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

zoodocgirl

I've said this on a few other threads, but I'm a huge diet soda lover and for me it was almost entirely about the carbonation. When I'm really thirsty, still beverages (water) just don't refresh me the same way. I got a SodaStream and drink almost exclusively fizzy water now and hardly ever crave the actual soda flavor any more. Highly recommend!

crimsontech

This is a paste from a post I made on a thread a long time ago, but it's very relevant here.

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Fear mongering, my (fat, but shrinking) *kitten*. I drank diet soda (several cans/bottles a day) while overeating and got fatter and had really bad lower back pain (in my sacrum/tailbone area) while sitting in most chairs for years. My chiropractor couldn't help, but not for lack of trying. I blamed it on my weight gain.

About 5-6 years ago, I was reading the "fear mongering" sites about aspartame and many of the symptoms listed were things I suffered. The most disturbing of which was a few times a day, I would get dizzy and have to grab a chair or wall to stay upright. These spells would only last 5-10 seconds. I had already decided to cut back on my aspartame consumption but after some of the stories I read, I literally dumped the one I was drinking down the drain and never had any aspartame for years after that.

After quitting aspartame and switching to full-sugar sodas in the same quantities, my capacity for food was cut in half, and for a few weeks, I could no longer finish a "super-sized" value meal from any fast food place. Of course, in that bad mental state of mine, eventually I was able to eat that much again and I continued to gain weight. After a few months, the lower back pain I had suffered with for years faded and eventually was completely gone. I did not attribute this to aspartame at the time. My dizzy spells stopped after a week, and I did attribute that to aspartame.

About two years ago, I weaned myself off of caffeine and switched to almost 100% water (sometimes Vitamin Water, juice, or non-caffeinated drinks) for my drinking needs. The fun thing about this, is after your brain un-wires itself from caffeine dependency, you can get a "wake-up effect" from it again!

In December, I restarted my weight loss journey. In an effort to keep my calories low, I decided to occasionally have a diet soda to satisfy my soda cravings. After having one soda a day for a few days, my lower back pain came back with a vengeance. I had already lost 30-40 pounds by this time, so it couldn't be because of weight gain! It didn't take long to realize the aspartame was causing it. Even in such low "doses", it was enough to trigger my symptoms again. Needless to say, I am off the stuff again. I can tolerate the amount in a "light" yogurt, but not the amount in a soda. Thankfully those dizzy spells didn't come back. I still don't know what it is about aspartame that causes such terrible back pain, but I am for sure off the stuff for good!

Your mileage may vary. I'm sure many of you can chug the stuff all day without a problem. Many of you might have problems caused by it that you don't even realize are linked. But between my symptoms, my aunt getting terrible headaches from the smallest amount, and my dad getting kidney pain after drinking it, that's enough to convince me that aspartame is poison.

My dad was recently drinking some 0-calorie flavored waters and he was raving about how they tasted good and I should try them. I looked at the back and saw the ingredient "Neotame" which is yet another name that Aspartame hides behind. I pointed this out to him and he was surprised. He immediately stopped drinking them and his kidney pain went away. He hadn't realized these new flavored waters were the cause.

So, you can keep calling it "fear mongering", but for some of us, the problems caused by aspartame-flavored products is VERY TRUE AND REAL. When I crave soda, I just budget in a full-sugar one.
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I can't tell you how to stop drinking soda entirely... I still have a full-sugar soda a few times a week as a treat and I log/budget for it. But, once you learn to love water, it's awesome! You can drink as much as you want and never feel guilty!

somanyrhoades

I was a soda drinker all my life. Heavy when I was a kid (like 6 cans a day, no joke), then moderate as a teenager/adult. when I rejoined my fitness I was drinking one to two cans of soda a day. Pepsi Throwback was my favorite. Anyways, I just decided I didn't want to get any calories from beverages, so I gave it up. The first week was hard. Really hard, but I did ok and powered through it. I think the cravings became less intense as time wore on, most days it doesn't even cross my mind. I was at a friend's baby shower the other day and they had it there and I thought, why not? It looks delicious, all cold in it's can. i was really excited to drink it... I actually even smelled it first before I took I drink. And then I took a drink and expeted it to be all fireworks... and it was in a sense... it actually burned my throat going down and I couldn't even finish it. It was so not good. I have to admit I was a little disappointed, but also relieved. haven't craved it or really even thought about it since. I replaced all sugar beverages with water, which is all I drink now besides coffee and almond milk in my cereal. I have had one glass of orange juice since making the choice to eat my calories instead of drinking them and it gave me heartburn all day too. Stick with it, you can do it!