm eating. Its better for your digestive system to only eat solid food - when you're done eating, then you drink whatever you want. This takes care of the usual food/soda combos like pizza, wings, nachos, etc. Pizza and water just doesn't cut it, but eating pizza alone and then drinking water afterwards does the trick. Just what I do!!

where on earth did you hear that?

Aviva92

Goin4goal wrote: »

I never drink anything when I'm eating. Its better for your digestive system to only eat solid food - when you're done eating, then you drink whatever you want. This takes care of the usual food/soda combos like pizza, wings, nachos, etc. Pizza and water just doesn't cut it, but eating pizza alone and then drinking water afterwards does the trick. Just what I do!!

huh? never heard this and doubt it's true. i drink water with my food. water with pizza is fine.

realharlot

While I can't be bothered to find it right now there are studies that show drinking diet soda can and will make you consume more calories. You're telling your brain that you are consuming very sugary things and then letting it know you lied to it.

In addition to that, when you drink sugary things all the time your tolerance for sweets goes way up. Soda suddenly doesn't taste as sweet as it used to because your taste buds have adjusted. If you spend a few months traveling India you probably wouldn't find Americanized Indian food very spicy anymore either. It's the same thing for sweet, salty, sour, and umami.

Think about the effect water is supposed to have in your body. It's supposed to replace the water that has been excreted (through crying, breathing, sweating, urinating, defecating, and menstruating). When you eat dry things it helps you push it along. Soda is basically sugary high ph acid for your body or low calorie chemical high ph acid for your body. When soda is your primary choice for liquid intake it's sure to take its toll on your organs.

It's all a matter of framing and finding a healthy substitute.

mscheftg

WOW! This thread got out of control!!! OP - I have learned to LOVE tea. I buy loose tea from a local "earthy" store and brew that up. I get flavored options and NEVER have to add sugar. If you want to message me or add me as a friend, I'd love to talk tea with you.

bwogilvie

OP (if you're still around): since you're trying to retrain your taste buds away from overly sweet foods, what about drinking diet soda that isn't sweet, if you find it hard to give it up entirely?

My favorites are diet tonic water and "Half and Half" (a Polar-brand drink that's similar to Squirt). I find them refreshing and not too sweet; they have just enough aspartame to offset the bitterness of the quinine and citrus.

lemurcat12

Goin4goal wrote: »

I never drink anything when I'm eating. Its better for your digestive system to only eat solid food - when you're done eating, then you drink whatever you want. This takes care of the usual food/soda combos like pizza, wings, nachos, etc. Pizza and water just doesn't cut it, but eating pizza alone and then drinking water afterwards does the trick. Just what I do!!

I'm perfectly happy drinking just water and usually do in restaurants, but could never do this. It sounds horrible. I hate it on planes, even, when they bring food and then another drink. I wait for my drink. (Not that the food experience on planes is otherwise stellar, normally.)

llUndecidedll

Since cutting calories, I've developed a strong like for various flavors of unsweetened tea, so I say try different flavored teas. You really can't go wrong. You can make the tea as strong or as weak as you like.


So yeah, try tea.

aperson1961

llUndecidedll wrote: »

Since cutting calories, I've developed a strong like for various flavors of unsweetened tea, so I say try different flavored teas. You really can't go wrong. You can make the tea as strong or as weak as you like.

I still love diet soda, though, and I'm trying to cut back on it as well. Mainly because my skin is severely dehydrated and it's better for me to drink flavored water than diet pop. I also felt somewhat better after not having any pop for about a week, so I decided to keep with the new change. I don't think there's anything wrong with soda at all. I just need more hydration and as someone who doesn't drink much, I just try to drink water when I can because my skin is in horrible condition.

So yeah, try tea.

A good thought about hydration. I recommend downloading a water logging application and set a target for drinking enough plain water. I did that in August after my work's health coach recommended it. I did feel better from drinking more water. I use the waterlogger app (on my iPhone) to make sure that I drink 100 oz/day; it is very simple to use ... but you could also use myfitnesspal or fitbit or other apps to keep track. If you make sure you are drinking enough plain water, then you might drink less other drinks such as soda. If you are losing weight, then there is supposed to be more likelihood of developing gallstones and kidney stones. If you google for info on preventing stones, one of the suggestions is to drink plenty of water. I don't believe other drinks replace the need to hydrate with just plain water. So for those of you looking to reduce or quit drinking diet drinks, maybe tracking/meeting water goals might be helpful. And I've found that the fullness from drinking water has just helped my weight loss in general. There are other benefits. Here is a link to a short list: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water?page=3

Marianna93637

I'm not much of a soda drinker, so I'm not an expert, but some diet soda will not do a lot of damage. When I drink soda, it's always diet, I refuse to drink something full of sugar and no nutritional value. If I drink something with no nutritional value, then have it 0 calories.
Having said that I have been drinking more diet soda lately than before (compare 4-5 glasses / week to maybe 1 per month), because it's filling. I crave something to eat, something sweet, but I'm not really hungry, I have a glass wit ice (I have to have ice lol).

If you try to quit, why not replace it with carbonated 0 calorie drinks, (there are many of them). Most of them have not nearly as many chemicals in them, in fact a lot of them are natural. You can drink as much as you want to help you quit, and then you can reduce those or stick with those.

Either that, or allow yourself only 3 glasses / week.

llUndecidedll

aperson1961 wrote: »

A good thought about hydration. I recommend downloading a water logging application and set a target for drinking enough plain water. I did that in August after my work's health coach recommended it. I did feel better from drinking more water. I use the waterlogger app (on my iPhone) to make sure that I drink 100 oz/day; it is very simple to use ... but you could also use myfitnesspal or fitbit or other apps to keep track. If you make sure you are drinking enough plain water, then you might drink less other drinks such as soda. If you are losing weight, then there is supposed to be more likelihood of developing gallstones and kidney stones. If you google for info on preventing stones, one of the suggestions is to drink plenty of water. I don't believe other drinks replace the need to hydrate with just plain water. So for those of you looking to reduce or quit drinking diet drinks, maybe tracking/meeting water goals might be helpful. And I've found that the fullness from drinking water has just helped my weight loss in general. There are other benefits. Here is a link to a short list: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-reasons-to-drink-water?page=3

Thanks for the information. I feel like my skin has become a little more hydrated, but the damage is done at this point. I have lines all over the place. I also have been worrying about kidney stones since I consume way too much salt and too little water on a daily basis. This lifestyle change is a work in progress, for sure.