Day 1 of no diet coke...not going well

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  • ILuvMoo
    ILuvMoo Posts: 41
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    I have a few cans left and then I'm going to quit my diet coke as well...I'm going to switch to cold brew unsweetened tea...and still drink coffee...I don't know if coffee is bad for you or not, but I like my caffeine. I know quitting anything is hard, but if you really want it, stick with it! Wish you the best!

    Coffee's full of antioxidants. It's the things we put IN coffee (cream, sugar, fancy Starbucks concoctions) that can make it bad. I love coffee and drink it almost every day (decaf... which is sacrilege to people who don't know I have a sleep disorder) but I'm picky about creamer and only use a bit and it goes in my tracker.
  • ctbryant
    ctbryant Posts: 1 Member
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    I am a reformed diet coke junkie! It took me a month to quit but I did it. I started with 2-3 cans a day and then limited it to only at lunch. Then I did a half a can at lunch and then I slowly weened myself off. After that I began to limit my consumption to only at restaurants and now I don't want it at all. I am a water only drinker now and some days I want to drink a diet coke so I get a can, take a shot of it and pour it out. It has been over a year now and I am glad that I don't drink it anymore. I noticed that I am not bloated anymore and that I feel a lot better. Just stick with it and you will overcome it, it takes time.
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
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    I started to get a bit hooked on coke zero for a little while... I'd have one small can (not the 355 the smaller ones) a day and I said "ok that's it, this **** is awful for me!" and I cut it out. I got perrier. I just wanted the fizz.

    Now, I only drink pop (soda whatever) when I have alcohol
  • rubytOU
    rubytOU Posts: 154 Member
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    I am reformed for 2 years. :)
  • sharitapita
    sharitapita Posts: 80 Member
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    My boyfriend got me a SodaStream for Christmas. Now instead of diet Pepsi, I use it to make sparkling water and I add a little lemon or lime juice for flavor. I do miss it sometimes and still drink one occasionally, but still drinking something bubbly helps. Plus it is more environmentally friendly :)
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    My vice is Diet Mtn Dew, I've tried to quit more times than it took me to quit smoking. I have seriously cut back and won't allow myself to have any after 5pm so I can sleep better but I'm not ready to give it up yet. Good luck, let us know what works.

    BTW, I quit smoking in 1998 when I was absolutely ready to quit and now I an annoying ex-smoker. I still occassionally have the craving but it is easy to deal with because the benefits of quitting far outweigh the costs of smoking. I guess I'm saying when you are ready to quit it will be easier for you but you will still have that craving.
  • juliegrey1
    juliegrey1 Posts: 202 Member
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    Dont suppose this will be of much help but you would be better off drinking a can of regular coke,Aspartame in diet drinks is highly addictive and pure poison,saying that I know its an extremely powerfull addiction,Im lucky I cant stand the taste of it>Im curious to know why people like 2-3 cans a day,it seems alot of people do not just coke but other soft drinks also,is it something that starts as a child? I dont know as kids we seldom saw any type of soft drinks and never developed much of a taste,maybe living in a colder climate we didnt have the need to drink as much either,it just seems to me here that a big part of problems with weight seem to be attributed to the consumption of sweet drinks! just an observation!
  • luckyclover78
    luckyclover78 Posts: 115 Member
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    Just picture Coke laughing all the way to the bank because they think you can't quit it.
  • Bretto
    Bretto Posts: 196 Member
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    I too am an addict. Lately though I have been able to avoid it during the week by allowing myself to add crystal light to my water, but only after I have drank 72 oz of plain water.

    I think I just had an AHH HAA moment!!! I eat fairly well during the week and can mostly avaoid sweets, but on the weekends, I seem to blow all my hard work....Could this have something to do with me drinking diet soda only on the weekends?

    It just might, so I am going to do an experiment this weekend and only drink crystal light and see if I eat better.

    I know for me it is my comfort drink...which must lead to me eating comfort food.
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
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    They would have to pry my Diet Pepsi out of my cold, dead hand... lol :drinker: Best of Luck though, I would rather lose 300 pounds again.... ha

    yep. I'm the same with diet rootbeer. I have however scaled back to one every now and again but I REFUSE to completely give it up.

    I set myself to one a day. Then one every other day, then one every 2 days, and so on until I was at only having them occasionally!
  • daltem
    daltem Posts: 138 Member
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    You've got this!
  • boatsie77
    boatsie77 Posts: 480 Member
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    Try weaning yourself off of it by buying some cheap off-brand cola, like something from the dollar tree--that worked for me. After 2 cans of that crap I was done.I still drink diet Pepsi when I dine out on pizza or if it comes free with my meal choice--otherwise I drink water (i don't eat out much anymore). I don't bring any soda into my house and drink only V-8, milk, coffee, tea and waster.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    As I'm sitting here reading these comments, I have to wonder: is it logical that something supposedly "safe" to consume is so addictive?

    I have my own experiences with regular soda and artificially sweetened soda. I don't touch either anymore.

    I personally side with going "cold turkey" rather than weaning. A few miserable days is better than struggling with cravings over a long period.
  • amberpic
    amberpic Posts: 20
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    I do drink sodas but not often. What helps is just not having it around. If it's not around, I have to make a special trip to get it and then decide if it's really worth it.

