Mtn Dew withdrawal

wickedmaineah

I have been doing good with weight loss, down 10 lbs in 4 weeks and increased from walking one mile to three.
I had cut down my Mtn Dew from 4 bottles a day to 2. Now cutting out those last 2! Scared of the withdrawals and how long they will last. I dont drink coffee so this was my only caffeine. Anyone else kicked the habit? Did you see a difference in your weight loss?

upoffthemat

I definitely got cranky cutting out caffeine. Try hot tea for a small caffeine hit to help you wean off. I do find ice water can help give me that pep hit.

Dnarules

I gave up Coke (the cola) in 2008. I switched to unsweetened ice tea, so I was still caffeinated. Despite the caffeine, I was still crabby and head achy for about two weeks. After that, I was fine, and the cravings pretty much disappeared.

Initially I did see some weight loss, but I must have replaced the coke with something else, and my weight started going back up again. I wasn't logging my food, or exercising. If you are logging and exercising, it is a good way to help restrict calories. I'm not militant about it; I occasionally have one after a long hike.

85Cardinals

I kicked a hardcore Diet Dr. Pepper habit a few years ago. It was hard as hell, but I kept after it and kept trying thru several failures. Made my life a lot better in the long run.

pvju

I can't give up my coffee but have tried and it just hurts - headache, cranky etc. Maybe if you go really slow like drop a half can a week it will be less painful?

Green tea is supposedly pretty caffeinated so you could add in that with a little honey or straight (if you can take it) to soften the withdrawal.

But certainly you should see weight loss - not sure the calories in a can of soda but it's probably abound 150 - two of those a day is about a pound of weight loss every ten or so days - so you could see another 3lbs a month come off if you don't add in new calories.

RodaRose

Keep doing it gradually. Aspirin can help with the headaches for some people.

wickedmaineah

I cut it out today besides a half a bottle this morning that was left in the fridge. I am shocked how many more calories I still have available tonight. There is no way I will eat them all. I already dont eat back exercise calories. What a difference. Hopefully it will make a difference in losing my belly fat!

phillyhockeyfan

Mountain Dew was my favorite soda. Before I quit, I'd have 2-3 a day. I just quit cold turkey when I decided to start loosing weight. Luckily for me I didn't have any headaches to deal with. Do you drink other kinds of caffine? Do you like tea? That may help. Have you tried diet dew? Are you just trying to cut out the calories from it or soda all together? Since January I've only had one small can of dew on a cheat day. It was so good, but I only allowed myself the one. Good luck kicking the habit. As another poster suggested aspirin will help with any headaches from withdrawals you may get.

Carlos_421

Ibuprofen kicks a caffeine headache for me.
Caffeine withdrawal doesn't last long in my experience (a day or two tops).

joannamfmorris

For me it was sweet tea. I've given it up and the first week was terrible. I cut that and sweets out for 30 days back in January. I had a headache, felt achy. Now I occasionally have sweets but rarely drink calories. It has definitely helped with my weight loss.

noon1200

Diet Mountain Dew tastes pretty good, if you switch to diet you can cut out a lot of calories and still have your two bottles a day.

mccraee

You can get down to one bottle same way that you got down to 2. Just keep backing it off. Slow is ok if you want to avoid the headaches. When you get down to one bottle, switch to warm, flat diet mt. dew. Or switch to warm, flat diet something else that you don't really like to drink. Take a swig when you need to (carry it around with you). Tylenol helps, too. drink tons of water. Morning workouts might make you feel better, too.

AspenDan

Quitting mtn dew and calorie drinks for 2 weeks was my first step, and I lost 5-10lb from that alone..probably mostly water weight but it was still very encouraging at that time.

emmycantbemeeko

Different people react differently to caffeine, so you may have few or no withdrawal symptoms. For me, I'm down to one or two diet cokes or unsweet iced teas a day, but if I miss one? Massive migraine incoming. My husband drinks a ridiculous amount of Mt. Dew- probably a liter+ a day (he's very active in the military and not on a calorie restriction), but if we're somewhere where we can't get any for a few days? He's fine. No headaches or crankiness.