    I LOVE iced tea. I actually prefer it to soda. I'll make it at home and put it in a reusable water bottle if I want to take it with me to work or someplace.
  • ILuvMoo
    ILuvMoo Posts: 41
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    As I'm sitting here reading these comments, I have to wonder: is it logical that something supposedly "safe" to consume is so addictive?

    I have my own experiences with regular soda and artificially sweetened soda. I don't touch either anymore.

    I personally side with going "cold turkey" rather than weaning. A few miserable days is better than struggling with cravings over a long period.

    Caffeine withdrawal is more about headaches than cravings... or at least it was for me. As for craving / being addicted to the fizz or aspartame or whatever, I don't know. But if you're giving up caffeine, apart from whether or not you give up soda, weaning can work. It's a personal decision on whether you want bad headaches for four or five days, or mild headaches for a couple weeks as you taper off.

    And there's always Advil.

    Fun fact: most pain killers that are designed specifically for headaches contain caffeine.
  • pig2201
    pig2201 Posts: 31 Member
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    Hi I have just started mfp and drink gallons of diet coke. why is it so bad when trying to lose weight .???I really don't drink anything else except a coffee in the morning trying to drink more water.
  • BigCed77024
    BigCed77024 Posts: 1,115 Member
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    So, I am a regular drinker of diet coke. I absolutely love it. On a good day, I only drink one, but most days it's two, and somedays it's more like 3 or 4 (if say, I get it at a restaurant and get refills). This is more of a personal challenge to myself and I have a can in the fridge at my work in case I decide I can't do it. I've done this once before and it sucked.

    Is anyone else a reformed cola drinker? How long did it take you before you stopped missing it? Did you replace it with anything else? I am not really a juice drinker or a flavored water drinker- it's pretty much just diet coke, plain water, coffee, or beer for me. I do like unsweetened ice tea, but that's not very portable and if you buy packaged, it's usually sweetened or very expensive.

    I gave it up for Lent and just kept on going. I don't even miss it and its been a few months. Once you get past the shock of it being out of your system you will be fine. I replaced it with unsweetend tea.
  • ILuvMoo
    ILuvMoo Posts: 41
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    Hi I have just started mfp and drink gallons of diet coke. why is it so bad when trying to lose weight .???I really don't drink anything else except a coffee in the morning trying to drink more water.

    There are theories about artificial sweeteners making your body crave MORE sweet things... keeps your "sweet tooth" more alive when normally you might get used to eating fewer sweets with your new lifestyle and eventually stop craving them.

    I've also heard other theories about the body expecting calories when it tastes sweet things, so when your body doens't get that calorie payoff because the sweet thing was actually a diet soda, it looks for more calories elsewhere and makes you feel hungrier.

    Plus, who knows what the "side effects" of all those random chemicals might be.

    As for me, my mom used to work in a lab giving rats cancer on purpose and then cutting them open, and she told me that as long as I didn't back a dumptruck of aspartame into my driveway and go at it with a spoon, it wasn't going to kill me. So I only avoid aspartame because I think it tastes fake and chemical-y. I only gave up soda because I was tired of lugging it home from the grocery store (and I mentioned in an earlier post why I don't often acquire soda any other way).
  • cjingles
    cjingles Posts: 11 Member
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    I used to be the same way with Diet Coke! I honestly drank 2-4 cans a day and my dentist hates me for it. I'd crave it all day!

    When I decided to try stop drinking it I started by switching to Caffeine Free Diet Coke, that way I could still have the satisfaction of the flavor while I got past the headaches from the caffeine withdrawal. It took about two weeks, but I started to feel better. Then I went cold turkey for about three weeks drinking little but water and caffeine free green tea.

    Now, I have to say, I mostly crave water. I feel better each day and way more energized. Whenever I go to a restaurant or to the movies I end up with a Diet Coke and while I enjoy the taste, I find that I'm done with it after I finish it. I don't immediately want another can and another can. Now I typically have about 1 can a week, but I think I could quite easily give it up. I don't feel like I'm denying myself anything so there's nothing pushing me to crave it, if that makes sense.

    :) If you're finding it hard to quit maybe try caffeine free coke for a while like I did. Good luck!!!!
  • abbylg1983
    abbylg1983 Posts: 177 Member
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    Try weaning yourself off of it by buying some cheap off-brand cola, like something from the dollar tree--that worked for me. After 2 cans of that crap I was done.I still drink diet Pepsi when I dine out on pizza or if it comes free with my meal choice--otherwise I drink water (i don't eat out much anymore). I don't bring any soda into my house and drink only V-8, milk, coffee, tea and waster.

    Oh that's funny. That probably would not work for me, but I love the idea of buying generic at the dollar store to turn me off Cola forever.

    For those wondering about weight loss- while there are theories about how consuming diet coke indirectly causes weight gain (ie, the diet coke itself does not cause weight gain, but it causes other factors which then are linked to weight gain) I am not doing it for weight loss reasons. I mean, even things like coffee and alcohol and chocolate have *some* redeeming qualities, and some natural roots. I can't think of anything good to say about diet coke, other than it is delicious.

    I do not feel an addiction to diet coke per se- I don't experience any headaches or anything. I just really enjoy it and I miss it. It is the same thing as giving up junk food for me.

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