I find excedrin (which has a dose of caffeine in it) is helpful for those occasions I wind up with a withdrawal headache. If you are very sensitive to caffeine, veeeery gradual decrease is the way to go- when you get down to one bottle, try half of it in the morning and half at night, etc.

And agreed with the advice from mccraee about making it less appetizing if you want to break the psychological addiction as well as the physical dependence. A warm flat soda will prevent a headache, but will ruin the appeal.

lemurcat12

I've quit coffee before. If you can, taper. But in any case the difficulty only lasts a few days.

tomteboda

Try Mello Yello Zero. Tastes very good for a diet drink and can help you avoid the caffeine withdrawal.

Secerbus

I went decaf and haven't noticed anything different

Steff46

I used to be hooked on Mtn. Dews too! I did my withdrawal in steps. I cut down to two a day for a few weeks, then switched to the caffeinated diet Mtn. Dew for a few weeks (I had a hard time with the artificial sweetener in it). I now opt for Powerade original (sometimes I water it down), unsweetened tea, water, or coffee (with real sugar). One trick I use for caffeine headaches or just to give me a boost when I need it is Vivarin (caffeine pills). About the weight loss difference...maybe some but I'm sure I have made up for those calories in solid foods. .

H_Ock12

I cut Mtn Dew (3-4 12oz cans per day) out of my diet and then soda entirely (unless it's a special occasion). I occasionally will drink coffee, but usually just have a 200mg caffeine pill twice or thrice a day...no calories and I still get my caffeine fix!

cmtristani

The fantastic thing I found when giving up all soda was all the calories I freed up to eat real food. 150 cals a can, give or take, three cans a day was wasted calories. As soon as I realized that equated to a salmon fillet and a Greek salad, I was done with it. Caffeine and sugar headaches for me lasted four days. And there is some truth to cutting out all that sugar and feeling better because of it, I know I did.

louisepaul16

I'm following a no added sugar approach to weight loss. I will eat everything I want providing it doesn't have added sugar.

When I stopped, the first few days were ok, day 4-9 were hell. No going to lie, but it DOES get better. Cannot think of going back and eating a high sugar diet now.
If you're craving fizzy drinks in general, double check your calcium intake. I was seriously calcium deficient, and quite often that results in cravings for fizzy drinks.

As for the caffeine, I also have given up coffee in the past and it's hard, but again a week, and I was feeling so
Much better. Now I only have a max of 2 coffees a day so I don't get back into that rhythm. I am an all
Or nothing person. I go cold turkey and deal with it. Did the same with stopping smoking last year.

Good luck.

rogertoliver

I buy the tiny 8oz bottles and keep them in the pantry. I only put one in the fridge at a time and have managed the will power to only take a couple of drinks periodically to curb the craving. It can easily take me 2 or 3 days to drink 8 oz of my favorite carbonated soft drink.

snickerscharlie

noon1200 wrote: »

Diet Mountain Dew tastes pretty good, if you switch to diet you can cut out a lot of calories and still have your two bottles a day.

Or combine the two and then gradually switch to the diet one as you get used to the taste. I did this with coffee. Used to use two sugars. For the first week I used one sugar and one Stevia. The second week 0 sugar and 2 Stevia. Easy peasy.

peacemongernc

I went cold turkey on sweet tea about 9 years ago. I switched to unsweetened, so I didn't have to give up the caffeine, but my addiction to sweet tea was serious. I struggled with cravings for NINE months straight, and then they got better. Once I got past it, I was really, really over it and now I don't want it at all. At all. But it was a long, hard, 9 months, and by about 6 months I was pretty sure I was never going to get over it. I decided I would give it a year and then re-evaluate. I'm so glad I did! I don't know if I had stopped ice tea all together if it would have taken more or less time to get past it. I think I had a lot of emotional stuff wrapped up in my tea drinking. I'm glad I did it, would absolutely do it again, and it was worth the discomfort to get past it. But it sure did take a lot longer than I ever imagined it would!

jennifer_417

I switched to those little bottles of water flavorings you can get ( some are caffeinated!) and I seldom crave soda anymore.

kimdawnhayden

I gave up caffeine for both my pregnancies. The headaches only last for a few days. Ibuprofen helps.